Just a quick article to address a conversation I recently had with a few friends and colleagues. This is for those of us that live in climates in which we come outside our home or shop to see this…
Just earlier in 2014 Chicagoland was hit with a pretty bad snowstorm and my car was one of the unlucky ones sitting outside. While I did clean it a couple times daily in order to avoid shoveling the actual top of the car, at one point I had a good 1.5-2 feet of snow accumulate. I have used a shovel before, needless to say VERY CAREFULLY, to remove a lot of snow from my car, but this time I simply put on some gloves and used my arms to knock it off as much as possible before brushing it. The photo below shows a bit of snow after it had a few hours in the morning to melt, so this more so resembles a normal snowfall rather than the multiple feet of snow we had here recently.
In any case, there are a few methods of snow removal, so I wanted to share mine. I try to purchase a new brush for $8-10 every year because I like the bristles to be firm should I need to clean my car. As seen in the photo below, I make sure my brush has the plastic scraper on the opposite end of the bristles. Some brushes that are sold have the scraper on the same edge, which makes it not only difficult to bend the brush when cleaning, but dangerous in that the edge of the scraper can scratch up the paint pretty damn well (ask me how I know!). That said, the only other tool I use is my trustworthy DI Microfiber Waffle Weave Drying Towel, which is simply wrapped around the brush.
There’s obviously no science to the wrapping, so I simply make sure the bristles are wrapped and that I have enough towel away from the bristles to hold. Once wrapped, I simply go to removing the snow little by little…
As expected, the microfiber towel will get soaked over time and some snow will stick to it, so I try to to stop the brushing every panel or so and knock off some snow from the towel…
This method works very well for me with the paint and I try to only remove the majority of the snow. I normally use the brush on glass first, then wrap it and use on paint. I try not to care too much about all the snow stuck in the crevices, etc. as it’ll simply melt away and won’t add too much weight to my car or impede my vision.
Well that’s about it, short and simple. I’d be interested to hear of any other techniques, so please don’t hesitate to post any tips or advice in the comments below.