The winter months are often when your vehicle gets neglected the most. It’s cold, rainy, maybe snowy and you would rather drink hot chocolate next to the fireplace while watching Netflix rather than detail your car. Except, you’re a detail freak and can’t stand your car looking this dirty, so how can we make the process less terrible?
If you live somewhere where it snows the first step is to move, just kidding, but of course be safe when choosing to detail your vehicle as not to put yourself in danger. Also, if you have a garage, that is always ideal.
1. Nitrile Gloves
This may seem trivial but it may be one of the most important tips as moisture wicks away heat. If your hands are wet, they’re going to be cold and you’re going to have a bad time. I like to put a pair of nitrile gloves on and if it’s really cold, a set of winter waterproof gloves over those.
2. Don’t Fill your Bucket all the Way Up
Normally we would want the extra water but if you put your arm in to dunk your wash mitt and you gloves goes past the water line the water will get into your gloves, and your going to have a bad time. Instead use less water and dump it out a couple of times instead if needed.
3. Heavy Soaking
If you live in an area that salts the roads it is important to heavily soak the surface with water and use a foam gun to loosen it up and get as much off as you can before washing.
4. Warm Water
Simple one right? If you can, use warm water to give your hands a little bit of relief. Keep in mind if the protection of your vehicle is wax, water that is too warm will remove or severely deteriorate it.
5. Air Dry
If you have access to an air dryer or even just a vacuum that has a blowing function and a nozzle tip it will greatly help with drying. Since it is so cold, there will be little evaporation so the “trails” you may normally get when drying that would dissipate, do not. So you are often lefts with streaks and need to use more towels to fully soak up all the water.
6. Use the Right Kind of Protection
Ideally you wouldn’t need to add protection if you added it before it got too cold. If not, certain types of protections may give you a hard time due to the same evaporation aspect in tip 5. For example, pastes actually do well such as the Wolfgang Sealant, the time to remove it may just be faster or slower depending on the product. However, spray and wipe sealants/coatings such as my favorite Gtecniq C2V3 can be difficult due to the excess moisture. Another good one would be Hydr02 as there isn’t much “application” and you could dry the car as normal.
Hopefully these simple tips can help you have a better time when detailing and never put your self in danger due to freezing temps just to have a clean car!