How to Fix Scratches on a Stroller

Scratches may look nice on an enemy in a street fight, but they don’t look good on anything else. These marks look particularly bad on a new stroller frame, and it’s disconcerting that an expensive stroller should get scrapped that soon. If you’re considering buying a used stroller from someone online or in person, you don’t want it to have value-diminishing scuff marks or scratches allover the chassis.

Related: Best Strollers for Walk-up Apartments

The good news is that you can do something about stroller scratches and scuff marks. In this resource, you’ll learn how to fix scratches on a stroller and get it looking as close to new as possible.

Can You Remove Even the Ugliest Stroller Scratches?

No, you can’t, unfortunately. If you try too hard to remove stroller scratches, you’ll end up  with a stroller frame that doesn’t look uniform. But yes, you can make it seem like your stroller isn’t too old by smoothing out some of the marks. Whether your stroller is has a black frame with white marks or is white with blacks marks thanks to paint transfers, you can take corrective action.

What’s the Best Way to Remove Stroller Frame Scratches?

The best way to remove ugly stroller chassis marks and scratches is to use the scratchy side of a soapy dish sponge rub the mark off. If this doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped, grab a good microfiber sponge (this can be pretty abrasive), dampen it with nail polish, and get down to business. Don’t overdo the frame scrub or you’ll end up doing more harm than good.

Step-by-step Guide to Removing Scratches from a Stroller Frame

What you need to perform the task correctly:

• Warm water in a bucket or other container
• A dry piece of cloth
• Mild dish soap
• Metal paint: Hammerite works well
• A dish sponge (one of the sides needs to be rougher than the other)
• A microfiber sponge (more abrasive than the scratchy side of a dish sponge; search for this supply online). I recommend the O-Cedar Scrunge Multi-Use Scrubbing Sponge for Hard Surfaces. It cleans tiles, metallic, and other hard surfaces better than anything I’ve seen)

Follow the steps below to get your baby’s pushchair looking as good as new. Or at least better than it looked before you went to work on it.

Step #1: Prepare the Affected Spot

Make sure that the scratched area is nice and clean before getting down to any kind of scrubbing work. To execute this step, simply use a dry piece of cloth to rub off any loose dirt and grime on the area you’re about to treat.

I assume that the area you’re trying to rejuvenate doesn’t have rust and the paintwork on the frame is in good condition.

Step #2: Pour a reasonable amount of warm water into a bucket or washbasin. Then, add in mild dish washing soap and stir the solution with a hand to make it evenly soapy.

Step #3: Dip a microfiber sponge into the warm soapy water, squeeze excess water out, and use it to rub over the scratch. If the scratches are tiny, chances are that buffing them out with a microfiber sponge will solve the problem.

But if the scratches are larger, I’m afraid that merely using a soapy sponge won’t achieve any noticeable change. If this is the situation you’re looking at, proceed to the next step.

Step #4: Rinse the cleaned spot off with clean water (soap-less) and let it air-dry.

Step #5: Apply some Hammerite or other similar metal paint to the scratched spot. The idea here isn’t to coat the area under restoration with a whole new layer of paint. Instead, you’re trying to fill in the scratches carefully so that the final result matches the initial appearance of the area.

Step #5: Leave the treated area to air-dry for 2 hours. Once nice and dry, clean the area with a damp cloth and let it to air-dry for a few minutes and you’re done.

Note: this is the exact same cleaning process to use when removing scuffs from a stroller’s chassis.

How to Make a Stroller Look As Good As New

After tackling stroller frame scratches, you want to give the thing a thorough clean to make it look really nice. How do you clean a stroller? Follow the steps below to learn. Or click over to this post I wrote a couple of months ago and get a more detailed stroller cleaning guide.

Step #1: Remove any stroller part that’s removable and toss what’s machine-washable into the washer. For the most part, and contrary to what many “experts” out there say, many stroller seats are washable in a washing machine. That said, be sure to check the stroller’s user manual to make sure you’re doing the right thing.

If the canopy is machine washable, remove it and put it in the washer. Some canopies and seats can be difficult to remove. Be sure to watch a few YT videos to learn how to remove the seat or sunshade of the stroller you seek to clean.

There are other parts such as cup holders and child trays and parent trays and sippy cups that you can detach and toss in the dishwasher.

What If the Stroller’s Fabrics Are Not Removable?

If the stroller’s fabrics are not removable, no problem. Grab a hand-held vacuum cleaner and start working. Use this tool to pick up any dry spills out of the stroller’s nooks and crannies. You may have to attach a crevice tool to handle this task.

