{"id":30658,"date":"2020-07-03T00:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=30658"},"modified":"2020-06-11T13:17:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T17:17:45","slug":"3-ways-you-can-protect-your-car-from-random-scratches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/3-ways-you-can-protect-your-car-from-random-scratches\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways You Can Protect Your Car From Random Scratches"},"content":{"rendered":"

This pains me to say this!\u00a0 Realistically it is very unlikely we can perfectly protect our daily driven vehicles well enough to keep our paint 100% pristine.\u00a0 While putting 20 to 40 thousand miles on a car it may experience unavoidable environmental debris, human errors, and accidental or malicious damage from others.\u00a0 This does not mean we are incapable of severely reducing the damage I observe frequently.<\/p>\n

To answer the question, “where do these scratches come from?”, I will summarize 3 categories of causes.<\/p>\n

\"Deep-Scratch\"<\/p>\n

Where You Put Your Body And Objects<\/h2>\n

I will start with what may initially be obvious.\u00a0 Leaning on your car is very bad.\u00a0 But putting objects on your car is just as bad.\u00a0 I cannot tell you how many stories I have heard from detailers asked to put in hours chasing scratches, ultimately for returning customers to put coffee cups, purses and checkbooks of the same area of the car.\u00a0 Often a booking and inspection involves the uttering of this phrase, “I don’t know where these scratches come from.”\u00a0 They come from contact!\u00a0 I had someone in for a major paint correction put a cup on top of his car (his scratched-up paint).\u00a0 I believe my immediate words were, “don’t ever do that again.”<\/p>\n

Many people also unintentionally<\/strong> brush up against their car.\u00a0 When detailing an SUV, where you have to reach when washing a car, you might be running your belt across your car.\u00a0 This is something often subtle, that we are often not consciously aware of.\u00a0 If reaching the roof of your vehicle is a challenge, purchasing a detailing microfiber apron is an option.\u00a0 You will want to be careful regardless and some marring of the finish may occur.\u00a0 But accidentally touching your paint with a microfiber apron is a better alternative to touching your paint with your belt buckle or cloth pants that house keys.<\/p>\n

It is also okay to set boundaries with people in your life!<\/p>\n

Refueling<\/h2>\n

Keep the gas cap from scratching your paint.<\/p>\n

\"Gas-Cap\"<\/p>\n

You likely have an attachment or component (circled in the picture below) that will keep your gas cap stable.<\/p>\n

\"Gas-Cap-close-up\"<\/p>\n

Doorjambs<\/h2>\n

You may think my focus here is reminding everyone to pick up their feet.\u00a0 That is important, but there are other things that are not so obvious that can easily be avoided.<\/p>\n

\"Door-Jamb\"<\/p>\n

We put so much emphasis on pampering paint while recklessly wiping doorjambs which is a painted surface.\u00a0 It is also a surface that you usually cannot fix deeper scratches, because that is where paint is extremely thin.<\/p>\n

I may not use my best (Eagle Edgeless) towels, but I will still use a plush towel.\u00a0 Minx are my dedicated doorjamb microfiber towels.<\/p>\n

Even when the surface is still wet, I will usually use at least a waterless wash like Poorboys Spray And Wipe or Wolfgang Uber Rinseless.\u00a0 If the area is really dirty a rinseless wash or even foam or car soap followed by rinsing with a wet microfiber.<\/p>\n

Products Mentioned:<\/strong><\/p>\n