Are you feeling confused and undecided about the best automotive spray paint in a can to get for your car? If yes, you'll find this guide helpful.
A good quality clear coat gives your car base coat an extra gloss and depth to make it look brand new and shiny. It creates an extra layer of protection-shielding your vehicle from elements like UV rays, moisture, and even oxidation.
But getting the perfect clear coat can be challenging as you have to go through hundreds of products out there.
Our team of auto experts have researched the market and found the top-quality products that we'll share with you in the following guide.
Best Automotive Clear Coat Spray Can:
1. Rust-Oleum 327864-6PK American Accents Spray Paint
The spray paint from Rust-Oleum will make a great clearcoat for your vehicle. It boasts the ability to deliver 2x the coverage as you'll get in other competitive brands and does a great job shielding your vehicle against the harmful elements.
The paint features advanced paint and prime technology. This provides the best formula for the ultimate hiding power. You can use this clear coat on virtually any surface, and it dries pretty quickly to let you finish your projects faster.
When you apply this coat on top of your car's base coat, it lays in place nicely to provide a gorgeous, shiny, clean finish. Because this is a super-durable paint, it will offer long-lasting protection to your vehicle. It has great UV resistance to ensure your car doesn't look dull after a few months.
The paint comes packed in an aerosol can with a comfort grip trigger to eliminate finger fatigue likely to arise from continuous spraying. You can spray the can at any angle, including the upside-down angle, to help you reach even the tricky areas of your vehicle.
Highlighted Features:2. USC SprayMax 2K Glamour High Gloss Aerosol Clear
If you're looking for the best spray can clear coat for cars at a budget-friendly cost, we found this acrylic paint for you. It works great for small repair jobs and quick touchups of your vehicle.
This clear coat comes as a two-component high gloss aerosol ideal for applying on just any vehicle's base coat. It comes packed in an easy to use aerosol can, and you don't need to mix it with any activator before you can start using it.
The other cool thing about this clear coat is that it features a high gloss formula. And this enables it to give your car an eye-pleasing super-glossy that lasts for a really long time. Moreover, this coat has excellent resistance to scratches, abrasion, and delivers unmatched chemical and all-weather resistance.
Look closely at the spray nozzle ...you'll notice it comes designed in such a way that it promotes a smooth flow of the paint and offers spraying performance close to that of a spray gun!
Using this clear coat is easy and straightforward. You just need to shake the can to activate the two acrylic components and then start spraying your auto's base coat. It's that easy!
Highlighted Features:3. Dupli-Color BCL0125 Clear Exact-Match Automotive Top Coat
This is an acrylic lacquer and a premium automotive paint manufactured by Dupli-Color. It's quite easy to use and cures pretty fast, in about 30 minutes. You can use it with all OEM paint finishes and works best for small-scale vehicle touch up jobs.
The topcoat comes formulated to blend perfectly well with your vehicle's OEM color. This makes it ideal for use with all OEM basecoats.
It produces a durable, clear shine that has a professional quality and looks. This is even truer is you apply it correctly and do the prep work well in advance.
We can't fail to acknowledge the aerosol can's unique nozzle design. It has a 360-degree design and is fully adjustable to give you easy reach to all corners of your car. It makes a wide spray pattern for smooth, even coats-just like a professional spray gun!
Highlighted Features:4. Rust-Oleum 249845 Painter's Touch Multi-Purpose Spray Paint
The Painter's Touch 2X Ultra Cover paint employs Double Cover Technology to enhance the speed and quality of your car clear coating. It's rated as one of the most durable spray paints on the market today. It assures you of long-lasting results once you apply it on top of your car's color coat.
Its double cover technology delivers the ultimate hiding power for all the minor scratches, dents on your vehicle. It also hides minor spots caused by bird droppings, acid rain, and even hard water.
Like its siblings from Rust-Oleum, this spray paint also offers 2x wider coverage than competing brands. Add this to the fact that it cures and dries pretty quickly, in about 20 minutes, allowing you to finish your projects pretty quickly.
Many car owners also use it as the best spray can clear coat for adding the car value due to the beautiful finish it offers your car. It features a satin finish top coat to provide your vehicle with a low-sheen look. The finish also feels smooth and durable.
The spray paint resists chipping and fading to maintain your car's good looks for an extended period of time. Keep in mind that it comes in a comfort, any angle spray tip for easy application.
Highlighted Features:5. USC Spraymax 3680065 Matte Clearcoat
Use this professional-grade clear coat from USC if you want to apply a light coat to a small section of your vehicle that needs some touching up. It does a fantastic job of clear coating your vehicle and giving it a shiny matte finish for a show-room quality look.
The clear coat is easy to spray, and you'll have an easy time applying on your vehicle basecoat. It comes in a user-friendly spray can to ensure easy application. It also cures pretty fast and forms into a hard, clear, glossy finish.
You'll like how durable this stuff feels on your vehicle. It offers great resistance to chemicals and elements. It's all-weather resistant and will hold up really well in months of snow, rain, mud, and other elements.
