Winter Car Care: Preparing your car for the extreme cold and snow

When winter roads are perilous, as they are most of the time, it can be a great stress for a motorist to drive anywhere in the midst of a winter storm. If you have not prepared your car for the cold weather and winter driving ahead of time, you must make sure your car is serviced, have winter tires installed with healthy tire pressure and drive cautiously, and pack a winter car emergency kit.

Think of seasonal modifications you may make to your wardrobe to keep you warm or think of an overhaul of your vehicle as an essential way to keep your vehicle in tip-top shape.

It is essential to winterize your vehicle and follow car care tips if you want to save money. Keep your vehicle well-maintained, and it will save you a lot of money in the long run. And if you have prepared your car correctly for cold temperatures, you will avoid breakdowns and accidents altogether. You may also use windshield wipers in places where snow and sleet is expected. It will be more than worth it.

How Does Winter Damage Your Car?

We tend to see an increase in car corrosion during the winter months because of all of the road salt. You should consider the effect of snow on your car, but have you actually considered it? Because all automobiles are susceptible to damage caused by rock salt, you should never use rock salt when maintaining your vehicle. Any auto parts of a car that is exposed to this salt will over time become corroded because of the large, rounded particles. Also, a battery that’s merely weak during the summer could turn into a dead battery during the winter.

Corrosion begins when salt from the roads combines with water and oxygen. This spells disaster for our automobiles if the snow continues to melt and the water mixes with the salt and air. A look at the sections of your vehicle that are most vulnerable to wear and tear shows that wheels, brakes, gas tank, exhaust pipes, and mufflers are the areas that have the most to lose. Nonetheless, we want to ensure your vehicle's paint isn't forgotten about. To preserve the color of your vehicle's paint, the same salt that damages the metal on your vehicle can also cause it to flake away and make you go to the repair shop regularly.

Why Do You Prepare Your Car Before Winter?

When the weather turns cold, there is always a significant increase in the number of breakdowns, therefore it is well worth your time to ensure that you perform the necessary maintenance on your vehicle. In low temperatures, any underlying mechanical problems could become more severe.

Protecting Your Paint

Wash your car regularly. Though getting your car washed is rarely a very enjoyable task, it is an inexpensive and easy way to keep your automobile's paint safe for a long time. A routine car wash keeps your vehicle's exterior safe in all kinds of weather.

The following items are required to wash your car at home: Bucket, Water, Sponge, Car shampoo, latex gloves

Additionally, if you have one, you should use a pressure washer to speed up the process.

It's better to start at the top and work your way down in order to obtain the finest possible finish. You should use a clay bar on an as-needed basis to get rid of anything like bird droppings, grease, and caked-on mud that is difficult to remove with normal cleaning. To ensure that your vehicle is washed frequently, aim to wash it at least once a month throughout the winter, and ideally two or three times a month.

Deal with Chips and bodywork issues such as pitting and swirls. Check the paintwork for chipping or missing paint after washing your car. Keep a lookout for any of these. Once you find one, get it seen by a certified mechanic to repair it.

Water and road chemicals could corrode your car's metal bodywork if you don't clean the metal thoroughly. Because rust appears as soon as the process begins, you should deal with the issue and reseal the region right once to minimize damage.

The choice is to invest in a good working condition now, which yields a more beautiful car that retains its value, or to spend a great deal of money to correct the surface defects or to risk depreciation on the value of the car.

Protecting Your Plastics & Rubber

Plastics and Rubber on a car's exterior might detract from its overall appearance if they are not properly detailed. So, it's vital that you don't forget about them. They will need a full clean and protection throughout your detail, especially when you have super-obvious bumpers front to rear.

Those made of exterior polymers are the most prone to corrosion. Each and every day, they are exposed to elements that can cause damage such as rain, road sand, dirt, bird droppings, salt, sleet and tree sap. These plastics and rubbers might fade over time. Also, they can become brittle and break, allowing dust and grime to enter.

