Spring Car Care

When you love your car as much as we do, you find yourself preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. For those that live up North, the winter months can be the worst. Not only is your car being subjected to extreme weather conditions, you also have to deal with the road salt, mud, ice, and snow being slung all over your paint. You can protect with layers of wax, waterless washes every few days, and a paint coating here or there, but try as you might, you just can't keep your paint clean for 3 months out of the year. Just when you think you can't stand it anymore, spring comes - and with it, a whole new detailing routine.

We all know about spring cleaning for your house, but what about spring cleaning for your car? Paint, glass, wheels, trim, engine, interior, etc. all of it needs to be cleaned when spring rolls around. Once you've thoroughly spring cleaned your vehicle after the winter months, the rest is just maintenance!

Your Ultimate Spring Time Detail Guide

When you love your car as much as we do, you find yourself preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. For those that live up North, the winter months can be the worst. Not only is your car being subjected to extreme weather conditions, you also have to deal with the road salt, mud, ice, and snow being slung all over your paint. You can protect with layers of wax, waterless washes every few days, and a paint coating here or there, but try as you might, you just can't keep your paint clean for 3 months out of the year. Just when you think you can't stand it anymore, spring comes - and with it, a whole new detailing routine.

We all know about spring cleaning for your house, but what about spring cleaning for your car? Paint, glass, wheels, trim, engine, interior, etc. all of it needs to be cleaned when spring rolls around. Once you've thoroughly spring cleaned your vehicle after the winter months, the rest is just maintenance!

Here's what we recommend starting with:

1. Wash Your Wheels and Tires

The best detailing practices tell you to start from the bottom up when washing your car, and that means tacking your wheels and tires first. Depending on how soiled they got during the winter months, a heavier strength cleaner may be necessary. There are dedicated products for cleaning tires, dedicated cleaners for wheels, and products that are a combination of both. Below are a couple of fan favorites from each category!

Wheel Cleaner - SONAX The Beast Wheel Cleaner:

SONAX "The Beast" Wheel Cleaner is a quick color changing formula to combat contaminated wheels. SONAX "The Beast" Wheel Cleaner makes cleaning wheels faster and easier. The larger one-liter bottle allows for SONAX "The Beast" Wheel Cleaner to have even more cleaning power. Plus, SONAX "The Beast" Wheel Cleaner is acid free, making it safe for you and for a variety of wheel surfaces.

Tire Cleaner - Pinnacle Advanced Tire Cleaner:

Pinnacle Advanced Tire Cleaner works quickly to eliminate harmful and annoying debris from your tires, restoring the factory finish they had when you first bought them. You will be able to effectively remove contamination, road grime, and old dressings or gels from your tire surfaces!

Wolfgang Tire & Wheel Cleaner is a gel formula that clings to both the tire and the wheel surface to penetrate below the surface. It loosens brake dust that has crept into tiny holes in the metal and into the pores of the rubber. A little agitation with a brush will allow Wolfgang to work even better.

If the wheels have brake dust that's caked-on, consider a more powerful wheel cleaner. Pinnacle Advanced Wheel Cleaner Concentrate is a professional grade wheel cleaner that forgoes caustic acids, butyl ethers, and other harsh detergents that do more harm than good. Pinnacle Advanced Wheel Cleaner Concentrate changes colors as it dissolves brake dust and the concentrated formula can be diluted up to 1:3 with water for maintenance cleaning.

Don’t miss the “How To Clean Wheels & Tires” video above, or the full, "How to Detail Wheels & Tires" guide for more information on the proper cleaning of your tires and wheels!

2. Wash & Dry Your Car's Exterior

Even if you've been supplementing your usual dual bucket washing method with rinseless and waterless washes, a full car wash is in order now that it's warm out again.

