How to keep your vehicle looking great -
Car Washing 101

Your car or trucks finish, like human skin, is what makes it look its best. Every vehicle starts life with a beautiful, lustrous finish, but everyday driving, weather conditions and ultra violet rays take their toll. Car washing itself can potentially harm your vehicles finish. Follow these instructions for proper washing to help preserve your vehicles good looks:

is what makes What is the best product for a car wash? The answer is to use what you like the best — but there are some drawbacks and advantages you should be aware of. Dish detergents can be used, but these are designed to remove fats from dishware. They will remove your car wax. If you want to wash and wax every week, go ahead and use dish detergent.

If you want to retain your waxed finish, use a product that is specifically designed for automotive use. These products are detergent based not soap. Soaps are manufactured from animal byproducts and contain trace elements that can actually harm your paint.

Quality car wash products are usually pH controlled and contain gloss enhancers. Some even have small amounts of water-soluble wax. The trick is to use only enough car wash to break the electrostatic/ionic bond between the dirt and your cars surface. Use a large clean plastic bucket; add a small amount of the car wash and fill with cool water. Avoid using hot water, as the heat will soften the wax. Consult the application directions on the car wash container and reduce the recommended amount by half. This is to avoid removing more wax than necessary. Avoid powder car washes — the undissolved granules can scratch the paint. Park your vehicle in the shade so that the paint surface is cool — if you can comfortably hold your hand on the hood, you can wash the car.

To begin, spray the car with a gentle spray to completely wet the entire surface. Don't use a high pressure spray, it may just grind the surface dirt into the paint and cause scratches. Start at the top and work down. Re-wet the top; gently wash it and then rinse off the suds. Move to another nearby section, re-wet the area, wash and rinse. Continue, completing a section at a time. By proceeding this way, the car wash will not dry on the paint.

Use a wash mitt, a wash pad or a sponge to wash your vehicle. Wash mitts are preferred as the surface grit tends to work up into the wash mitt fibres and not scratch the paint.

Dry the car as soon as possible using old, clean 100% cotton, terrycloth towels. Most towels contain polymer fibres that can scratch so do not assume that the 100% cotton label on the towel is accurate. The way to check the content of the towel is to set fire to a corner of the towel — if there is a clean flame, it is 100% cotton. If you see black smoke and melted fibbers, then do not use it.

Starting at the top of the vehicle, lay the towel on the surface and very gently blot up the water. Change to a dry towel and blot any remaining water. Move to other flat surfaces like the hood or trunk and repeat the blotting. Dry the sides of the vehicle last. Alternately, you could use a chamois. Chamois come in two types, natural and synthetic, but be aware: the natural leather chamois contain acids, primarily tannic, that strip wax and most synthetic towels don't seem to do a satisfactory job. Driving the car to dry it may be fun, but you are just re-depositing dirt that sticks to the wet surface .

Birds present one of the most damaging products that attack paint. The longer you leave these deposits on your paint, the more damage they will cause — the acids in the bird poo actually etch a microscopic depression in the paint. Remove poo as soon as possible to minimize the damage. Carry a bottle of no salt seltzer water in the vehicle. This is a mixture of water and carbon dioxide which will not harm paint. When you spot a bird poo deposit, take off the cap, place your thumb over the top, shake well and spray the area to remove the poo. Rub the area as little as possible as birds use gravel to digest their food and grit is one of the major components of their poo. If you rub, you may scratch the paint. Once you get back home, wash the area with car wash, rinse thoroughly and dry as above. You can then use a little Maguire's #34 or a similar compound to remove any leftover acids. Later, give the area a coat of wax. If the acids have left a slight mark in the paint 3M Imperial Hand Glaze will usually remove all traces of the damage.

Following these washing instructions will help preserve the beauty and lustre of your vehicle's paint for years to come. Of course, if your vehicle's paint has already lost its new car glow, come and see us for a refinish estimate!

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