Make $50 per car
Done in 20 minutes
Learn in 2 hoursStep 1: Fill with 3M Putty
Paint is a poor filler: it shrinks 85% once dry.
Filling a scratch 4, 5 or 6 times with paint, waiting for it to cure, then wetanding and buffing can take hours…not practical for a busy tech.
We created a process in which you fill deep scratches with 3M putty using a squeegee and then use a remover chemical—Paint Leveler—to remove the excess putty. In a few minutes you create a flat and level foundation for color-matching paint.
Step 2: Select Color
Our Color Deck contains an array of 300 colors of automotive paint (metallics, pearls, and flats) that, over a year of testing, were proven to be effective at touching up small damage on cars of all colors: American, Asian, and European. We found no discernible difference when comparing the Color Deck’s colors to manufacturer’s exact formulas. Remember, you’re not respraying large areas…just recoloring millimeters of paint. Place the Color Deck on the car’s hood and choose the closest-matching chip.
Step 3: Mix Paint
Below the matching chip you will find simple mixing instructions such as: 10 drops of Blue02 : 10 drops of Blue03. In the toolbox, find bottles Blue02 and Blue03 (paint bottles are organized in foam trays from lightest (Blue01) to darkest (Blue06)). Place the paint in a paper cup—counting drops—and stir. In just a minute, you have prepared enough color-matching paint to touch up an entire car.
Step 4: Apply with Brush or Squeegee.
Why do so many touch up repairs look awful? Too much paint! Excessive paint creates blobs and scars that draw attention to repairs. We teach you to use artist-grade fine-tip touch up brushes and beveled rubber squeegees to accurately recolor just the repair area. The result: virtually invisible repairs. Your customers, mostly familiar with the flawed do-it-yourself touch ups, will be impressed with the accuracy of your work.
Learn at home!
DVD shows you professional tips and tricks.
Training DVD with step-by-step tutorials.
Learn all 4 touch up repairs:
- Deep scratch repair. Scratches that have reached primer or bare metal first require a foundation of 3M scratch and chip putty.
- Long, shallow scratch repair. Squeegee repair of long clearcoat scratches that, in some areas, have removed some base coat.
- Road rash repair. Corrrect the “sky full of stars” look on dark cars with 100s of tiny rock chips across the bumper, hood, and mirrors. We have created a process in which you “smear” paint over the road rash, then remove the excess paint chemically.
- Basic touch ups. 90% of cars require basic touch ups only: 5 – 10 rock chips, chipped door edges, and small scratches that just need a touch of paint.
Get help on the job from a color user manual.
The user manual contains color photos and critical information about:
Color user manual includes sales, marketing, and pricing tips.
- Color matching. How to choose the rightcolor: dark, light, pearl, and metallic paints.
- Pricing. Setting prices relative to your time, materials cost, and customer (wholesale or retail).
- Marketing and sales. Undersell and over-deliver. How to set realistic customer expectations and exceed those expectations with your results.
- The boundaries. Learn what can be touched up, and what must be forwarded to a body shop.
