On the first day, God created sunlight and dirt; four days later, He added bugs and birds. Some time after that, the car came along, and the four have been locked in mortal combat ever since. Like a game of Paper, Scissors, Rock, car kills bug; bug kills paint; bird kills bug; bird poops on car, kills paint (occasionally, car kills bird). It is a vicious cycle, and if you've been on a long drive anywhere out of town, you're familiar with the Technicolor insect necropolis on your windshield as a testimony of the damage it can do to your car's shiny side. You can sit there and watch as your Kiss Me Red paint job is relegated to Pinch Me Pink, or you can do something about it.
Well, you've made it past the first paragraph, and that means you want to do something about it. You can start by taking a look at your car; a really close look. See those swirls in the paint and spotted white rings that look like a Dalmatian's backside? The diagnosis: You just threw out a Rock and Nature slammed you with Paper. You're losing the battle with dirt and your car will pay the ultimate price. The pH balance of its paint job must be maintained in order to keep its appearance in top condition; this is something that washing cannot do alone. Waxes, polishes and conditioners are needed to protect your car against the triple-threat enemy, known here as the Axis.
The AxisPrimarily, the main enemies are acid rain, bird droppings and alkaline-laden water drops (hard water). Thanks to the industrial revolution, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions from powerplants, car exhaust and air pollution from industrial plants have become trapped in rain water and get dumped on your car during a rainstorm. It's called acid rain, which is basically a very diluted form of nitric and sulfuric acids. The sun dries water droplets containing these acids and they are left behind to concentrate on your car's surface. The concentrated acid soon penetrates the clear coat, dissolving the resin and forming a microscopic pit. Left untreated, the pit collects new droplets and the concentrated acid can continue into the basecoat, destroying the pigment and eventually, the whole car.
Bird droppings (and yours), on the other hand, contain a byproduct called uric acid. This alkaline, if left non-neutralized, can penetrate the clear-coat and cause damage similar to acid rain.
Alkaline water marks are all too familiar. What amounts to hard water spots are calcium and magnesium salts that deposit on the paint after the water has evaporated. These are white rings of minute crystals that bond to the paint, and we say bond here not in the sense that they enjoy spending time together, but in the you-were-bought-by-your-cellmate-for-a-pack-of-smokes bond. They cannot be re-dissolved by water, and only a conjugal visit by good degreaser can break up that relationship. However, harsh detergents found in some car soaps contain sodium silicate or sodium hydroxide that may etch the surface of the clear coat, leaving white residue or dulling the entire finish, similar to hard water.
The AllieFortunately, there are people out there who genuinely care about the condition of your car, and Chris Schaich and Robert Allen of CR Shine Detailing are two such friends you'd be lucky to have on your side. They keep the fleet clean at the Monster Garage, as well as all the bikes the come out of West Coast Choppers, not to mention Sandra Bullock's Porsche, Kid Rock's chopper and Tyson Bedford's Bentley. With nearly 20 years of combined experience deep in the trenches of the war on dirt, we unleashed the dynamic duo on a freshly washed 2003 Ferrari 360 Spyder so we could learn a thing or two on how to keep our cars looking their best.
Perhaps it was the awe of a Ferrari in our midst, but the car initially looked stunning and as clean as we thought it could be. Robert, the exterior man, took a closer look and turned up his nose after only a few seconds. The car was filthy. He showed us that, by running our hand down the hood, it wasn't perfectly smooth like a baby's bottom, but bumpy and coarse like the skin of a basketball. If we followed his advice, all of our Ferraris could be ER clean. So, get out your Ferrari and follow along.
The wash cycleWash your car regularly. You shower regularly (or you should), and your car should too. When the car is clean, any unwanted moisture will dry up quickly, but when it's dirty, the moisture accumulates with the dirt and causes corrosion. Use a soap that is intended for a car's paint, not for washing dishes. You don't eat off of your car and you don't drive your plates, so leave the dishwashing soap in the kitchen. Get yourself a bottle of Mother's California Gold Car Wash or Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash, as they are both top of the line. Wash your car in the shade and never in direct sunlight. Use a different sponge for your tires (and any exterior rubber) and always start at the top of the car and wash down, so you're not dragging dirt over clean panels; plus, the closer you get to the street, the dirtier the car is. Use a degreaser on tough areas, like oil spots, salt damage, bug splatter, etc. A good one comes from 3D Detailing Products (www.3Dproducts.com).
Wash the rims first (the tires and windows last), and make sure they're dead cold before applying any wheel cleaner. Hot wheels will burn the cleaner right onto the rim and cause discoloration and/or permanent damage. Don't wet down the rims/tires first, as you want to make sure the chemical you're using is strong and not diluted with water. Eagle One has several good products for rim cleaning (like A2Z All Wheel & Tire Cleaner), but read the labels closely to determine if it is right for your wheel.