What Is the Best and Easiest Paint to Use on a Car?
Acrylic urethane is the easiest DIY auto paint, while Acrylic enamel has the best quality.
Written by Brady Klopfer
Edited by Pat Roache
Car owners who are painting their car for the first time should opt for an easy-to-apply acrylic urethane paint, while those with more experience may want to opt for higher-quality acrylic enamel paint.
- Acrylic urethane is an easy-to-use automotive paint that lasts for a relatively long time.
- Acrylic enamel paint is the highest quality paint you can use but is much more complicated to apply than acrylic urethane.
- Car painters should avoid using acrylic lacquer—it’s illegal in most states for its environmental impact.
- Acrylic urethane is an easy-to-use automotive paint that lasts for a relatively long time.
- Acrylic enamel paint is the highest quality paint you can use but is much more complicated to apply than acrylic urethane.
- Car painters should avoid using acrylic lacquer—it’s illegal in most states for its environmental impact.
The easiest paint to use on a car: acrylic urethane
Acrylic urethane is a great do-it-yourself car paint for all skill levels thanks to the following benefits:
- It’s very easy to apply
- It doesn’t run very much
- It lasts for a very long time
Some car paints that get marketed for first-time car painters have a very short shelf life, and you’ll find yourself needing to repaint the car with great regularity. That’s not the case with acrylic urethane, so you’ll get to enjoy your paint job for many years to come.
Keep in mind: Acrylic urethane utilizes a drying catalyst that makes it dry quickly (which is how you don’t get runs). So once you mix the paint, you’re going to need to get immediately started on the paint job.
The best type of paint to use on a car: Acrylic enamel
Acrylic enamel paint gets the most frequent high grades for being good quality. That said, it’s much more difficult to apply than acrylic urethane.
Expert tip: You should only use acrylic enamel if you have experience and are comfortable with painting a car. Otherwise, you’ll want to stick to acrylic urethane or consider taking your car in for a
professional paint job
.Car paint to avoid: Acrylic lacquer
Acrylic lacquer used to be more common as an extremely user-friendly option, but it’s now illegal in most states. Even if it is legal where you live, it has the following disadvantages:
- It has a really bad environmental impact.
- It doesn’t last very long.
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