It’s important to care for your car’s paint; it’s the skin and ultimate protection from rusting metal, not to mention how nice shiny paint looks, no matter what body style or year of the car.
If you neglect your car’s finish, the harmful elements such as bird droppings, tree sap, pollen, brake dust, etc., oxidize, corrode and deteriorate your car’s paint job. Most commonly, a dull finish is a sign of breakdown of paint layers. Through the years, more breakdown of paint can lead to rusting.
As soon as your car rolls out your garage, you’re exposing it to potentially harmful elements. Even if you have your car locked up most of the time in a garage with a cover, there really is no safe place for your car. In fact, you don’t even have to take it out of the garage to expose it to these elements. Your car collects dust even while it’s parked inside your garage, which can also lead to paint penetration if not treated properly.
It really doesn’t matter if you use your car regularly or sporadically. You should know how to take care of your car’s paint job. Neglecting to take proper care of your car’s paint job is a costly expense and easily preventable with these simple tips on how to take care of the paint job of your car:
Tips When Taking Care of Your Car’s Paint Job
Clean the car regularly
Take the time to clean your car regularly, or at least rinse the dust/dirt off if you don’t have time for a full cleaning. It will save you time and money in the long run to keep your car paint fresh.
Here are some additional tips when cleaning your car:
o Rinse the car first before applying soap. This ensures that there won’t be any sand or dirt on the car that can scratch your car once you apply soap with a sponge.
o Use car soap for your car paint job. Don’t be tempted to use dish detergent. Your car’s not a plate.
o Use a good sponge. Really, any type of heavy-duty sponge will do.
o Unless you’re a group of 2 to 4, clean one part of the car at a time. This ensures that water won’t be drying from one side (that can lead to ugly
water marks) while you’re still soaping the other side.
o Take time to blot the car dry. This is better than just wiping the car dry or worse, driving off to “air dry” the car which can lead to dried water deposits.
Wax the car
While cleaning the car gets rid of dirt, waxing it protects your car paint job from the elements. In fact, a good wax can even bounce UV rays off of your car. In addition, it helps improve the appearance of the car paint job.
It’s a good idea to invest on carnauba wax. At the very least, the wax should have at least 20% carnauba. If you’re on a budget, polymer-based waxes are great alternatives.
Practical Tips to Protect the Paint Job of your Car
In addition to regular cleaning, rinsing, drying and waxing, here are practical tips that are often forgotten by car owners:
Give your car space in the garage.
Don’t pack your garage with junk on all sides. You’re just increasing the chances of someone hitting junk with your car’s door when they open your car.
When a sign says “Park at Your Own Risk”, don’t park at your own risk.
There’s a reason why there’s a sign like this. You wouldn’t want scaffolding falling on the hood of your car and ruining its paint job, right?
Don’t park under the sun.
Just like chicken in an oven, your car will get roasted if parked under the sun for a long time. Choose a covered parking spot whenever possible (sans trees and sap)
Address scratches, no matter how small or shallow the scratch- having it waxed out or repaired is beneficial to prevent long-term damage
A good car detailer should be able to remove the scratch. If you leave the scratch for too long, it can get worse.
Enjoy your Car Paint Job Longer
You can enjoy the paint job of your car longer if you follow these tips. You can avoid expensive trips to the car detailer if you’re going to take care of the paint job of your car the right way by following these tips. Your car is an investment and the car paint job is part of the investment. Make sure that you’re getting amazing life out of the skin your car is in.
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