How To Protect Your Car Paint From The Sun
It is pretty apparent that exposure to UV radiation damages human skin. Still, these intense rays often oxidize and fade car paint and make the car appear old and worn out before its due. You can avoid car paint from harming the sun by keeping your vehicle inside a shed, under a covered parking lot or in a shaded area while its not on the lane. You can also shield the headlights and rubberized trim from damage by not leaving it to roast in the sun.
From being a significant cause of oxidation and fading or causing the paint to fade, sunshine tends to be a source of annoyance for car owners. In the details below, we will include a guide to discover what sun causes damage to cars, how to protect them, and the advantages of using a high-quality automotive paint sealant or ceramic coating.
But there are a few ways in which car owners can shield their paint, plastic trim, headlights, and other automotive parts from sun damage. Thats what were going to address today.
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New Car Paint: Waxing Your Car
Yes, I think it is accepted knowledge that your car needs to be waxed on a regular basis. Waxing serves basic and essential tasks:
If you have just bought a new car from a dealership, you must realize that no new car comes with wax from the manufacturer or dealer. New car prep does not mean the dealership is going to wax your car either. So that new car paint of yours is like taking a new-born child out in the sun with no sunblock on their skin.
You can review my selection of best car waxes in helping you choose a quality car wax. Just remember your car should be waxed every 4-6 months under “normal” conditions. If you live in extreme weather conditions and you plan on keeping your car for over 5 years, you might consider applying wax to that new car paint even more frequently.
Don’t underestimate the necessary step of decontamination prior to application of your chosen wax. If you fail to do this step, you will get disappointing results regardless of the type of wax you have chosen.
And yes…even that brand new car straight off the dealer lot will in have some form of pollutants already on the car paint from its travel from the factory to the car dealership.
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The Most Common Forms Of Car Paint Protection
There are countless products on the market, all of which claim to be the best at protecting a vehicles exterior and adding shine.
Regardless as to whether its a daily driven beater, or a garage-kept collectible, when it comes to protecting a painted surface, finding the right balance for your busy life is just as important as preventing damage.
The most commonplace paint protection products begin with the old fashioned, yet still wildly popular tub of natural carnauba wax. From there it moves on to the lab-bred synthetic waxes and paint sealants, to the super hardcore stuff, like paint protection films and 9H-rated nano ceramic coatings.
But as you shall soon discover, each of these products comes with its own inherent pros and cons, which must be carefully weighed against the varying levels of protection and appearance perks that are offered.
Paint Protection Option #: Nano Ceramic Coatings
A 9H-rated hardness level not only provides the best ceramic coating protection level available on the market, but unrivaled shine and an impressive lifespan to boot. Photo Credit: Nabil Boury
The best way to describe a nano ceramic coating, is to focus on its ingredients. A quartz crystal-enriched chemical formula, that has been enhanced with hardeners and brightening agents.
As this ultra thin, yet insanely strong shell seeps into all of the invisible pores and blemishes spread across a vehicles clear coat, it fills in these imperfections, leaving behind an incredibly slick surface area.
Once cured atop a painted or clear coated surface, these ingredients turn completely invisible, repelling everything from acid rain and bird droppings, to coffee spills, tree sap, UV rays, graffiti-inspired vandalism, and more.
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It’s All In The Detailing: How To Clean Your Car Like The Pros
When youre standing in front of the auto wax and treatment shelves at your local parts store, the selection can be daunting to say the least. Consumer Reports recommends three particular brands Mothers, Meguiars and Turtle. But even with recognized brands, you need to be careful of your choices. Specifically, stay away from anything that has the word polish in its name. Polishes or cutting compounds have a substantial amount of abrasives and theyre designed to remove layers of heavily oxidized or faded paint and unless handled by an experienced detailer, they can lead to swirl marks and scratches.
Repair Scratches As Soon As Possible
Keeping your car clean and parking it in a garage should do a good job protecting your paint, but if you do end up with a scratch or chip in your paint job, you should repair it as soon as possible.
This will prevent the paint from continuing to flake off and make the problem worse.
You can repair shallow scratches with touch up paint. After the paint dries, use a rubbing compound to finish it off.
Deep scratches require you to sand off surrounded paint. You also must apply a primer to the car before repainting the damage. Its a good idea to take your car into an auto shop if the scratch is this deep.