Make sure you have a quality car wash or shampoo that will effectively remove surface contamination without scratching the surface. This means finding a shampoo with high lubricity, like the BLACKFIRE Foam Soap shown above. Starting from the first shot, BLACKFIRE Foam Soap creates huge amounts of suds and foam, and in seconds your entire vehicle will be coated!

Also consider the type of washing medium you are using. As a rule of thumb, sponges and mitts that are plush or have a deep nap are better than flat weave towels or dense sponges. For example, a Natural Sea Sponge has numerous deep compartments where dirt and debris can accumulate. The natural fibers themselves will not scratch the paint and they will essentially pull contamination into the sponge's openings, away from the paint.

Micro-chenille wash mitts are another paint-safe option. Microfiber's combination of polyester and polyamide make it capable of scrubbing the paint without scratching or swirling. It traps dirt and grit within the fibers rather than leaving them on the surface of your vehicle. Be sure to rinse the mitt frequently to release these particles.

Check out our full, "How to Properly Wash & Dry Your Car" guide for more information on the proper washing of your vehicles! And don’t miss the “How To Wash & Dry Cars Properly” video above for even more tips and tricks!

3. Decontaminate

Even if you're not planning on doing a full compound and polish this spring, decontaminating your paint with detailing clay or a detailing clay synthetic product is a good idea. You'll be able to remove embedded contaminates that will hinder the overall gloss and shine of your paint. Even if you don't think you see them, they're there and they need to be removed!

Using a synthetic clay wash mitt like the Speed Master Clay Mitt allows you to combine two steps into one - wash and decontaminate at the same time!

Check out our full, "How to Use Auto Detailing Clay" guide for more information on claying with both traditional and advanced decontamination tools, or check out the video above for more information on clay bar alternatives!

4. Perfect Your Paint

Remove every trace of winter by compounding and/or polishing your paint! Some of the quick washes you did during the winter may have resulted in some swirls and scratches and you may need to inspect your paint after washing. If need be, you'll have to polish and compound your paint back to perfection.

There are so many combinations of product you can use, and each one is different for each situation. If you want something more "one step", check out the Pinancle Souveran Jeweling Wax - it will remove minor paint imperfections and also leave behind a "Souveran" worthy shine!

Check out the Dual Action Orbital Polishing Guide HERE if you're using a DA or take a look at the Circular/Rotary Polishing Guide HERE if you have a rotary polisher for more information. For the complete “Automotive Exterior Detailing” guide, check out the video above now!

5. Now Protect!

After all of that hard work washing and rinsing away the winter months, you have to protect your paint and make sure it's ready for the warmer weather! That means layering your favorite carnauba wax, synthetic paint sealant, or even a paint coating for ultimate protection.

Wolfgang PROFI Ceramic Coating is a professional grade paint coating designed to provide hydrophobicity, slickness and protection to all painted surfaces. With a hardness rating of 9H, Wolfgang PROFI Ceramic Coating provides advanced protection against minor paint imperfections.

Seal your paint's deal with a ceramic coating! Profi means professional in German, meaning Wolfgang PROFI Ceramic Coating knows what it's doing when it comes to hardness, slickness and protection. Why spend time, money and energy on making your car clean if you won't take the time to protect and enhance it?

To find out which product works best for you and your vehicle, check out this article by Mike Phillips: 3-Categories: Waxes, Paint Sealants and Coatings. Then head on over to the Autogeek How-To Car Care guide for more information on the perfect application technique!

6. Don't Skip the Interior!

The interior of your car or truck certainly takes a beating over the winter months. If you don't have some sort of floor mat protection, your carpet will simply soak up the snow and ice that gets tracked in. Then add on the heat that's always cranked up during the winter and your car can start to smell a little musty. But don't worry, freshening up your interior is easy and can be done with either a dedicated interior cleaner like the Wolfgang Interior Shampoo or an all-in-one product like the BLACKFIRE Interior Detailer!

Check out our full, "Interior Cleaning and Conditioning How To's" guide for more information on interior cleaning!