Much like maintaining or sprucing up the exterior of your home, cars need exterior maintenance and upkeep along with all the internal maintenance. Here are 4 tips to keep your car’s exterior clean and protected.
1. Washing and Keeping Clean
First and foremost, it’s important to keep your car’s exterior clean. This means regularly washing it and keeping yourself and others from writing or drawing in dust or pollen that collects on the paint. Washing regularly keeps dirt from building up. Avoiding touching the paint keeps your fingers from grinding these particles into the paint over time and erode it. If you wash your car yourself, be sure to purchase a cleaning fluid specifically designed for use on cars. These cleaners are designed to avoid damaging the finish. If you go to a car wash, seek out one where people wash the car instead of automatic brushes, as these brushes can also damage the finish. After you wash your car, you should also hand dry it with a cotton towel or rag, wax it and polish it.
2. Paint Protection
There are several ways to protect your car’s paint and finish. You can apply a paint protection film Virginia to the parts of your car most likely to experience damage, such as the front bumper or around door handles. These films are a synthetic coating typically made from ceramic or a polymer like urethane. Another option is to apply a sealant solution. You can mix this solution yourself and apply it as you would wax or polish. With this option, you can cover your whole car.
3. Maintenance
Regular maintenance can help protect your car’s exterior too. If you regularly park your car outside, it’s exposed to the elements more. Therefore, tire pressure, lubricants and hoses can degrade faster. It’s important to monitor and maintain these aspects of your car’s exterior even if the wear and tear they face aren’t as obvious as something like hail damage or chipped paint.
4. Car Covers
Car covers are an easy option if you think you’ll have trouble washing your car or applying protective layers as often as you would like. A car cover is a big piece of protective fabric you can wrap around and over your car to protect it from UV damage and dirt and debris buildup. You still need to wash, wax polish and maintain your paint protection, but a cover can preserve the car’s exterior so you can wait longer between maintenance.
There are many options available for the upkeep of your car’s exterior. Try out a few and see which ones work best for you.
