Unpopular opinion: I thought the 'toothpaste for bluing touch-ups' trick was total nonsense.

A customer in Boise swore by using a dab of plain white toothpaste to hide small scratches on a blued finish, so I tried it on a test piece of scrap barrel steel. After buffing it off with a soft cloth, the scratch was genuinely less visible, and it didn't harm the existing finish at all. Has anyone else actually tested this weird old hack, and does it hold up over time?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot_lee22d ago

It's just a scratch, not a museum piece. If it works, it works.

fisher.mason23d ago

My first attempt at that trick was on a scratched-up old revolver. I figured I'd just make a minty fresh mess, but it actually worked. It's held up for a year now, just sitting in the safe. I guess the mild abrasive in the toothpaste can polish out the very light surface scratches. Still feels weird to be brushing my guns, though.

kevin_hernandez832d ago

Honestly that sounds like a bad idea long term. Toothpaste has water and other stuff that can cause rust under the finish. A proper metal polish is cheap and made for the job.