It is very common to get scratches on your car as your automobile gets older. The car as it travels, it can get scratched very easily by stones that shoot up as you are driving or it can brush up against almost anything and cause a scratch. Scratches must be dealt with immediately when you first notice them or they can develop into potential rust spots that will spread throughout the rest of the car's body. Here is a simple guide that will teach you how to repair a small scratch on your car before it becomes a problem.

To complete this job you will need the following items:

• A pair of safety glasses
• A pair of rubber gloves
• Soft rags
• A bottle of rubbing compound

1 - Start by putting on the safety glasses and gloves and wear them throughout the entire job. This will protect your eyes and skin from coming into contact with the rubbing compound.

2 - The first step is to clean the surface area around the scratch with soap and water. Fill a bucket with warm water and add a couple squirts of dish soap, and then swirl around the combination until the soap dissolves. Dunk a sponge into the soapy water and apply it to the surface area of the car around the scratch. Make sure to take the time to clean the inside of the scratch to remove any dirt or dust particles that have collected there.

3 - Rinse the soap residue off with water before drying the area with a soft rag. Make sure the area is completely dry before you proceed to the next step.

4 - Apply about a quarter size area of rubbing compound to a dry rag and then begin rubbing it into the scratched area on the car. You should begin to see the scratch noticeably fade away as you rub the compound into the scratch. Reapply more rubbing compound as needed until you the scratch is not noticeable on the vehicle from a distance. You should only be able to see signs of the scratch when you are very close to the car.

If you follow the steps outlined above and the scratch is still noticeable, then you will need to take it to a professional auto body repair shop like Franks Auto Body Inc to have it fixed. An auto body shop can take apart pieces of the body and can buff them out before the repaint the area to match the color of the rest of the vehicle.