Improving Safety & Visibility

Make sure you drive smoothly, gaze far ahead, and pay attention to the flashing light to improve safety.

To improve visibility, make sure to remove ice from your windshield by using de-icer. Ice can quickly form a thick layer on your windshield, making it difficult to see. Clear your windshield of all ice, use car defroster, and let your car warm up before you get on the road.

How to Prepare Your Car Before Winter?

Materials Needed

• Ceramic Spray - Spray-on Ceramic Coating
• Full Decon Wash Kit
• Quality Microfiber Towels
• Plastic Restore
• Leather Restore
• Interior Clean & Shield
• Tire & Underbody Shine
• Microfiber Applicator Pads
• Two buckets - for two bucket wash method
• Carpet Brush

Step #1: Two Bucket Wash Method

The whole point of the two-bucket wash is to isolate the dirt you've cleaned off the car's surface as much as possible. You should rinse your mitt in a second, clean water rinse bucket after each trip to the bucket to remove as much dirt as possible. Then dip your mitt in the soapy wash water once more.

Step #2: Clay Block Treatment

Your wax coat will last longer and your paint will last longer when you use the Clay Block treatment to remove embedded contaminants. In addition to removing overspray and contamination, waxes and sealants adhere directly to your paintwork for longer-lasting protection.

Step #3: Restore and Protect Plastics & Rubber

Be aware that cleaning your plastics and rubber will help protect and restore them in many ways.

After you've washed your car, use the Detail Plastic & Trim Restorer Spray by Torque Detail to clean all plastic trims. In addition to old dressings, this will assist to remove any filth or oils that were not removed during the wash process.

Removing these will result in a dressing that will last longer. Then using a microfibre drying towel or an air-blower, remove as much moisture as possible from the panel gaps.

Step #4: Protect Glass, Paint, and Chrome

The followings car care tips can be added to the owner’s manual guide to protect glass, paint, and chrome

• Car washes that are routine
• Even after a drive-through wash, make sure the vehicle is completely dry. Do not let it air dry.
• Surfaces should be protected with high-quality wax
• Stains, droppings, and debris can be removed with a damp cloth.
• Use a Torque Mirror Shine for the glass
• Use Torque Scratch Remover & Swirl Repair for Paint Correction

2 or 3 times a year, hire a professional automotive detailer.

Step #5: Wheel Well Protection

Cleaning the wheel wells is an easy chore especially when you use the Torque Detail High-Gloss Tire Shine Spray but there are some potential problems. Specifically automobiles with larger wheels and felt lining.

On some autos, accessing the wheel lining may be problematic due to tighter gaps between the wheel and the wheel arches. This is when having too many inches backfires and generates extra work for you.

If the gap is too tight to reach and clean the lining adequately, the only thing you can do is remove the wheels or forget about completing the work.

Taking the wheels off will also allow you to clean the wheels more thoroughly with a wheel well brush, but frankly, it may be a little too extra for you.

Step #5: Vacuum Interior

Vacuums can be used for automobile detailing in a variety of ways, from the old cigarette lighter-driven car vacuum to the trusty handheld vacuum dust-buster to an industrial Shop-Vacuum. Vacuums are important, but the attachments and procedures utilized to remove those hard-to-remove impurities are even more crucial for successful interior automobile detailing. You may need to employ a variety of vacuum attachments to reach this lofty goal.

For interior surfaces, you'll want to use a carpet tool or a soft bristle attachment. You may use it safely on carpets, leather, hard plastics, metals, and wood materials because of its flexible and soft bristles. To help remove debris from your car's inside surfaces, you can use the attachment vigorously. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the best suction, thus it's limited to lifting surface debris.

Using a crevice tool (also known as a digger) is the next step in deep cleaning. With a flat edge and a firm attachment, this tool is used to dig into textiles or carpeting to a great depth. As a result, sand, dirt, and other microscopic particles embedded in the surface materials are easily removed.

