The right paint care after winter

Spring awakening: Your car's paintwork needs more now than a mere wash

Each winter, the car paint is exposed to extreme conditions. There are many other adverse circumstances besides sub-zero temperatures. Demanding car washes or careless snow clearing, for example. However, with the awakening of spring, many of the adverse effects can be reversed. This requires proper care of the tarnished paintwork.

De-icing salt and grit residue spread all over the vehicle are the usual

suspectsstraining the paintwork in winter. But this alone does not

necessarily lead to damage, explains the German car maintenance

specialist ALCLEAR GmbH. Modern automotive paintwork is

generally sealed with a clear coating material which is strong enough

to fend off the aggressive ingredients in de-icing salt and other

potentially damaging substances.

Instead, trouble usually begins when these residues are to be

removed, often in the carwash after longer intervals of non-

maintenance. Removal of the built-up grime requires more than water

and foam. Thegrime and the accumulated dirt in the rotating brushes

of the carwash then leads to micro-scratches in the clear varnish

coating of the paintwork.

Damage and micro-scratches could also result when snow is pushed

from the bonnet with an arm, broom or even an ice scraper. The

paintwork is especially hard-hit after the freezing over of previously

thawed snow - which always leads to micro-scratches.

According to Alclear, it is virtually impossible for paintwork not to

be affected by the wintry conditions. However, the maintenance

specialists also have some good news - at least as long as the

tarnished paintwork receives proper after-winter care.

Apart from a very thorough car wash, this requires a special coating

polish, ideally by hand. These special products gently buff out the

micro-scratches and provide long-lasting shine without unnecessarily

wearing off the clear paint coating.

It is important that the polish also offers long-term sealing, as is done,

for example, by Fixpolitur plus from Alclear. Only the subsequent

sealing protects the paint from new micro-scratches - after all, you

never know if winter may return unexpectedly.

March 2015

The German company Alclear International GmbH, which is based in the city of

Neuss, is one of the international market leaders for surface treatment systems for

the automotive industry. Alclearis approved by leading European car manufacturers

such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and many others.

Can everything be removed with just one wipe? Quite the contrary - that's how the nasty micro-scratches in the paintwork came about in the first place.

Springtime for your car: The gentle buffing out of micro-scratches plus long-term sealing allow your car to forget the winter.

Photos: ALCLEAR