The unique nozzle that comes with this can is also worth mentioning. It features a wide fan pattern to enable you to apply a light coat to your vehicle surface while standing at a distance of around 12-15 inches from the car. It works as a professional HVLP spray gun, and it's just fantastic!
Highlighted Features:6. Spraymax 3680061 2K Clear
Also from Spraymax, this is another best clear coat spray paint for cars. The clear coat comes as a two-component aerosol spray that's easy to apply. It dries to form a long-lasting, high-gloss finish that resists chemical, gasoline, and weather elements.
The clear is quite easy to use. You don't need to do any pre-mixing to start using. Because this is a two-component paint, you'll need to activate and shake it to mix the components before using it on your car's base color.
Like we've seen in the previous product from Spraymax, this version also comes with uniquely designed that delivers a performance like that of a spray gun. This ensures your vehicle gets a smooth and professional like finish.
When this clear coat dries, it forms a long-lasting gloss finish on your car that makes it look like you just got it out of the showroom.
The clear coat is great for application on all vehicle basecoats and large surfaces. It offers excellent weather and chemical resistance. It also resists abrasion and does a great job sealing your vehicle new or repair paint jobs for a long time.
Highlighted Features:7. VHT SP184 Clear Coat Wheel Paint Can
Every day your vehicle's wheels take a lot of beating on the road from slat, sand, rocks, brake dust, etc., which can severely damage them. This product from VHT will give your wheels a great looking finish and protection against all these elements.
Featuring a polyurethane formulation, this paint is specially designed for aluminum and steel wheels. It offers a great finish and real protection, and you can use it on standard as well as custom wheels.
The clear coat forms a super-strong, transparent layer on the rims of your vehicles. It offers superior resistance to chipping, fading, cracking, etc. And it keeps your wheel surface protected from oxidation.
For the best results, the manufacturer advises you to do adequate prep work before applying it. This will ensure proper adhesion and exceptional performance.
The wheel paint dries to the touch in as fast as 30 minutes...and completely cures overnight. The paint comes with full application instructions printed on the can to guide you for easy application.
Highlighted Features:8. Eastwood Durable Paint 2K Aerosol High Gloss Clear Spray
The Eastwood 2K High-Gloss Aerosol also makes the best clear coat spray paint for your car. Marketed as the most durable aerosol paint available, the transparent spray paint will let you paint with the durability and precision of a two-component coat without using a paint gun.
The clear coat comes formulated with Eastwood's proprietary 2-component catalyzed technology to provide you with a durable and long-lasting finish while retaining its beautiful finish for years.
Eastwood equipped this can with an innovative nozzle plus valve technology. This works together with the can's two internal chambers to ensure you mix the perfect ratio every time. The nozzle sprays like a gun, with a broader spray pattern for professional results.
Using this spray is easy, even for the newbies. You simply activate, shake, and spray it on your vehicle. The results you get with this spray are long-lasting and offer maximum protection to your vehicle's basecoat against elements.
Highlighted Features:- Most durable aerosol paint
- 2-component catalyzed paint
- Unique nozzle works like a spray gun
- Withstand temperatures up to 250-300 degrees
9. Rust-Oleum Automotive 257884 11-Ounce Enamel Spray
Looking for a great, budget-friendly clear coat for touch up and simple car repairs? If yes, this auto enamel spray from Rust-Oleum will meet your needs. You should use this spray if you want to achieve a vibrant, long-lasting color for your vehicle without spending a lot of money.
As an oil-based formula, this clear coat creates a highly effective barrier to pretty your vehicle base coat and seal out moisture to keep rust and corrosion from messing up with your car's metal surface.
The clear coat comes with an extra-wide fan spray design to produce a smooth and professional-looking finish. It offers a wider coverage of up to 12 sq. ft. and dries pretty fast (in 20 minutes) to allow you to finish your auto spraying project faster.
The Rust-Oleum product will give your vehicle glossy finish with remarkable gloss and color retention. In other words, it will give your vehicle a fresh shine and a brand new look!
Overall, the coat formed by this spray is durable and has great weather and UV resistance. You can apply it over bare or primed metal surfaces without affecting its performance. You can use it on both the interior and exterior surfaces of your auto.
Highlighted Features:10. POR-15 45718 Top Coat Gloss Clear Spray Paint
The last best automotive clear coat spray can on our list is a direct-to-metal topcoat aerosol to help prevent rust and corrosion. You can apply this paint directly to a metal surface without first applying an undercoat or primer.
The paint is 100% UB-resistant to ensure your vehicle base coat doesn't get exposed to these harmful rays and discolor quickly. It forms a protective shield on your vehicle to repel moisture and offer long-term protection to your car.
The clear coat dictates high quality-quality and this is evident from the results it produces. It gives your car a super-glossy finish and holds up really well. It blends in pretty nicely with your car's original paint. And unlike the low-quality clear coats, it doesn't produce any dry lines.
Apart from applying it as a finish, you can also use this paint for sealing the aluminum parts of your auto engine. For the ultimate protection against rust, the manufacturer suggests that you use it together with their POR-15 Rust Preventive.
