Cold weather Black Paint care

Please offer any or all of your first hand experience and suggestions for washing drying and or waxing a factory new black paint job, especially now in the cold weather. What tools materials and products do you find work best for you?

Thanks

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody
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Welcome to the anal world of Corvette car washing!

Sorry, quick draw but, I have no 'first hand' experience -- just 60 years of trial and error.

Assuming this car was painted in Bowling Green, KY.....

Find a detergent that plays well with the water in Portland Oregon. (For example: in Northwestern Ohio, it's tap water+Dawn. Where I live it's city water thru the softener+Zymol. In Pensacola it's something else --- )

Don't use a sponge with the wash. Sponges hold all manner of dirt. Old, clean facecloths that've been washed and dried (without fabric softener) will do fine. If you remove a mud splash, switch to a clean washcloth.

If you're having issues with water spotting, find a good wetting agent to use as a rinse. (I like Kodak Fotoflo.)

This group can argue for ages over careful use of a clean squeegee blade versus light toweling till dry. I squeegee the white car and towel the dark car. Get it dry before the sun hits it.

Forget using a chamois or any of the chamois-like cloths on TV commercials -- more opportunity to add micro scratches to the finish.

For lint removal, go for a *quick* drive.. unless the car wasn't painted in Bowling Green

-- then discard all of the above advice.

If it's new and you take good care of it, you can avoid wax, teflon, etc. for many years.

Learn about items like clay-bars to keep the finish clean.

Once you get wax on it it will be more difficult to wash.

Avoid anything that has a power cord and plug on it.

There, you got it. From the quicker draw.

-- pj

Reply to
pj

Why? He never said it was a Corvette.

All good advice as usual but I'd add one thing.

When you rinse do it with an open hose, not a spray. Let the water sheet off instead of beading up to spot. It leaves much less water on the surface to wipe/blow/dab off.

I seldom use wax so you're on your own there, just a detailer every now and then and keep it clean.

Reply to
Dad

Well, take that black car and paint it medium blue, medium red, medium brown, ANYTHING BUT BLACK! and you will solve all sorts of problems. Kick me in the butt if I ever buy another black car.

They look fantastic clean, but that exist for about 20 minutes unless you take it out of the garage, and then it is for about 5 minutes. Ask me how I know. I washed and waxed the Camaro Sunday evening. Drove the kid to school Monday and came home. Drove to school today and to pick up coffee. As I got out, I noticed that the car looked like I hadn't washed in a week or two along the sides.

I do wax, not every wash, but once in awhile. The wax helps get the bugs off, and the other junk that seems to be on the road and sprayed all over the car. Shine-wise, I don't think the wax does anything for the clear coat paints out today. If you were dealing with a black lacquer paint, then the wax makes it look ten foot deep.

In cold weather, it probably means you are going to have all sorts of junk on the road - mud, dirt, water, salt, deicer, etc. So the best way to keep it clean is park it under a cover and not drive the darn thing.

I towel dry, and use several towels. I have a pile of old ones that are just for it to keep the wife happy. So I can use several.

If you can get an old chamois, one that is a real chamois, it will work well but tends to strip the wax off. I'm not sure what that would do with a clear coat. Most today are a synthetic chamois, not real leather, so they act a lot differently than a real one.

I've tried a couple of the microfiber towels, and was not overwhelmed enough to buy any.

Reply to
Tom In Missouri

Thank you.

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

Correct, sorry did not intend to mislead, simply tap the greatest concentration of fine automobile car care enthusiasts I have access to... My new off topic ride can be viewed here...

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Thank you

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

Ah, but I'm addicted to black, Black looks better than any other color, even dirty...

Thanks

Reply to
My Name Is Nobody

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