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Is It Worth It
Now that you know who is going to do the work and what it involves, the question becomes a financial one. Is the extra money added to the cost of your vehicle worth it? The cost of this option often varies depending on the dealer and the type of car you are buying. Yes, it is worth considering because of the money it can potentially save you down the road.
If your car is protected, you won’t have to worry about getting it painted before you resell it. The cost of painting a car is quite expensive. It is also a very detailed process that can potentially delay a future sale. Getting the paperwork on the paint job is also a useful bargaining chip for when you go to sell the car because it shows the prospective buyer that you took care of it.
New Car Paint: Decontaminating With The Clay Bar
Life is a jungle out there and the air is filled with unseen pollutants. Never mind the fact that you are breathing these pollutants into your lungs, but the endless particles of pollution is in fact harmful to your car paint.
Next time you have your car washed, glide your hand across the surface of your new car paint ans see if you don’t feel a surface that is less than silky smooth. Most likely you your hand will feel what feels like small particles stuck to the paint that will give it a certain unwanted texture.
When done correctly, your paint should feel so silky smooth it will force a smile across your face truly like waxed glass!
Traditional washing, polishing, and waxing will not remove these embedded pollutants. They need to be removed occasionally as they build-up on your cars paint. There are numerous products available to remove these pollutants. See Clay Bar for the simplified way to arm yourself with full understanding and choosing a quality Clay Bar Kit.
The decontamination process will take place on a freshly washed car after all the superficial dirt has been washed away first.
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Paint Protection Film Is A Life Saver
Car covers, cleaning solutions, and being aware of where you drive and park is whats needed to protect your car. But who has the time? If you want the best and easiest way to protect your car paint, use a quality Paint Protection Film.
There is a recurring theme throughout this article: if you protect your cars paint, the paint will help to protect your vehicle. This is true for protection from the sun, rock chips, tree sap, bird droppings, and rust. While we have discussed several ways to do that, none of them are as good as using a paint protection film like Rayno Creed. This is absolutely the best way to protect your cars paint job from external elements, slight dings, and minor scratches. Once the PPF is applied, all you need to do to protect your cars paint is to keep it clean!Find a shop that installs PPF by .
Whats The Verdict The Best Paint Protection Option For Cars
Making the decision to protect your vehicles paint is one that is both proactive and smart. A good ceramic coating like Ceramic Pro 9H can protect your entire vehicle inside and out for more than 5 years. In fact, there are packages available that will offer a lifetime of protection.
The key is to make an informed decision is to speak with a professional auto salon near you to ask them what theyd use on their own vehicle. Plus, what they recommend for your specific application. The team of 3,500 authorized installers in North America who operate under the Ceramic Pro umbrella always have your best interest as their primary consideration.
If youd like to explore your paint protection option for 2020 or 2021, click the button below to contact a professional detailer near you or request a free estimate.
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Quickly Clear Tree Sap
Tree sap wont immediately damage your cars paint, but it eventually can bake itself in and leave unsightly stains. If you notice tree sap on your car, its essential to get rid of it.
Keep in mind that hot weather can exacerbate the damage caused by this threat. And the longer tree sap is allowed to remain on your vehicle, the harder it will be to remove.
Professional products that can help banish tree sap are available. Soap and hot water also may be used.
Read more about how to clean tree sap off your car.
Car Wax Vs Car Sealants
Searching online only brings lots of bad advice from people that dont understand vehicle protection. Of course, you cant blame them for being misinformed they just fall victim to everything the marketing teams tell them, which are simply designed to sell more of their products.
You must understand the difference between a highly rated car wax and the best car paint sealant to see which one you need.
Wax products contain natural wax ingredients in the formulation. Sometimes, its with beeswax, Montan, or carnauba. Sealants, on the other hand, come from synthetic ingredients. What makes things even more confusing is that interchangeable terms are used like sealants, wax, and polish. Without reading the label, you dont really know what youre getting.
Many people purchase carnauba wax because theyre told that its the hardest of all forms. Thats slightly misleading because carnauba wax actually comes hard as a rock in its natural state, but you arent using it in that form. Once its refined with petroleum distillates and other products, its not the same. Even when you read that a wax is 100% pure carnauba, that simply means thats the purity of the carnauba used in the mixture.
If you prefer to protect your paint over the long haul, then sealants are the way to go.
