Car care glossary
What is blending thinner?
A pure solvent mix without binder that dissolves the overspray at the edge of a repair. Mainly used with a spray gun. For aerosol cans, blending paint is usually the more practical choice.
When you touch up paint, a rough margin of half-dried paint droplets – the overspray – forms at the edge of the newly painted area. For the repair to disappear, this margin has to be dissolved while the fresh paint is still open.
That is what blending thinner does: it is usually a pure solvent mix without binder. It dissolves the overspray but does not add any material to the surface. Workshops use it in a spray gun, often also as an additive to the clear coat for the final pass.
Blending paint has the same goal but is a paint product. For repairs with aerosol cans it is usually the more practical choice: the same technique as for clear coat, nothing to decant, nothing to mix. For both, the rule is the same: little material, only on the edge, never over the whole area.