What is T-cut

What is it

T-Cut is a lightly abrasive liquid used to restore car paintwork back to its original condition.
If your car is more than a few years old then it will more than likely benefit from a little TLC from its owner.  It is also ideal for removing small paintwork scratches

You can get CarPlan T-CUT  from Amazon, they do have a massive range of car care and car detailing products - at very competitive prices.

What does it do

T Cut scratch remover basically smoothes down the surface of your paintwork,
cutting through  all the road dirt and grime to return it to it’s original condition.
It will also remove tar-spots, stubborn stains, small paintwork scratches and scuffs.

Why use it

Once you have treated your car, there will be noticeable differences.
Your paintwork will appear brighter and the colour will be more vivid.

It will be smoother to the touch, will trap less dirt and therefore keep the car looking cleaner for longer.  In turn, this will also make the car easier to clean in the future.

It removes tar-spots and small paintwork scratches, and you can now get it in colours to
match your cars paint as well as t-cut for metallic paint.
The coloured t-cut can be used to cover-up poorly resprayed vehicles.

If you have to do this work over a period of time and it rains in between, you
will notice a difference with the areas that you have treated and the ones you have not. The treated areas will disperse water more readily,
because the surface is smoother and the water cannot grip as easily.
So if the dirty rainwater runs of the bodywork more easily,
then it will not dry off and leave dirt deposits on it. 
I can honestly say that a t-cut (better if t-cut and waxed)
car will remain cleaner for a lot longer.

How to apply it

Try to keep the t-cut off rubber parts around windows and plastics.
If you do get some on then wipe it off before it dries or else it will leave light marks that will be a little more difficult to remove.

Work on small areas and removing/buffing straight away. This will give the best results.
The instructions state you should not use it in hot weather, the reason for this is that it will dry to a haze very quickly and once it has done this it is a little tougher to get off.

Also if you get it onto any rubber or plastic, it will leave white marks that will need a little effort to get off. I have t-cut cars in warm weather, what I do is work on very small areas and have 2 cloths. One is used for the t cut and the other is used to wipe off and buff up.

 Once I have rubbed the area with the t-cut,
I will wipe it off and buff it straight away with the clean cloth. 
One tip – if you drop either of your cloths on the floor, give them a good shake and make sure they are totally free from grit and gravel.
Otherwise you could scratch your car and end up with even more work to do.

Don’t go mad, you are removing small amounts of your paintwork.
Be wary on corners, if you rub too much you will expose the primer/undercoat.

I owned a Peugeot 205 that I managed to crash and the paintwork repairs were cheap and cheerful. It was a red car and these are the worst for matching paint. It looked fine in the daylight but as soon as you put it under an amber street lamp at night you could really tell the difference. So I used lots of coloured t-cut to get the colours to match better. It was never a perfect match, but I think that it was a case that I would notice it more because I was looking for it and knew it was there.

BUT BE WARNED, as this liquid actually removes the top surfaces of paint you have to be careful not to use it too much in the same spot. On the bonnet of my cheaply painted Peugeot there were 2 steps in the metalwork that ran from the windscreen to the headlights. It soon became apparent that this was where the paint was at its thinnest because I managed to remove the top coats of paint right through to the primer/undercoat. So upon close inspection there were white areas showing through on these ridges.

Don’t panic about using t-cut, this was just a mixture of working on poorly finished panels and a little overzealousness on my part.

What to do after

Firstly, you must take the time to admire your hard work.  It took a long time to get it all done and on some occasions you thought you would never finish.
Your car looks great and in much better condition than before you started.

But ask yourself the question, do you fancy doing that job all over again ?

In order that you don’t have to do the whole thing again in 6 months time,
we strongly recommend that you apply a good quality wax to the entire car. 
This will protect your new and refreshed paint surfaces from what made it dull and looking unloved in the first place.

PS

I have used t cut scratch remover on many occasions when I have removed badges
and graphics from cars. It is great for removing the glue / gunk that is left behind
and then you just t-cut the area to get the paintwork back up to scratch and matching
the rest of the panel.

 It is also ideal for doing the opposite,
i.e. preparing a surface for applying a new badge or graphic onto.

I have also used t-cut on alloy wheels, as these always fall victim to tar-spots
especially in the summer.

PPS

I do not believe that t-cutting your car will give increased performance and top-end speed on the basis of reduced drag co-efficient, nor will it give you improved fuel consumption.

However, if you have the time and the inclination to prove me wrong,
then you probably have too much time on your hands.

FUNNY - you've got to see this clip.
Please don't use this technique to remove scratches from your car.