Washing your car in winter is almost more important than in summer.
When temperatures drop, salt is spread on the roads to melt ice, and this substance is also known for its excellent ability to corrode metal. Large temperature fluctuations and humidity further threaten your car.
The Finnish winter is one of the toughest times for a car's paintwork and undercarriage. But how can you get through it so that your car stays in the best possible condition throughout the winter?
How to prepare for winter?
Every driver's basic routine includes changing to winter tires and putting an ice scraper in the car. However, preparing the car's exterior surfaces against salt and frost is often forgotten.
While it's not -20°C and 30cm of snow outside, it's a good time to protect your car's paintwork when you change your winter tires. The best way to do this is to clean the surfaces thoroughly and protect them with a high-quality coating or wax.
When changing from summer to winter tires, wash the wheel arch thoroughly and check the condition of the parts. For this, a detergent like Fure Snow Foam is suitable. When the surfaces are clean, it's easy to spot if any part has started to rust or, for example, if the brakes need servicing.
Once this is done, you can install the winter tire and move on to the car's paintwork. You can find instructions for proper car washing HERE. Once the car is washed, it still needs to be protected with a high-quality wax or a professionally applied coating. If you're wondering which protection would be best, contact us or our retailers and ask for the right wax for your car!
How do I maintain my car through winter?
As mentioned earlier, washing your car is almost more important in winter than in summer. You certainly want the work you did on your car in autumn not to go to waste, so it's good to wash the car regularly in winter too.
If winter dirt is left on the car's surface for a long time, it can adhere strongly to the paintwork, and washing it in spring will be a real challenge. The problem often arises of where to wash the car in winter when the weather outside is such that you wouldn't even want to pick up the mail.
In Finland, there are many DIY halls where you can wash your car in a warm environment, and the detergents won't freeze on the paintwork. If you don't want to wash your car yourself, find the nearest company offering detailing services.
How often should I wash my car?
There is no specific time interval, and it depends a lot on the type of driving done with the car and how dirty the car has become, but we recommend a suitable washing interval of at most once a month.
Why not just go to an automatic car wash?
This is a controversial topic: why not just go to an automatic car wash? Automatic car washes have their pros and cons. Washing is easy, and you don't even have to get out of the car.
Your car will be 90% clean, and for some people, this is enough, and the job is done. But consider the thorough cleaning and waxing you did in the autumn. Automatic car washes use very strong chemicals to remove all dirt from the car's surfaces. No one would use them anymore if dirt streaks were left on the paintwork.
However, these chemicals tend to also remove wax from the car's surface. Also, the door jambs and wheel arches are left uncleaned, where a lot of salty dirt accumulates during the winter, and if they are not cleaned regularly, the dirt can become ingrained and start to form rust.
In a DIY hall or with a local detailing professional, these areas will be cleaned and dried, so you don't have to worry about them.
