Winter weather poses a lot of challenges for vehicle owners, both in terms of driving and maintenance. The salt that gets spread on roadways during the winter is crucial for maintaining road safety, but can also corrode the surface of your vehicle if left unaddressed.
Here are a few of the steps you can take to prioritize harsh weather paint protection this winter:
- Wash your car whenever possible: You should continue to wash your vehicle regularly over the winter, especially on days where the air temperature is above freezing. Pay a quick visit to your local car wash so you can get off all the road salt. Make sure you’re also getting the undercarriage washed, as it will experience a lot of wear and tear during wintery weather.
- Park inside: Whenever possible, park your vehicle inside. You should especially avoid parking on the street, as plows and salt trucks will pass by and spray snow and salt on your vehicle. That’s not even to mention the potential for other cars to damage your vehicle due to slippery conditions. It’s best to keep your vehicle in a garage, or at least in your driveway whenever possible.
- Maintain your wax: If you have a garage, you can take this task on yourself on relatively warmer days. A quick coat of wax helps you maintain the protective barrier between your vehicle’s body and all of the winter debris and grime that could damage it. It’s especially important to add new wax toward the end of fall before you get your first snow of the year.
- Use paint protection films: One of our best winter paint protection tips is to apply a paint protection film to guard your vehicle from potential damage caused by dirt, salt and gravel. The films we used are specifically designed for automotive paint protection, and are thin and transparent. You’ll hardly notice them, but they’ll do a lot to protect your vehicle’s paint, especially during the winter months.
- Use soft brushes: Rather than using scrapers or hard-bristle brushes to remove snow from your vehicle, you should instead opt for a brush that has softer bristles, or a brush with a foam head specifically designed for snow removal. Oftentimes, hard-bristle brushes can cause micro-abrasions in the surface of the finish or the paint, which damages the appearance of the vehicle and also creates potential vulnerabilities for moisture and corrosion to take hold.
- Car covers: If you know you’re not going to be able to avoid keeping your car outside during winter weather, you might consider investing in a car cover. This will help you keep excessive moisture and ice off the paint on your vehicle, and also decrease the potential wear and tear caused by regularly scraping and brushing ice and snow off the vehicle. All you need to do is remove the cover in the morning before you head out for your daily commute.
For more harsh weather paint protection tips to put into action this winter, contact the team at Superior Shield today.