How to Keep Your Car’s Paint Looking Like Brand New

Frequent washing is critical to remove surface dirt, salt, and contaminants that can damage the paint and leave scratches. This is even more important in the winter months, especially in the snow-belt. Be sure to use an automotive wash and never household cleaners or dish soap – they can strip away wax and leave your paint exposed to UV. Work from the top down to ensure that you don’t re-contaminate the area you just washed.

Remember, the process of washing is to lift dirt and contaminants off and away from the paint surface, not rub and grind those contaminants in farther. This is one of the reasons why many automated car washes tend to leave scratches.

Wash your car in a low-light area where the sun cannot quickly dry your water and soap on the car. Completely flood the vehicle first with water and rinse off any major dirt or salt with water pressure. Avoid re-dipping your brush or sponge into dirty, contaminated water.

Cleaning removes particles that have adhered to the paint, such as tree sap, tar, and even brake dust. Start by determining the level of contaminants. Anything sap, grease, bug or tar based should be removed with Bug and Tar remover and re-washed in that area. You will feel contaminants on the paint by gently running your hand across a perfectly clean panel. It should be completely smooth, and usually it is not.

You want your vehicle to have a smooth finish, free of any contaminants before you proceed on. One of the most popular and easy-to-use, low-risk products to accomplish this is a Clay Bar. Clay Bars work to lift these contaminants off of the paint, and prepare the surface for Polish.

Polishing gives gloss and richness back to your paint and adds depth. Polish and/or Cleaner Wax can be applied by hand, but best results come from a Polishing Buffer, like the Griot’s GG001 polisher, available in AutoZone stores. Work a small section at a time, apply the polish, then removing with a clean cloth once it starts to haze up.

Have a wet cloth ready to remove polish from rubber or glass surfaces, or splatter before it hardens and dries, where it becomes more difficult to remove. Be sure to do your polishing and waxing work completely in the shade, or in the garage.

Waxing protects the finish and adds gloss. Wax also works as a UV protectant in the summer. Frequent exposure to the elements means more frequent waxing to maintain that protection. Use a high-quality car wax and apply in overlapping circles before removing. You can also use your same Griot’s or equivalent buffer to apply wax, just be sure you are using a clean application pad, not re-using your polishing pad without cleaning it.

After applying wax, you can maintain your finish with any number of ceramic coatings that are hitting the market, and these work excellent to add additional protection and water repelling.