The winter months can do untold damage to your car’s paintwork, if you don’t look after it. While it’s not so pleasant washing and cleaning your car on a cold windy day, you will be pleased you did when the spring arrives.

During the winter the roads get covered with salt to stop them freezing and the salt deposits stick to your paintwork like glue. The salt deposits then start to eat away at the paintwork and before long you find rust appearing in vulnerable areas, such as around the wheel arches. Additionally, salt left on windshield wipers can rot the blades.

Firstly, the best thing to do is to ensure that your car’s paintwork gets a good wax coating, before the bad weather sets in. This forms a seal over the paintwork making it more difficult for dirt and salt deposits to stick and eat into the paint. You can always tell a highly waxed car, because when it rains water droplets form over the car and run off easily.

Secondly, try to keep your car as clean as possible. Just a very quick spray from a hose pipe and rub over with a soft brush will remove any build up of dirt. You don’t need to dry the car, just simply wash it down and don’t forget to do around the wheel arches as this is where most of the dirt collects. During the winter dirt deposits may not dry out so they stay on your paintwork which can lead to rust forming.

Thirdly, always wash salt off the car as soon as you can. Obviously if the temperature is below zero it’s possible to wash your car. However, as soon as you know the temperature is above freezing, and is likely to remain so for a few hours, you need to get outside with warm soapy water and a brush. Give the paintwork a good wash down, especially along the sides of the car and around the wheel arches. Rinse off the soapy water with a hose.

If you have a garage then it’s best to put your car in it overnight. The garage protects the car from frost or snow and means that in the morning you are able to get in your car and drive off, rather than having to scrap your windows and wait for the car to warm up.

Once the winter is over and the warmer weather begins, you need to give your car a heavy duty clean. Even if you have followed all the tips in this article, your car’s paintwork will have deep seated dirt deposits. Wash your car a couple of times with a suitable car detergent, rinse it well and then dry it. Once the car is totally dry, give it a good covering in wax. You will find that however bad the weather was during the winter, your car’s paintwork looks as good as it did when you polished it in the fall.

Lawrence Reaves writes about Used Dodge Engines and Used Dodge Transmissions for Woodfins.com

Lawrence Reaves writes about Used Dodge Engines and Used Dodge Transmissions for http://www.Woodfins.com

Author Bio: Lawrence Reaves writes about Used Dodge Engines and Used Dodge Transmissions for Woodfins.com

Category: Automotive
Keywords: cars, car parts, auto parts, used auto parts, DIY car maintenance, general car care