Whether you are trying to bring top dollar by selling your vehicle or just trying to give it a good cleaning, waxing your car’s finish restores and protects its appearance. When people go to buy a car they will often base a large part of their decision on the appearance of the vehicle. A vehicle with an immculate appearance and documented service history will set a buyer’s mind at ease. Having worked in the auto detailing and service industry for 14 years I learned plenty about waxing cars. Feel free to leave your comments or questions at the end of this article and I’ll respond quickly.
Cleaning the vehicle
Before waxing the vehicle it must be properly cleaned. I often use Joy or Dawn dishwashing detergent. However, your local auto parts store like Autozone or even Wal-Mart will carry cleaning agents designed specifically for clear coated cars and trucks (like Black Magic Wet Shine). You can use an old terry cloth (bathroom hand towel) for washing your car. There are other products on the market for this purpose as well.
Before getting to the main wash you need to inspect the vehicle. Look along the front bumper and backs of mirrors for bug residue and damage. Also, check directly behind the front and back tires along the painted surfaces for road tar, paint, cement, or even dried bubble gum. You should also check the surfaces of the vehicle for pine or other forms of tree sap. These will need to be removed (if possible) before waxing the vehicle. Waxing over these items will not effect your ability to remove them later if you so desire.
Removing the bugs
In the South we experience ‘Love Bugs’ in the first part of spring and last part of fall. These small black insects fly through the air mating in such dense clouds it’s easy to have the entire windshield barely visible if driving on the interstate. These and other bugs do much damage to a car’s finish because the acid in their bodies will slowly eat through your cars clear coat if not removed. Also, just the impact of your car or truck with these insects can actually remove the paint altogether if traveling at high speeds (in excess of 55 mph). To remove these bugs from the front of your vehicle use a mixture of water and soap and perform a pre-soak. You need to have the bugs as penetrated with water as you can before trying to remove them. I would spray the front of the vehicle with soap and water for at least ten minutes – keeping the bugs soaking. Once the bugs have softened you need to scrub them with a pad or sponge designed for use on vehicles. Don’t use an S.O.S. brillo pad because it’s made of metal wool and will seriously scratch your paints finish. Many people are starting to use dryer sheets like Bounce – they say it works like a charm. Insure that the bugs are completely removed to prevent damage to the clear coat.
Removing paint
If you have driven through wet paint, the faster you can remove it the better. There’s no miracle cure for paint or cement. In the past I’ve often used an old credit card and soapy water to carefully scrape dried paint from a car’s finish. If the paint is still fresh you can try some form of petroleum distillates and wipe the paint off.
If your vehicle has experienced ‘overspray’ then you could be looking at quite a bit of work. Let’s say you parked you car at work and the business next door was being painted by a painter using a spray gun. The wind was blowing and particles of paint were caught up in the wind and drifted onto your car. This can often cover an entire vehicle. It will look like you took table salt and sprinkled it all over the car in an even pattern. Little specks of dried paint will be all over the paint and glass. The safest way to remove overspray is to use a clay bar. When I used to manage an auto service center we would normally charge between $150 to $200 for overspray removal. We had to charge so much because it often took many hours to remove all of it. For the windows we would spray some glass cleaner and take a razor blade and slowly scrape the?overspray from the surface of the glass. For the painted surfaces we would spray mild soapy water and rub with the clay bar until the overspray was removed. The clay bar will not harm your vehicle’s finish.
Dried cement
This is the worse one because it may be impossible to remove dried cement without damaging your vehicle’s paint. I’ve only attempted this a couple of times. Once I used an old credit card and soapy water to scrape the cement. The resulting scratches were buffed out using a high speed buffer. The other time I used an abrasive sponge pad and the cement was fairly fresh. The remaining scratches were buffed.
Road tar
This is the black stuff used to make pavement. If workers are paving a road or highway you can easily drive through this black tar and the circular motion of your tires can sling the stuff along the rocker panel. There are two ways I normally remove road tar. If possible I use a citrus based solvent. Made from citrus fruits this product is very safe to handle and melts road tar away with ease. Otherwise I use a petroleum distillate. If the tar has been on the vehicle for a long time neither of these methods may faze it. If that’s the case you can treat it like dried paint and go with an old credit card and soapy water.