Contents of the Kit:
| Image (click to enlarge) | Item | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | 42 1.5 oz. bottles of paint. | Enough paint to touch up over 1100 cars: 6 silvers, 6 golds, 6 reds, 6 greens, 6 blues, 4 whites, 6 blacks, 1 orange, and 1 yellow. Secured in custom foam trays. |
 | Our Industry-Exclusive Color Deck. | Includes 300 laminated paint samples. Each chip includes simple mixing directions: 10 drops of RED02 and 10 drops of RED03, for example. Colors can be tinted (per instructions in the manual and DVD) to create 1000s of total colors. |
 | 6 touch up brushes. | From small (2mm) to large (1 cm). Artist-grade brushes...non shedding. |
 | 2 beveled squeegees. | Accurately applying filler to deep chips and scratches. Repair road rash by “squeegeeing” paint across frontal surfaces with 100s of chips. |
 | 28 oz. Paint Leveler. | Our specially formulated chemical removes excess paint in the recoloring of road rash (100s of fine rock chips) and the repair of long, shallow scratches. |
 | 8 oz. wax and grease remover. | Use to clean the repair area and ensure a permanent repair. |
 | 4 oz. paint thinner. | Remove paint transfer (paint from other cars and objects that caused the scratch) and clean up paint tools . |
 | 4 oz. reducer. | Reducer is slow-evaporating paint thinner. Used to liquify paint when it thickens. |
 | 4.5 oz. Bondo Scratch & Chip Putty. | Industry-exclusive process: fill chips and scratches prior to touchup. |
 | 1 foam sanding block. | Creates flat surface for leveling Bondo putty. |
 | 100 disposable paper cups. | 1 oz. cups. Toolbox has foam inserts for organizing cups in stacks. |
 | 1 roll Shop Towels. | Disposable towels used for clean up and excess paint removal. |
 | Paint brush cleaning bottle. | Rinse touch up brushes in paint thinner for cleanup. |
 | Color user manual. | Includes color photos of actual repairs. Also included: color mixing guide, marketing/sales guide, and suggested pricing guide. |
 | New! DVD Training. | DVD includes step-by-step instructions on how to perform the 4 repair types (basic touch ups, deep scratch repair, long shallow scratch repair, and road rash repair). |
A two-level Stanley toolbox houses the entire kit. Water-proof and odor-proof. Uses minimal van space. No searching around the shop for supplies…it’s all in one box.
Get accurate color matches quickly with our unique Color Deck.
A complete array of whites, yellows, oranges, silvers, golds, reds, blues, greens, and blacks. Sample chips are real automotive paint (not computer printed). 70% of formulas are metallic. 30% are flat (black, yellow, bright red, white). Can be tinted (per instructions in the user manual) to form 1000s of unique colors. A truly professional system for repairing rock ships and scratches.
colordeck
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Before and after photos.
See how the ScratchOut kit makes minor paint damage virtually disappear (click to enlarge).
Bumper Cuts
The rear bumper of this maxima has 20+ small cuts and scratches. These are commonly caused by parallel parking and dragging luggage over the bumper as it’s loaded into the trunk.
After the touchup paint is applied, the cuts and scratches look quite good from 10+ inches away. If we examine the repair from 6 inches or closer, the touchup paint can be spotted. However, because the bumper is low and a dark color, this $50 touchup is a fine alternative to a $400 repaint. The ScratchOut kit is a useful piece of equipment to a mobile detailing, fixed location detailing, car washing, or car dealer business.
Rock Chips
Large Chips in Bumper
The front bumper of this Subaru has a few large rock chips that have exposed the black plastic beneath. Once dry, the touchup paint blends well with the surrounding area. The chips have been thoroughly cleaned, and this is a permanent repair.
Large/Small Chips in Hood
Deep red Lexus has large and small chips. Touch up large chips by hand and remove small chips with our “wipe on” “wipe off” in which we squeegee paint into the chips and remove with our excess paint remover, Paint Leveler.
Scratches
Deeply Cut Plastic Bumper
The bumper of this Camry is cut deep. A body shop would charge $350 to fix this damage. Because the damage is low on the bumper, and it is a solid color, the cut could be filled, then touched up permanently in about 15 minutes…a significant savings of time and money.
Light Scratches in Hood
Body shop quoted $1500 to paint this Audi A8 hood and blend into the fenders. This is a tough color because of the coarse metallic flake in the paint…very hard to blend a touch up repair. But with our excess paint remover, Paint Leveler, we were able to remove the “excess” paint that causes “blobs” and “scars.”
Deep cuts in mirror housing.
Here’s a deep cut in a passenger mirror. It’s in a high, obvious location, and this car dealer needs a repair that will pass a “walkaround” on a test drive. We fill it with putty, allow to dry (2 minutes), remove excess putty with our chemical Paint Leveler, choose a color match, and apply color-matching paint with a fine-tipped touch up brush. This repair took 15 minutes.
Create beautiful repairs, in these 4 simple steps:
Scratched mirror housing.
Step 1: apply putty.
Step 2: remove excess putty with Leveler chemical.
Step 3: choose matching color from Color Deck.
Step 4: apply paint with fine-tipped brush.
