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Recently updated on January 10, 2023 at 07:18 am
In winter, people protect themselves from the cold by wearing warm clothing, and animals do the same thing, they grow even thicker fur than they used to have. But how do you make the skin (paint) of your car winterproof or cold-resistant? Rain and salt damage the car paint and even significantly. Proper paint care is therefore crucial and absolutely necessary so that the car paint is not damaged. If you see a white crust on the car, the alarm bells should ring: Under no circumstances should you simply wipe off salt residue that has dried on, if you do this carelessly, you will destroy the paintwork and you have the small salt crystals to thank for that .
The paint on a car is incredibly thin, you can compare it to a human hair, despite the incredible thinness of the paint, it has strong defenses that you would not expect from it. The paints of today's cars are developed in such a way that they withstand salt, rain and the cold in winter, this is also confirmed by Ralf Robert from the well-known paint manufacturer BASF Coatings. However, the car paint is also exposed to mechanical stress such as a stone chipping, in this case there is no clear protection for the paint. If small stones are catapulted against the paint, cracks can be created which, in the worst case, can also be seen on the sheet metal. If the road salt is added in winter, you can wait until the rust starts.
Remove car paint from road salt
Salt water and the road salt itself can get stuck even in the most difficult corners. That's why it's important to clean the car's paintwork with clean water as often as possible in winter, thereby removing the salt from the paintwork. This is also the advice given by Sascha Pfeffer from paint manufacturer Standox. Especially if you drive in salty spray water for a long time, such as on the freeway, you should hose down your car with water as soon as possible. It is most effective if you take your car to a car wash. Nevertheless, one should not drive to the car wash too often, emphasizes Sascha Pfeffer, the cleaning processes that take place there take about 1-2 hours by hand, in the system this process takes just 8 minutes.
The car paint is very challenged by the chemicals and brushes, so you should not do this too often, otherwise you will destroy the paint with violence. When the road salt dries on the car paint, a milky white layer is formed. This layer has small salt crystals that act like sandpaper on the car paint. If you drive without any prewash drives into the car wash, you can damage the paintwork. Under no circumstances should you try to remove the layer with a hand brush, as this can severely damage the paintwork.
Protect car paint by sealing and polishing
If you want to protect your car paint, you can do this with a polish and a sealant. The right time to do this is in the fall, if you overslept then you can do it in a garage on milder days. The polish refreshes the car paint, removing surface defects and small scratches. This is a very efficient method, said Pfeffer. Wax sealing is also an interesting way to protect your car paintwork in winter. A wax seal repels water and dirt particles. Over time, however, this protective layer wears off, which can be seen from the almost non-existent pearl effect. A normal car wax lasts about four weeks, a premium wax lasts about twice as long.
Cars with a matte paint significantly more sensitive
If a car has a matt finish, you should be particularly careful. You should wash a matte finished car with plain water, which is most effective against salt and rust with this type of finish. You should refrain from waxing and polishing tips, these will not bring any success anyway. The surface of such paints are rough, so you have to be particularly careful, as Volkmar Stenzel from the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) confirms. The care of these paints is often discussed in expert circles. Sascha Pfeffer advises that you should only visit a car wash with such cars that is also equipped with textile cloths and not with nylon brushes. But even if the system works with textile rags, there is a residual risk. Any strong mechanical influence, even excessive hand washing, can lead to damage to the paint finish that cannot be repaired.
Construction of paints in layers
Regardless of whether it is matt or glossy, a car paint is usually provided with four layers. It starts with the dip coating, which protects the skin of the car from corrosion, then comes the filler layer, which corrects the unevenness. The coloring is provided by the base coat. The final coat is the clear coat and this acts as a seal and protective shield. Most clear coats have had a reflow effect for some time. This means that they are elastic despite their enormous strength. The advantage of this reflow effect is that smaller scratches that have a superficial character will close themselves over time. This is achieved by using a different binder. Furthermore, more and more new resins produced by the industry are coming onto the market. These resins effectively protect the surfaces of the paint from harmful influences and winter dirt. However, there is no specific care product for matt paintwork.
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