Dr. Wack "A1" A1 "Kratzer Polish" Polish (+microfibre cloth) 50ml

A1 "Kratzer Polish" removes swirls instead of filling them

What is A1 "Kratzer Polish"? A silicone-free hand polish from Dr. Wack for individual fine scratches in clear coat and hard plastic, headlights included. Not for matte paint, matte wraps, chrome trim or scratches that go down to the primer.

A1 "Kratzer Polish" is a scratch remover polish from Dr. Wack in Baar-Ebenhausen that works fine scratches out of clear coat and hard plastic surfaces in one step. The reason you can see a scratch like that at all isn't missing paint. The groove has rough, broken flanks, and they bounce incoming light back in every direction instead of one. Your eye reads that as a white line.

Think frosted glass. The pane isn't dark, it's just rough, and that's exactly why you can't see through it. A fine scratch is the miniature version of that, a few microns wide. The abrasives in Kratzer Polish have a very uniform grain size and break down into smaller and smaller particles as you work. They smooth the flanks until the spot reflects light in a single, focused direction again. You'll notice it: the reflection runs across the spot without a break.

• The alcohol test proved it. In 2022, AUTO BILD compared scratch removers and then wiped the polished areas down with an alcohol solution — in the scene, that step is called a panel wipe. Whatever had only been covered up with silicone showed up again. With Kratzer Polish, the gloss stayed put: 259.5 out of 300 points, grade 1.6, a win against nine competitors and Product of the Year.
• 50 ml, not a gram of silicone. Silicone-free isn't a label here, it's the reason the result lasts. There's simply nothing that could slip into the groove and fake gloss. A second benefit, in case a panel gets resprayed soon: body shops keep silicone away from the car, because residue in fresh paint causes craters.
• Paint, bumpers and headlights from one tube. On hard plastic, Dr. Wack approves three kinds of damage: yellowing, dullness and fine scratches, especially on polycarbonate headlight lenses. In practice, that means you don't need a second product for the cloudy headlight, or for the branch scratch on the door.

Detailing1's tip from the shop: Use two cloths, not one. Dr. Wack includes the microfibre cloth specifically for buffing off; according to the instructions, you apply with a damp cloth. Do both with the same rag and at the end you'll drag the saturated side back over the freshly polished spot, turning gloss into smears. So use a second, slightly damp cloth to apply, and keep the included one dry for removal. What we see day-to-day, that's the one move that decides between clean and almost clean.

Once it's dried on, Kratzer Polish stops working

Direct sun and warm panels make the polish dry on before it has done its job. It needs a clean, dry, cool surface and a cloth that stays damp.

Shake the tube, put a small amount on the damp cloth, then work it into the spot with pressure. Work in palm-sized sections rather than the whole door — Dr. Wack explicitly says to treat larger areas section by section.

As long as the cloth stays damp, the abrasives stay mobile. Once it dries, you're just pushing paste around the paint instead of removing material. Then add more product rather than rubbing longer.

Work a little beyond the scratch. Polish removes clear coat, and if you stop exactly on the line, you create a hard edge between treated and untreated paint. In raking light you'll then see a patch instead of a scratch. Feather out 2 to 3 cm beyond it with decreasing pressure and the transition disappears.

Then let the spot dry on well and buff it to a high gloss with the included dry cloth. If the scratch is still there, repeat the pass. That's the intended route, not a sign that the tube is too weak. The first time, a door edge takes longer than you'd think; by the third time, you'll do it in passing.

The formula is approved for machine polishers. That's worth it for a dull headlight or a bonnet scratched all over; for a single branch scratch, your hand is quicker than setting up the machine. If you see holograms in direct light afterwards — fine smears in the reflection — the pressure was too high or the pad too dry.

If your fingernail catches, only a body shop can help

A1 "Kratzer Polish" works in the clear coat, the top layer. Run your nail across the scratch, and if it catches, the groove goes deeper than any polish will ever reach.

Dr. Wack is clear about this itself: scratches down to the primer can only be fixed with a paint repair at a body shop. The target is car-wash swirls, wipe marks, the branch scratch from the farm-track exit, the bag buckle on the driver's door. Anything you can't feel with your fingernail is a job for the tube.

