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  4. Touch-Ins Over Coatings

Touch-Ins Over Coatings

Quick answer: A touch-in is a small chip or scratch repair with paint and lacquer. On a ceramic-coated panel you must first remove or break through the coating locally, or the touch-up may not bond and can lift when levelled or polished. After curing, the area is refined and the protection is reinstated.

What it means

Ceramic coatings are chemically resistant and lower surface energy. If you dab paint straight onto an intact coating, adhesion is poor. The correct approach is to decontaminate, then key the spot so bare, clean clear coat is exposed. Apply colour and lacquer in thin lifts, allow proper cure, level flush, refine by polishing, and finally re-protect the repaired area with a topper or a localised coating application.

Why it matters

  • Adhesion: removing the coating locally prevents the touch-up bead from sitting on a slick, non-stick surface.
  • Durability: proper cure and levelling reduce the risk of the blob tearing or washing out.
  • Appearance: careful filling and flush-levelling minimises witness rings and haloing around the chip.
  • Warranty & process: local abrasion and re-coating are normal – they do not require stripping the whole car.

Where you’ll see it

Stone-chip repairs on coated daily drivers, smart repairs that must blend into protected panels, and pre-PPF chip filling so film does not bridge craters.

Context

Car Paint Protection; Ceramic coatings; SMART repair

How it’s done (at a glance)

  • Prep: wash, decon, panel wipe. Mask if needed.
  • Break the coating locally: light spot-compound or 2000–3000 grit micromesh to key the crater and a small halo around it. Panel wipe again.
  • Fill: fine tip, thin lifts of colour, then clear. Allow flash and staged cure per paint.
  • Level: after full cure, carefully shave or nib with a lacquer razor/micro-mesh; refine with compound then polish.
  • Re-protect: topper or a small, feathered re-application of coating over the worked area. Keep dry per cure guidance.

Common mistakes

  • Touching in on top of an intact ceramic – the blob sits on the coating and can peel during levelling.
  • Only using IPA without mechanical keying – slick surfaces still resist adhesion.
  • Overfilling a large crater in one go – thick blobs shrink, sink or crack. Build in thin lifts.
  • Levelling before the touch-up has hardened – you drag or tear the fill.
  • Polishing a wide area aggressively on thin clear coat edges – risk of strike-through.
  • Forgetting to reinstate protection – the keyed halo will wet differently until re-coated.
  • Attempting big scrapes with touch-ins – panel repaint or SMART repair may be the correct route.

Written by . Last updated 06/11/2025 00:57

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