If you’ve ever owned a car, you know how real the struggle is when it comes to keeping your car in pristine shape. Even if you’re not giving it a wash, wax and polish every week, you still want your car to look great because it’s a reflection of you (who wants dirty stares at the valet?) and it also affects your car’s resale value should you ever wish to sell. Every car is prone to wear and tear; some more than others depending how you drive it and it can easily be out of your skillset or budget.

One of the most common examples of vehicle wear and tear are scratches and scuff marks. Thankfully, these are easily fixed at home using a product found in every household: toothpaste.

It may not seem a likely saviour to your woes but that tube of toothpaste can work wonders for your car’s exterior. It’s like a softer, gentler version of sandpaper and smooths out uneven areas on your car panels to make them shiny again.

Here’s how to use toothpaste to clean scratches on your car:

1. Make sure the affected areas are clean and free from dust and dirt.
2. Simply dab on a squirt of toothpaste onto a damp cloth and rub away.
3. Use a gentle, circular motion and watch as those scratches magically disappear.

It pays to use a whitening toothpaste over the ordinary type because it has a different chemical and particle makeup that will get better results when used on your car. Of course if you’ve only got regular toothpaste, that can work too.

Keep in mind that this solution is best for scratches that haven’t pierced your car’s clear coat (the layer that sits above the paint). If the scratches are too deep, toothpaste won’t be enough and you’ll need to seek out professional help. Also, if you have a lot of scratches covering large parts of the car (hey, it happens!), it would pay to get an expert opinion on a solution.

Pro Tip: you can also use toothpaste on your headlights if they’ve been scratched or simply looking a little dull. That usually does the trick but if it still doesn’t quite do the job, consider a headlight restoration kit from your local hardware store.

Side tip: hardware stores also sell car scratch repair kits which usually have pens that can be used to cover up scratches and marks. Whilst not as cheap as toothpaste, these could be a worthy alternative to more expensive panel and paint work from a car workshop.

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