Highlighted Features:What To Look For Before Buying?
Shopping for a clear coat can feel like an overwhelming race due to hundreds of products out there. In a worst-case scenario, you might pick the wrong product and feel overly frustrated.
Below, we have laid down some important factors to help you smoothly sail the crowded market to find the perfect product for your needs.
Type of clear coat
The number one thing you'll need to do before you buy any clear coat spray is deciding the specific type you should buy. The right paint for you will depend on your unique car painting needs.
The most common clear coats currently available at the market include:- Topcoat clear coat: this is the most popular type of clear coat known to car owners. It's designed for applying as a final coat over your car's colored base coat. The coat polishes easily, offers great depth, cures/dries fast, and delivers a glossy appurtenance.
- Glamour clear coat: this coat dries at a much slower rate and offers superior resistance to moisture. The slow drying nature allows you to do more leveling on your vehicle. If you're in a hurry, you might consider heating the coat to quicken the drying process.
- Higher solid clear coat: this type of paint is great if you want to create a thicker clear coat over your car's base coat. The thick film formation means the solvents take longer to evaporate, taking the paint longer to dry. This type of paint also falls on the higher end of the price ladder.
- Turbo clear coat: for collision repairs and touchups, this is the ideal coat for you. A good quality turbo paint will perfectly hide those dents, scratches, and chips on your vehicle. The paint requires you to do more polishing to achieve a glossy finish. The paint dries pretty fast, and you can do buffing shortly after applying it.
Level of gloss
Once you have decided on the right type of clear coat to buy, you should now check its level of gloss. Manufacturers of these paint optimize them with varying gloss levels, ranging from 0 (lowest level) to 100 (the highest level). Assuming you want to give your car a beautiful shiny look, you should get paint with a gloss level of anything from 90 or higher.
Transparency
The clear coats are called so for a reason. They're 100% non-pigmented. And this means the paint you choose should be 100% transparent, so it doesn't alter or cover up your car's original paint. Some manufacturers misinform you by labeling their products as clear coats, only for you to find out that they're not truly clear and might end up darkening your vehicle base coat. Check user reviews to ensure you're getting something that forms a super-clear, glass-like layer atop your vehicle's base paint.
Scratch resistance
The best clear coat spray can ought to feature excellent scratch resistance properties. Scratches are almost unavoidable when it comes to vehicles. For this reason, you want a coat whose part of protective properties it offers your car involves shielding it from scratch, abrasion, and chipping.
Easy application
Before you buy that can of automotive clear coat spray, make sure that it's also optimized for easy application. Hiring professionals to do the car painting job can be an expensive affair. You should embark on getting a can that allows you to do the spraying on your own and obtain an attractive, professional finish. Cans featuring uniquely designed nozzles that works like a professional spray gun will give you a smooth, even, professional finish on your car.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many coats of clear coat should I use?You should aim for 2-3 coats for the best results. Make sure the first coat is light to prevent shrinkage, which can lead to cracks. Any other coat that comes after the first one should be full and wet. Most manufacturers usually indicate the number of layers to apply on your vehicle, so you should consult your manual as well.
Q: How long does 2k clear coat last?The initial drying (to the touch) for 2k clear coast is usually around 30-60 minutes. However, complete drying tends to take longer; it can go for approx. 24 hours. Again, consult your user manual for the best drying advice regarding your specific 2k clear coat.
Q: Can you brush on automotive clear coat?You can brush on a clear coat on your car, but you won't get satisfactory results as you'd with a sprayer. Using a spray can method also is also a much easier and faster way to apply the clear coat compared to a paintbrush.
Q: Should I sand between coats of clearcoat?No! Sanding between clear coats isn't a wide idea since the coats aren't fully cure and you might end up gouging. The clearcoat coats are also thinner than you think and you might end up sanding through them and to the basecoat. This can lead to formation of base paint scratches that you'll need to respray to cover them.
Q: Can you spray clear coat over old clear coat?You can apply clear coat over the existing clear coat if it's still in good condition. If the old coat is damaged, however, we suggest that you first remove it and start applying the new clearcoat from your vehicle's base coat.
Q: Why is my clear coat not glossy?Your clear coat might not yet be completely cured, so you should give it more time. Other possible reason why your clear coat doesn't come out glossy include poor prep work, buying poor quality clear coat (with low gloss level), applying coats with inadequate thickness.
Q: Which is better 1k or 2k paint?The 2K paint is more hard-wearing than 1K, making it suitable for areas that are prone to scratches and general tear and wear. This means it will withstand daily abuse to offer your vehicle ultimate protection from elements.
Final VerdictDon't let your car's base paint suffer from exposure to UV rays, snow, moisture, and scratches again. From our best automotive spray paint in a can reviews above, you'll find a great-quality clear coat that you can apply over your car's base paint to seal out moisture and keep UV rays from dulling it. Not to forget, the coat will form a beautiful, eye-pleasing, glossy finish to give your vehicle a fresh look.