Once you get bits of dry cookies and other crunchy snacks out of those hard-to-reach spots, spot-clean the seat and canopy. Then, get a clean rag or cloth dipped in mild soap and wipe the frame and wheels clean. If the wheels are too dirty, you may need to remove them and deep clean them using a hard-thistle brush.

As for the foam-coated or leather handles of the stroller, wipe the clean with a damp rag. It’s that easy.

Step #2: Wash the frame with mild soap and water. Use a clean cloth for this task. As for the wheels, use your hands to remove any debris and materials you can from the tires. Then, use a brush to scrub the wheels until they’re nice and clean.

Step #3: Rinse off the stroller with clean water and let it dry off out in the sun or indoors. If you need to use a dryer to hasten the drying go ahead.

*Don’t put a stroller seat or canopy in a dryer. It’s almost always best to air-dry a stroller’s fabrics. And if you’re unsure about how to re-install the seat and canopy, take a photo of these parts before starting off the cleaning process. Alternatively (recommended), watch YT videos on how to remove and re-install said parts.

What If the Stroller’s Fabric Has Mold?

Mold on a stroller’s canopy, seat, and handlebars looks bad. Period. You can use good old baking soda mixed with some vinegar to deal with this nasty infestation. You may also use bleach to tackle mold on a stroller’s fabric, but be sure to apply this product right. Most stroller fabrics can withstand chlorine bleach, but read the care label to learn the warnings the manufacturer’s listed down.Here’s a post I wrote not so long ago on how to get mold off a stroller.

How to Remove Rust from a Stroller Frame Using WD-40

What if you bought a nice baby stroller off someone and it looks great but the frame seems rusted? WD-40 is the best solution when it comes to cleaning up rust off a stroller’s frames and wheel rims. If your stroller has a steel frame (it must be really heavy, right?) and wheel rims (pretty common), it’s hard to avoid rust.

To remove rust from a stroller frame and wheels, sprat some WD-40 onto the frame and wheels and use a reasonably rough sponge to work the cleanser in. This works really well. Finally, use a clean damp cloth to rinse the cleaning agent off and dry off the stroller for the next use.

You Can’t Restore the Original Black Paint on a Stroller

For some reason, most baby strollers are black in color, and that’s OK. One thing to understand is that this final coat you see, whether it’s glossy or not-so-much-so, isn’t different than a car’s powder-coated surface. The best you can do to hide scratches on a Graco Modes Stroller, City Select Lux, Babyzen Yoyo, or any other stroller is to carefully fill up the scratches with a metal paint such as Hammerite.

Your job is to try to match the color of the metal paint to the original color on the frame. But it’s extremely hard if not impossible to make the paint-filled spots to look exactly like the original color of the affected chassis.

Here’s the thing:don’t try to apply a whole new coat to the scratched frame. Instead, just touch up the scratches on the chassis a bit and that’s it.

How to Remove Scuff Marks from Any Stroller

If paint from a freshly painted wall, outdoor stroller shed, or anything else transfers to a stroller’s frame, wheels, or any other part, that is a scuff mark not a scratch. Here’s a video on how to remove scuff from a Babyzen Yoyo stroller.

In my experience cleaning and maintaining our family’s strollers, getting rid of a scuffs is way easier than dealing with an obvious scratch.

To get scuffs off of a stroller’s frame, simply get a soaped up dish sponge and use it to rub the scuff off. If it’s not a stubborn mark, it’ll most likely come out without too much work or force. But if the scuff is a tad too stubborn, wet a more scratchy sponge (specifically a microfiber sponge) and start sanding out the unsightly stuff on the metal or plastic.

If you’d like to see how this process works, here’s a short video on how to shine up a stroller’s frame using a microfiber sponge dampened with nail polish. You may have to apply a little more force to loosen up the mess, but if you go extremely hard on it, I bet you won’t like the results very much.

How to Sanitize a Used Stroller

Baby wipes are the best way to sanitize a stroller after you clean it. Simply grab a few baby wipes and get down to wiping the stroller in its entirety. It’s that simple.

How to Polish a Stroller Frame

WD-40 is probably the smartest way to polish up a rusty stroller frame and leave it shining.

Conclusion

It’s not always possible to remove scratches from a stroller and leave it sparkling as it did when it came in spanking-new. But if the scratches aren’t too bad, buffing them out with a soapy scrubbing sponge and applying a small amount of an appropriate metal paint such as Hammerite should do the trick.