4 Steps to Protect Your Cars Against Road Salt
Posted on by The Simoniz Garage
Winter time isn't just tough for us people; it is extremely tough on your cars paint and interior. However, there are 4 simple, but important steps that can be taken to prevent salt damage.
Step 1: Wash and Wax Your Car BEFORE the First Road Salting
The #1 most important thing to is make sure your cars paint is prepared for the winter ahead. Therefore, before freezing temperatures start creeping into our mornings and nights, make sure to wash and wax your vehicle. This way your car has a sacrificial layer of protection that the road salt can easily be removed from and not directly stuck to your cars clear coat.
Simoniz Garage Recommendations: Wash 'N Shine & Strawberry Express Wax (or click HERE for a kit that includes these two items PLUS Ceramic Sealant). If this is your cars first wash and wax in quite some time, we recommend, after the wash process that you use our Detailers Choice as a lubricant and use a clay bar to pick up any contaminants that may have been left behind during the basic wash.
Note** Prior to waxing your car in step #1: Take a walk around your vehicle and identify if there are any deep scratches that salt can get trapped in if the wax wears away later and make sure to correct (see Step #2)
Step 2: Fix Any Scratches Revealed by the Wash
This step is so crucial to the preservation of the paint of your vehicle. If there are micro scratches or deep scratches, salt can get trapped in them and eat away at your paint leading to rust spots on your vehicle. To remove micro scratches, we recommend checking out our Correction Creme, Traverse and Transcend products (light, medium, hard cut compounds) for paint correction.
If there are deep scratches, stop by your local auto parts store and get a paint touch up kit. This way the salt doesn't get directly underneath the paint of your vehicle, speeding up the rusting process.
Once this is completed go back to step one and wax your vehicle!
Step 3: Wash Your Car Often & Apply Wax When Needed
We all know road salt eats away at your paint, but that also means it eats away at the sacrificial layer of wax that you applied in step 1. Therefore, to keep that protection lasting as long as possible, often rinse or completely wash your vehicle. This could be on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Just note that the longer you go without washing your vehicle, the longer the salt will sit on the wax until there is none protecting the paint. Re-apply wax as you feel necessary.
Step 4: Switch to Rubber Floor Mats!
When it comes to the interior of your car, the fabric floor mats will take most of the beating from the salt from the roads because it gets tracked in by your shoes or boots. Allowing that to sit on the fabric will do unfixable damage to them. Therefore, we recommend removing them from the equation.
They may not be the prettiest, but rubber mats in the winter time are easy to swap in and very easy to clean. They also will hold all moisture so you don't have to worry about the salt seeping through to the fabric underneath the mat as well.
Happy Driving!
The Simoniz Garage