Pine and other forms of tree sap
Pine tree sap is especially caustic and will actually eat through the clear coat and paint, leaving you staring a spot of bare metal. Normally this takes a year or two. However, the longer pine sap sits on the clear coat, the more damage it does and the harder it is to remove it. I’m gonna recommend a terry cloth soaked with 70% alcohol or nail polish remover. You can get some watered down versions on the market but this stuff normally does the trick. If the pine sap has been on the car for a long time I might take the blade of a knife and carefully scrape the top layer of sap from the spot, since the outer shell is often rock hard. I’ve never had pine sap that I couldn’t remove. However, sometimes I would have to rub the same spot for several minutes. We used to charge one dollar per spot.
Waxing your car or truck
Waxing your vehicle’s finish removes dirt and grime from the clear coat and also leaves a protective finish that often lasts for a couple of months (depending on weather and other conditions). The more applications you apply the better the result. Keep mind that some waxes can be very hard to remove, so you’ll have to try what’s on the market and see what works best for you. Most importantly I would purchase a wax that contains Carnauba. Over the years I found that waxes containing carnauba performed very well for most paint finishes.
If it’s a hot day (over 75 F) I wouldn’t wax the car out in the direct sunlight. You don’t want the paint surface to become too hot while you are waxing the car. This can make the wax very difficult to remove from the clear coat. If you are having trouble removing the dried wax, I recommend stopping by the auto parts store and see if they have any liquid spray wax like this one. Then I would place the car in the shade to make sure the paint was cool. I would soak the dried wax with the liquid wax. Next I would spray the liquid wax on a terry cloth towel. Then I would aggressively rub the dried wax with the damp part of the towel. Rubbing a paints finish too hard without the liquid wax barrier can leave a blemish on the clear coat.
Applying by hand
I want you to remember that wax needs to be applied in a thin film. Watching a thick coat of wax drying on your car may be impressive but it’s no fun trying to remove. Also, you just wasted half the bottle. Use an applicator pad especially designed for this purpose – most places carry a terry cloth pad, I like these the best. Put a small amount of wax on the pad and apply in a circular motion. Try to maintain an even amount of pressure on the pad and spread the wax evenly. Take care not to get wax on the moldings and rubber trim of your vehicle. If you do the wax can embed itself in the microscopic pores of the plastic or rubber and turn white. If this happens to you try putting a little tire shine over it to conceal the blemish.
Once you have the entire vehicle covered let dry for about thirty minutes. Come back with a dry terry cloth hand towel and begin rubbing the wax from the paint. You will have to flip the towel many times and may need more than one. When you’re finished you can repeat the steps for any area which still need attention.
Applying by low speed buffer
Make sure you are using the proper bonnet for the application, preferably a terry cloth bonnet. Nearly all the buffers on the market are low speed buffers and cost anywhere from thirty to eighty dollars. High Speed buffers are often $150 to $200 so you aren’t likely to buy one on accident, besides they look like a hand held grinder. And if not used properly you can burn the clear coat and ruin a good paint job. If you have serious scratches that can’t be removed by hand then have a professional buff your car with a high speed buffer. I would recommend a body shop over a car wash or detail shop. A body shop is less likely to damage your vehicle. Only an experienced person should handle a high speed buffer, you don’t want a newbie ‘practicing’ on your car’s finish. We finally stopped offering high speed buff services at all three of our locations due to customer damage claims.
When applying the wax stop periodically to apply more wax as needed, taking care not to apply too much. Handle the buffer carefully, since tipping it on its side could cause the handle to scratch the paint’s surface. Also, take care not to let the extension cord get caught up in the buffer. After the wax has been applied remove it using the buffer and a clean terry cloth bonnet or by hand.
Well that’s all I can think of right now. If you have any questions just leave me a comment below and I’ll be sure to respond shortly.
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