For months now, I've been using a sponge with the green back to clean bugs off my grill and from around the windshield. Today, I noticed something on my hood that wasn't coming off with a regular wash brush so I used the green part of the sponge on the hood. I have NEVER gotten scratches on the grill or around the windshield before but today on the hood, you can see everywhere I wiped. It's only on the hood which makes no sense.

I used a regular wax and I used a paste wax. You can still slightly see the scratches. What else can I use that others have used to really get rid of these scratches?

 

You're going to need some rubbing compound and elbow grease. Get rid of the scrubby sponge.

 

You can use polishing compound and a buffer, or most likely the scraches are just in the wax coating which a clay bar will remove them...you will have to use the clay bar on the whole hood not just the scraches because it removes all the wax (and it seems like you must clean and wax alot and don't take it off road so the more wax you use the deeper the scraches will seem). After, you need to rewax the hood with a very high quality wax (no cheap crap) and to do it right you will need to remove the windshield bumpers and hold down and hood latches too. But its a jeep, leave them it adds character. My jeep gets waxed in the spring and fall other than that mother nature does my cleaning. If I want to ride around in a shiny vehicle I take my 69 stang not my jeep, my 9 year old laughs at clean jeeps and asks me why do they keep their jeep so clean the are made to be dirty...lol

 

Green part? Of a scotchbrite pad? Lol
Don't use that

 

Yeah. It was the scotchbrite. I've always used them for bugs and never had an issue until today and its only on the hood.

 

Microfiber is your friend. For everything!

 

Put a sticker over it and drive more trails with dense bushes to get the rest of the jeep to match. Problem solved

That's what I did when someone thought it would be cool to key me, now everything looks consistent.

In all seriousness, I have the same scratches/dull-spot on my hood for the same reason.

 

Lesson learned. No brillo/scotchbrite pads.

It's possible you don't see the scratches on the grill or the windshield pillar because those objects are more vertical. Light scratches on a vertical plane don't show as obvious as they do on a horizontal plane (hood). Or, the grill/windshield frame went through a different paint process. I'm not sure.

If you're using scotchbrite pads to get bugs off, I'd caution against advising you to use rubbing compound because you might not have the skill to use it. That's okay, it's not exactly natural. Only after learning how (in my case, on cruddy used vehicles at a dealership, when I was a detailer), do you understand how different grits "cut" the clear coat, the pressure needed, the speed and pad of the buffer to use, etc. It's a process, and a delicate one at that. VERY easy to screw up and seriously mess up your paint, even if you're trying by hand. I'd probably just leave it alone, or try to cover it up with a good coat of wax.

If it really bugs you, take it to a detail shop and have them buff the hood to see if the scratches can be taken out. Otherwise, Jeep on, no worries, and don't feel bad.

 

You can use 2000 grit sandpaper, it works amazing for scratches. Just polish it with some rubbing compound followed by a good wax.

 

We have a product called Oilflo for bugs, tar, tree sap, ect. It works wonders just a little bit on a rag and it wipes everything right off.

As for the scratches if you are concerned about doing more damage take it to a detail shop. They will take care of that no problem. If you want to try yourself then as others have mentioned try the rubbing compound and polish 1st then try the 200 grit sand paper.