Two surfaces are completely off limits: matte paint and matte wraps. A polish whose purpose is gloss does exactly the wrong thing there, and you won't get it back. Nor does the product belong on chrome-plated plastic parts like badges, or on soft unpainted plastics in the cabin, such as the dashboard and door cards.

The headlight deserves a line of its own, because two things get mixed up there. The lens is a type-approved polycarbonate part with a thin factory protective layer — the plastic's sunscreen. Take that off with sandpaper and you've modified an approved part, which the roadworthiness inspection treats as a major defect.

A polish that just brightens the yellowed film on top of that layer is a different thing, and that's exactly what Dr. Wack approves the headlight for. If the protective layer is gone over a large area and the lens feels chalky, though, this tube won't bring it back to new either. Then it's a specialist with a fresh sealing layer, or a new part.

And a limit that isn't on any label: if the spot is still visible after the second pass, stop. Every further pass takes clear coat, and you won't get that back. A faintly visible scratch is a smaller problem than a panel with too-thin clear coat that'll be the first to start chalking in a few years.

So the split is simple. If three specific spots bug you, grab A1 "Kratzer Polish". If the whole paint looks dull and grey, an all-over polish with carnauba protection is the right tool — 500 ml, meant for the whole car.

50 millilitres is enough for spots. Not for panels.

Fifty millilitres sit on the shelf next to a 500 millilitre all-over polish from the same range. The factor of ten isn't cost-cutting, it's a statement of what the tube is for.

It's for drivers who have their car under control and see an annoyance in two or three places: the wipe marks around the fuel flap, the pale line on the wing, the cloudy headlight. If you want to refresh the entire paint, 50 ml is the wrong size. That's what the big packs in our car polishes are for.

The tube's standing in the market speaks for itself, without any fuss. AUTO BILD test winner 2022; auto motor und sport already had it in first place out of eight back in 2014, with 122 out of 150 points. For a product that's had the same single job for years, that's the more interesting number than any superlative.

As long as the groove sits in the clear coat, it's a cosmetic problem and fixable by hand. Once it goes through base coat and primer, it becomes a substance problem, and the tube is out of its depth. That's why it makes sense to keep it in the car, not on the shelf: a spot you treat the day it happens is the easiest case this product will ever get.

And the point no tube tells you: after buffing off, that exact spot is the only one on the car with no protective film. Silicone-free also means nothing is left behind — no wax, no polymer, nothing.

The freshly exposed clear coat picks up road film faster than the paint around it, and the spot soon stands out again, this time because it's duller than the rest of the door. Lay a spray sealant from the same range straight over it. That's the difference between a scratch that's gone and a spot that stays gone.

How to use A1 "Kratzer Polish"

Apply damp, remove dry

Wash and dry the spot first. Unwashed paint carries loose grit, and you'd drag it across the surface while polishing — trading one scratch for several. Work in the shade on a cool surface, never in blazing sun and never on a hot panel.

Shake the tube and put a small amount on a damp microfibre cloth, not directly on the paint. Work it into the spot with pressure, staying within palm-sized sections. Larger areas are explicitly treated section by section, or the polish dries on before it has done its job.

Keep the cloth damp enough the whole time and add more as needed. As soon as it runs dry, the abrasives are just pushing paste over the clear coat instead of removing material — the most common reason a pass does nothing.

Then let the polished spot dry on well and buff to a high gloss with the included dry cloth. If the scratch is still there, repeat; that's the intended route. Because the product is silicone-free and leaves nothing on the spot, it's best to lay a spray sealant from the same range over it afterwards.

Notes: Matte paint and matte wraps are ruled out, as are chrome-plated plastic parts like badges and soft unpainted plastics in the cabin, such as the dashboard or door cards. Scratches down to the primer need a paint repair at a body shop — the fingernail test tells you beforehand: if it catches, the groove is too deep. On plastic headlights, you brighten the yellowed film on the factory protective layer; a lens is never sanded, because it's a type-approved part. The formula is also approved for machine polishers, which mainly makes sense on dull headlights and large areas. Store the tube closed, frost-free and out of direct sun.