How to touch up a rusted paint chip?

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I've got a paint chip on the edge of one of my doors. It has already started to rust. I normally touch up anykind of chips as soon as I see them. Would it be ok to paint over the rust or should I clean the rust off first? I don't want to risk removing any paint while trying to clean the rust off. The affected area is probably about half the size of a pea.
 
I use a pencil sander. You can get one in the automotive section at Wal-Mart. Use the pencil sander to sand away the rust, primer it (or not) and put a dab of touch-up paint on it.
 
Use a dremel tool with a little wire brush on it and carefully nock off the rust. Or use very fine sandpaper, folded over a popsicle stick.

Then, use a little buffer pad to haze the surrounding paint by about 2MM. Or 1000+ grit sandpaper wrapped around your index finger.

Gently lay on a THIN coat of touch up paint with the brush, let it dry. Then put on a second thicker coat and call it a day.
 
If you don't use something like POR15 or Rustbullet your just wasting your time and money, it will come right back.
 
You need to remove the rust down to bare metal and maybe out a little farther (maybe 1mm) than the chip to make sure you've got it all. I have used a sanding/prep pen to sand down chips and door dings, cleaned the area with alcohol, then painted with dealer touch up paint using the brush in the cap or a toothpick for smaller chips. It can take a few coats, just let it dry according to the instructions in between.

I was intimidated the first time I tried this but its pretty easy. The sanding pen was a little slow, but was easy to use. Don't be afraid afraid about removing a little paint, its better to get all the rust than to just paint over it.
 
+1 for the rust pen. It's a very small, nicely abrasive, easily controlled tool to remove the surface rust of your chip. Dont mess with magic fluids, just carefully run the pen over the chip until the rust is gone, wipe the dust away, put on a thin coat of primer, let dry, and add your color with the very nifty applicators available from Griots.

If the rust is superficial, don't make a mountain out of the proverbial mole hill, and make sure you use the proper applicator so you dolt end up with something that looks like a scab.
 
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