Deep Scratch Repair: Metal (5:13)
Deep Scratch Repair: Plastic (3:31)
Road Rash Repair (3:01)
Long Scratch Repair (4:16)
Reviews from Car Detailers:
“We own two Applied Colors touch up kits. I chose the kit because it’s affordable and easy to learn. Most repairs take 10 minutes and we charge $40. Color matching is excellent, and feedback from customers has been positive. We do most of our work on a mobile basis, so we needed a system that’s compact. Their system fits in a tidy toolbox that doesn’t take up much room in our two vans. It’s easy to keep the items in the box organized. Customers ask for this service from us frequently, and now we can answer this request regardless of the color of their car. I think it’s a great addition to any detail operation.”
Mike Iarannelli: Owner of Extreme Details
“I’ve been using the Applied Colors touch up kit for a few months and am very happy with it. The colour guide works great and the quality of my repairs is enough to impress my clients. I run a car detailing business on the Gold Coast in Australia and this touch up system has been a great add on to my business. It’s one of the more useful tools among my mobile detailing supplies.”
Fabiano Salsa: Owner of Fab’s Car Detailing and Scratch Repair, Gold Coast Australia
“I’ll start by saying I purchased a Paint touch-up kit from Applied Colors a few months ago. I’ve spoken with the owner, Robert, a couple of times about his kits and have actually driven up to Portland Oregon to meet with him for a “Personal demonstration”. Not only was I impressed with his willingness to meet with us, but his skill in using his kit. We’ve hand the opportunity to use the touch-up kit on a few of our clients cars with great success. Well, this last time I went to use it I had a difficult time getting on of the bottle open and hand it actually broke in my hand. I emailed Robert just to let him know how much trouble I had opening it and that I wanted to purchase a couple of replacement bottles. Well, Robert said that shouldn’t have happened and overnighted me 2 bottles of the product along with 3 empty replacement bottles and extra caps, just in case I needed them. All at no charge! I was very impressed with his customer service and his willingness to help. If any of you are looking to purchase a paint touch-up kit, I’d highly recommend the kits offered by Robert at Applied Colors.”
Mark Fowler: Owner of Pristine Detailing
“Thank you for the awesome service and equally awesome product.”
Shea Mirafuentes: Owner of Shea’s Luxury Detail
“I bought a ScratchOut kit in 2009 and am happy with it. Great color matching on the Euro cars I service.”
Tomas Prochazka: Owner, Tommy Car Czechoslovakia
Meet Todd: detailer and ScratchOut system owner.
Todd Tobacco is owner of Q-Tipp Treatment Detail Center in Brewster, NY, a high volume shop that touches up 100 – 150 cars a month for a profit of $4000.
Reviews from PDR Techs:
“I originally purchased the Applied Colors touch up paint system for my Paintless Dent Repair Technician. The thought was to use it as an easy and complete kit for those instances when the damaged area was also chipped or scratched. We used to carry a small selection of store bought touch-up. 9 times out of 10 we didn’t have the correct color and the tops always seemed to break. We could get a few uses out of the 8.95$ tube and would end up throwing the dried up remains away only to do it all over again. The Applied Colors paints have a very good shelf life, the kit is compact and we get great color matches. Well worth every penny.”
Brian Shaw: Owner of Auto Pro 1
“As the owner of a mobile S.M.A.R.T repair business I was looking for a quick and easy way of touching up scratches and road rash as an alternative to mixing colour coded factory paint. On a lot of cars I work on for owners or auto traders I get the question of touching up some minor scratch or road rash blemishes in addition to painting and blending out body panels. The ScratchOut kit fit the bill perfectly by providing us with a very fast and inexpensive tool for minor touch ups. As opposed to matching factory waterborne paint and mixing with clear coat I can now use the provided color chart and mix a small amount for a small touch up in just minutes knowing this will be a lasting solution. There’s no need for an IR lamp for curing. My customers are thrilled by the results and the relatively small fee. This kit has paid it self over and over again and comes highly recommended.”
Bent Karlsen: Owner of Color Vision Norway
“I wanted to thank you for the great job you have done in putting together your paint system. The DVD and manual are excellent.”
Dan Trenholm: Owner of Colortec, Medford OR
“Just received my kit in 7 days. Thank you for an excellent service.”
