The controversial hack in action
If you’ve spent any time on CarTok recently, you’ve likely scrolled past a video that seems like absolute magic. In a viral clip posted by TikTok user @_kenz2x (which has racked up over 442,000 likes), a woman shows off a shockingly simple household hack for removing nasty car scuffs: a sprinkle of Comet cleaner, a …
If you’ve spent any time on CarTok recently, you’ve likely scrolled past a video that seems like absolute magic. In a viral clip posted by TikTok user @_kenz2x (which has racked up over 442,000 likes), a woman shows off a shockingly simple household hack for removing nasty car scuffs: a sprinkle of Comet cleaner, a wet rag, and a quick rinse. This method has become known to many as the comet car scratch hack.
The video shows a black Honda with a massive, jagged white scuff along the rear door and wheel well. The person applies Comet powder to a damp cloth, scrubs the area where the scratches are, and rinses it away with a cup of water. Miraculously, the white scuffs vanish, leaving the black paint looking almost untouched.
@_kenz2x My bestfriend stay scraping her car 😭 but Comet & water always come through ✨ Who needs a body shop when you got household hacks 😂 #CarHack #CometCleaner #BestieChronicles #TikTokHacks ♬ Just A Girl – No Doubt
The caption jokes: “My bestfriend stay scraping her car but Comet & water always come through. Who needs a body shop when you got household hacks?”
While the comment section is filled with success stories, should you be raiding your under-sink cabinet the next time you scrape a pillar in the parking garage?
Why It Looks Like It Works
To understand why this hack appears to work, you have to understand what kind of “scratch” is actually on the car in the video.
The white marks on the black Honda are, unfortunately, paint transfer. This happens when a car rubs against a painted object (like a white pole, a garage frame, or another car), and the paint from that object is left sitting on top of the car’s clear coat.
Comet is highly abrasive. It’s for scouring and scrubbing away tough stains around your house like in the kitchen or bathroom. When applied to the car, it acts like liquid sandpaper, or a polish. It successfully grinds away the white paint transfer, making the scuff disappear to the naked eye.
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Why You Shouldn’t Use Comet To Remove Scratches On Your Car
While Comet will remove the paint transfer, the real damage won’t be seen until the water dries.
Your car’s paint job consists of a base color coat protected by a layer called the clear coat. Because Comet is so abrasive, scrubbing your car with it doesn’t just remove the paint transfer, it also aggressively strips away and scratches your vehicle’s protective clear coat.
A commenter wrote: “Now if I do this and my truck turn all type of different colors and textures. I’m coming to find y’all!!!”
They aren’t far off. While the car might look fine while it’s still wet, once it dries, and especially after a few weeks in the sun, the area scrubbed with Comet will likely appear dull, hazy, and scratched. The water fills in the scratches, which is why it looks nice and glossy. But underneath the clear coat will be slightly damaged, and will get worse if it’s left to react to UV rays and the general environment.
Another user suggested a Mr. Clean sponge, but please be aware that things like Magic Erasers are made of melamine foam, which is essentially just another form of ultrafine sandpaper that will also dull your clear coat.
What You Should Use Instead
If you want to remove paint transfer without securing a multi-thousand dollar paint correction bill down the line, skip the bathroom cleaners and stick to proper automotive products:
WD-40: A surprisingly gentle solvent for cars. Spray a little on the paint transfer, let it sit for a moment, and gently wipe it away with a microfiber cloth. Wash the area with soap and water afterward.
Automotive Clay Bar: A clay bar kit with a lubricating spray will safely pull contaminants and paint transfer off your clear coat without scratching it.
Scratch and Swirl Remover: A dedicated automotive polishing compound (like Meguiar’s ScratchX) contains micro-abrasives specifically formulated to safely buff out transfer and shallow clear-coat scratches without ruining the finish.