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Wax Your Car To Keep It As Shiny And New As Ever:
Another method that you can try to protect the paint on your cars surface is waxing the car.
A good wax is known to last for a period of 6 to 10 months, so if you wax your car every six months, you can protect it from getting damaged.
The best thing about waxing is that even if your cars paint apparently gets damaged, it is actually the layer of the wax that is harmed and not the paint directly.
Therefore, once you get the car waxed again, the damage such as the dull areas or the scratches disappear, and your car looks as good as new.
Another huge advantage of waxing your car is that it even tends to increase the efficiency of the car. This sounds a little odd, but its because of the fact that waxing your car tends to reduce the drag force that is being applied to the car, and in turn, the car becomes more efficient.
Does The Car Need Polishing Before Applying Paint Protection
The best way to remove visible and barely noticeable damage like swirl marks, marring, or other paint imperfections on the clear coat is by polishing. Auto detailing experts refer to this process as paint correction, which is basically buffing out the imperfections that are etched in the clear coat of paint. Some of the common issues that are removed by paint correction include:
Swirl Marks: If you notice light swirls or spider webs on the paint surface under direct light, thats called a swirl mark. Its caused by using wash or drying media on the vehicle that have tiny dust particles or other debris on them. The scratches are usually in the topcoat of the clear and can be easy to remove with polishing.
Stains: Sometimes natural contaminants like bug splatters, tree sap, or bird droppings can cause staining on the clear coat. This is due to the acidic nature of these byproducts. If these contaminants are not removed within a few days, the damage can start.
Light oxidation: If the vehicle is a few years old, its possible that the clear coat has begun to oxidize. This is caused by constant bombardment of UV rays, acid rain, and other natural elements. Depending on the level of oxidation, and the thickness of the clear coat on your vehicles paintwork the damage may be repaired through paint correction.
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How To Protect Your Newly Painted Vehicle
When you get your vehicle freshly painted, youâll want to keep it looking good. Proper new auto paint care not only protects its finish and appearance, but also helps increase its resale value. Washing or waxing it too soon or cleaning your vehicle improperly can inadvertently damage your vehicleâs finish.
The refinishing experts at Newellâs Auto Body suggest the following tips for new auto paint care:
Polymer Or Synthetic Paint Sealants
The lab-created wax job is known as a paint sealant. Its synthetic in nature and may consist of some natural carnauba wax, silicon dioxide and Teflon materials. This is what youd call a hybrid car wax. It can be applied via a paste, liquid, or sprayed on then buffed off with a fresh microfiber cloth. There are some paint sealants that claim to hold up for 8 months to a year in pristine situations.
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How To Protect Car Paint The Right Way
If you want to learn how to protect car paint on your vehicle the right way, youll have to make sure it doesnt get too dirty. Wash it often, and park it in secure, enclosed spaces to prevent weather changes from damaging it.
Repair chips and scratches in your paint right away.
Want to learn some other helpful car maintenance tips? Dont forget to check out our blog!
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Invest In A Car Cover
Parking in a covered structure can protect your cars paint, but open-air parking is the only option for many drivers. In cases like this, its a good idea to invest in a car cover.
A car cover provides a barrier that shields your cars paint from bird droppings, tree sap and dust. Some covers also provide padding that can protect your car from dents and dings. Car covers can range in price from $20 to more than $100.
If you have questions about this story, please contact us at
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New Car Paint Summary
Hopefully you are now more informed as to the simple and basic rules of caring for, and maintaining your cars paint. With that said, please refer to the following as additional tips to keep your car looking brand new year after year:
- Clear coat is the top layer of your cars paint. It acts as a protective layer to filter out UV rays. But your clear coat is what you are trying to take care of with the above requirements. People get confused about clear coat vs. car paint. Virtually every car today is finished with a clear coat as the top layer. Think of it as car paint with no color added to it.
- If you want to polish your car and are considering buying a buffer, you can see my simplified approach to car polishing for the true beginner to achieve professional results.
- As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, and your car is no different. If you are just consistent with the basic instructions I have provided here, your car will not only look fabulous year after year, but will retain much more of its original value when you are ready to sell.
Darren’s Professional Tips: Want to save your time and maximize your car detailing efforts. Unless you are a die hard car enthusiast, I actually recommend you find a quality, 100% cloth or hand wash, and take your car there at least every 2 weeks and let the crew there perform the grunt work of car washing.
Sincerely,