Ehsan Mandora: Saudi Arabia
Meet Jason Plummer, 10+ year PDR tech and owner of Northwest PDR. His review of the ScratchOut system:
Reviews from Car Dealers:
“Every car I buy, I touch up with this system. I only use vendors for big damage that requires spray outs. Great color matching across all makes and models. Very fast too. The bottles go a long way, and I only need refills once a year. It’s been a great fit for my business”
Josh Lawson: Owner, High Tech Auto Sales
“Our detailers do our touch ups onsite with the Applied Colors kit. It’s worked out great on our used inventory. We no longer wait for specialists who charge us $50 a car.”
Mark Tinsley: Manager, Toyota Town
“We buy hundreds of cars from many sources. There’s always minor paint damage on them and we’ve used the Applied Colors system as part of our in house reconditioning process. It’s worked out well. The system was easy to learn and apply. It’s not overly complicated, so anyone in our operation can perform the touch ups. I’d recommend it to dealers and wholesalers regardless of how large or small they are.”
Justin Wren: Reconditioning tech for Webuycars.com
“We buy and sell large volumes of used cars (all makes) with minor paint damage. This system is perfect for us. Lots of money saved on vendor expenses.”
Dennis Legge: Body shop manager for Jerry Durant Auto Group
Hear from a classic car dealer who tried the ScratchOut kit for a week.
Randy Emery of Bad Boy Auto Sales was waiting on vendors who charged $40+ to touch up his classic cars. Could the ScratchOut kit produce the same quality work…in-house?
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have distributors?
No. We sell directly to our customers from our office in Portland, OR USA. Because we have no distributors, we can sell our touch up paint system for about 40% off retail price.
We provide a lot of detail here about our touch up system, as well as photos and video but ultimately there is some risk to buying a product you can’t “touch” and “feel.” That’s why we offer a 45 day 100% refund period and even refund your outbound shipping.
Where do I go for refills?
Order directly from us via phone, email, or our store.
Each 1.5 oz. bottle of paint is $13 and touches up 20 cars.
What kind of paint is this?
PPG urethane base coat.
Are the repairs permanent?
Yes….As long as the repair area is clean (no dirt, wax, or grease).
The repairs can be buffed, polished, and pressure washed within 30 minutes.
What can I charge for touch up service?
This depends on a lot of factors that we discuss in the user manual.
On average, the charge for touching up an entire car is $50 and the job takes 10-15 minutes including clean up.
What is the shelf life of the paint?
The caps on our paint bottles are air tight. We have paint touch up systems as old as 5 years old with still-fresh paint. However, if the cap on a bottle is left open, the contents will dry up in 7 – 21 days.
Why should I invest in a paint touch up system?
Customers demand it!
Minor paint damage is such a common irritant–almost every used car has scratches and rock chips.
Customers are happy to pay a pro for a $50 repair without the “blobby” results they get when they try touch up themselves.
And you’re offering fantastic value vs a body shop that charges $400 per resprayed panel.
How was this kit developed?
We used to operate a busy mobile touch up and auto body repair business.
We were using a complete PPG spray system for brush touch-ups. It was slow and wasteful. It took 10 minutes just to locate paint codes and mix the paint! Then we just threw out 95% of the paint when done.
It took 12 months to develop the ScratchOut system on our touch-up route. It was compact and fast, but with no sacrifice of quality.
We started selling the ScratchOut kit in 2006 and have sold over 1000 touch up systems to detailers, car dealers, techs, and mobile techs all over the world.
Why should I choose your touch up system?
The ScratchOut kit was created to improve on existing systems in 3 ways:
- Cost. We’re 25 – 60% less than other systems.
- Simplicity. The ColorDeck makes paint matching easy.
- Speed of repairs. Work 50% faster than systems that use factory paint codes.
Can you really match the quality of a traditional $3500+ toner-based system with your premixed system?
For touch up…yes.
Toner based systems are essentially spray repair systems dumbed-down for touch up. We removed their complexity and cost yet still deliver the same quality of repair.
We discovered that after years of using toner-systems, our customers never noticed a difference when we made the switch to the ScratchOut kit!
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