Edge Crevice Tool, If you're looking for a long and slim attachment, this is the one for you. Like the digger, it has a high suction capacity.

Step #6: Deep Interior Detail

For proper interior detailing, you will need a Vacuum Cleaner, Torque Detail Full Decon Kit  and Torque Detail Microfiber Towels to clean the car interior

Step #7: Leather Protection

Although luxurious leather has its advantages, it also has its drawbacks. It is possible that lighter-colored leather will turn dingy over time due to dirt and dust buried in its surface. Thank goodness for leather-cleaning products like Torque Leather Restore Ceramic Conditioner.

It is necessary to spray or apply Torque Leather Restore Ceramic Conditioner and then rub them in by using a towel to rub them in. Always use the clean side when using a towel. Using a microfiber cloth, dry the seats after washing.

Allow a couple of hours for the leather to completely dry out before using it once again. A leather conditioner can then be used to keep the material soft.

Step #8: Plastic & Fabric Protection

Wash your car’s plastic in order to protect it. You can also use Detail Plastic & Trim Restorer Spray by Torque Detail to clean your car’s plastic interior. Your car fabric seats should be vacuumed. It's easy with the nozzle attachment to get inside of car seats and into seams and crevices between seats.

Pro Tips to Clean Your Car During Winter?

Pro Tip #1: Do Not Take Your Car to an Auto Wash

The issue isn't with the bristles they use in an auto wash. So it didn't matter if your trip to the carwash was "brushless," if bristles were used, or if giant floppy foamy things were used to gracefully slop away dirt.

All of the other automobiles and the stuff that stuck to them from driving about all day are the problems. If the car before yours had driven on a gravel road, it would arrive at the carwash covered in mud and sand. Mud and sand, on the other hand, are largely made up of minute pieces of rock, including granite, which is exceedingly hard and abrasive.

That grit tends to build-up to the carwash's cleaning equipment, which can start to feel like sandpaper after a while. I’ve seen some of those car washes where the brushes are gray to brown with dirt

All that dirt and grit is rubbed along the surface of your automobile on its journey off the body by the high speed of the cleaning machinery and the high pressure of the water. With it may come a smidgeon of your paint.

Pro Tip #2: Opt-in to Waterless Wash

A waterless vehicle wash is a high-lubricity pre-mixed spray detailer that is used to heavily saturate a panel before wiping off any dirt or road grime to a dry shine. Only use waterless washes on vehicles with little dirt accumulation. They're a quick and easy solution to keep your car clean in between washes.

Pro Tip #3: Regularly Vacuum

Wrappings, food particles, dust particles, pet hair, and other allergies are all collected in a car. As a result, it requires frequent vacuuming to remove dirt so that you may enjoy your journey in a clean vehicle.

Pro Tip #4: Perform a Hand Wash When Possible

Hand washes often perform a better job of cleaning the vehicle if you know what you're doing. When compared to an automatic wash, you'll likely be able to remove more filth and grime if you're prepared to put in the time.

Pro Tip #5: Underbody Pressure Washing

If you want to preserve your automobile in good shape without rust and corrosion, you must wash the underbody of your car. However, if you wash your automobile in temperatures above freezing and without excessive pressure, it will be completely safe for your car.

Summary

Winter weather preparation, especially in cold climate locations, can ensure that your car arrives in good shape in the spring.

Take a weekend off before the snowstorm arrives.

Simply complete the following tasks:

Replace your oil, inspect your car’s tire pressure, keep ice scraper, take a bottle of windshield washer fluid, replace your wiper blades, inspect your battery and keep extra batteries if possible, check your fuel lines and coolant, and if necessary, top off your antifreeze or flush the radiator. Don’t forget to grab a cellphone changer! Last but not the least, clean and wax your vehicle with the various torque products that were recommended in the article.