Using the TouchUp RX Paint Squeegee for Chip Repairs
A great tool for repairing multiple stone chips and road rash.
The TouchUp RX Automotive Paint Chip Repair Kit is designed around using the simple, pliable squeegee for fast, easy repairs. Once you know how to use it, you’ll love using the TouchUp RX Paint Squeegee to fix chips on your vehicle.
You could use your thumb to smear the paint over the chips, the side of your hand, or your forehead for that matter. Really, the point is to get the paint on the panel and into the chips, leaving as little residual paint as possible.
In our experience, using the squeegee is the best technique for common stone chip and road rash repairs.
The TouchUp RX squeegee is not designed for paint repair on door edges, light scratches, or bumper scrapes. Other tools (also included in our kit) work better on those repairs, which will be addressed in a future blog.
How to apply paint with the TouchUp RX squeegee.
There are two ways to get the paint from the bottle to the chip:
- Squirt a few drops of paint adjacent to the chip, or
- You can apply the paint directly to the underside of the beveled surface of the squeegee (you want to hold the squeegee with the 45-degree beveled edge pointing upward and toward you, so the lip of it is facing down on the vehicle)
Once the paint is on the vehicle or the squeegee, simply hold the squeegee at a 45-degree (or greater) angle to the vehicle’s panel, then pull it across and beyond the paint chip.
With a little excess paint on the squeegee or vehicle panel, you can pull the paint over a chip, lift the squeegee, and repeat on another chip. You can literally pick up the paint and apply it to another chip or cluster of chips in the case of road rash. This process is efficient at addressing a multitude of chips.
Using the paint squeegee on large paint chips.
For larger chips or surface wounds on the paint finish, try applying a thin line of paint across the squeegee, equal or greater to the diameter of the chip. This will help ensure an even distribution of paint across the area needing to be covered. Immediately reapply paint as needed.
If you don’t get a smooth flat application of paint over the chip, or you disturb the paint resulting in a rippled effect (caused from the paint curing too quickly), remove all the paint with The Pink Stuff blending solution and try again.
It may take a time or two to master the process of repairing large paint chips, which we define as anything 1/4 inch in diameter or greater. With a little practice, you should be pleased with the results when repairing chips up to 1 inch in diameter.
You can attempt a repair on chips even larger if you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars at a body shop to respray the entire panel. Re-spraying often comes with its own problems of matching the other panels on the car, especially tri-coat white pearls and silver. In most cases, they will tell you they have to spray the entire side of the vehicle to get a consistent paint match. Definitely avoid this when you can.
I hope these squeegee tips help you get the most out of your TouchUp RX Automotive Paint Chip Repair Kit!
Bill McLean, Owner
TouchUp RX