Salty residue from snow left on car, how long before damage?
 

I am scared, becasue after the snow that came down last week, its been 6 days since i've had this salty water on my car, which dried and all is left is dry white stuff which i am guessing is the salt.


I took the car to spray it down with a high pressure hose, but it didnt take it all off, it took off a good amount, but there is still residue there.

Here in VA we are looking at about 2 feet coming in over this weekend!

I wont be able to watch the car for god konws how long.....


What to do????

im not sure about how quickly it will damage your paint but i live in PIttsburgh, PA and during the winter i spray my car off either every day or every other day bc i am paranoid about keeping my baby clean with all the winter salt

Spray where?

I sprayed mine with that high pressure hoses they have for like 3 bucks in quarters lol Didnt help though, I still had residue as stated in my first post after the spray down.

you just can't spray it off , you have to wash it with the wash brush or use a wash mitt too.
Us Canadians know that from experience.
I don't drive mine in the winter though ... couldn't bear to see salt all over it ...eating away at it for days and days and days ..... :)
seriously ... wash it down really good with a wash mitt then spray it off.

Not sure on length of time, but that's why I was sure that there was many layers of sealant on my car's paint before the winter hit in Chicago. I use Blackfire wet diamond paint sealant and am very happy with it. I try not to drive when it snows, but sometimes there's no choice

ya canadians ftw lol.

honestly i drive the car in snow all the time. its not bad at all, all of my families cars accept the old muscle car get winter driven and it snows regulary. just wash your car once a week or two atleast, make sure you do nice washes as well.

you can't just use water as he said, use a wash mit then spray off. thats what i do, its like 6 bucks for every 1 1/2, cause i only wash it every 10 days usually, so far no damage done to paint.

i would seal the paint however....i wax mine semi regularly

As a fellow northern driver, it's a pain in the arse to keep my car clean in the winter. Going to the self-spray car wash will get alot of the salt off, but there will still be a residue.

What I do is fill up a 5 gallon bucket with very hot water, car soap, and my washing mitt, put the lid on it and put in the foot well of the passenger seat. I then go to the self-spray car wash and put the minimum number of quarters in and soak my car on high pressure soap. After that round finishes, I pull out my bucket and hand wash the car. Once that's done, I run it through another minimum quarter car rinse. Car is sparkling clean at that point with all the residue gone.

As for drying, I squeegee off most of the water with a silicone water brush, then do the normal microfiber drying on what's left. I only need one towel when doing it this way. Total cost is $3.00 (2 cycles at $1.50 each) plus whatever small amount of soap I use.

This can be done in temperatures down to about 10F. Below that and it's difficult to get the car dried off before the water starts to freeze on the car. Make sure you go to a self-spray place that has at least one side with a door you can close, and dry the "open" side of your car first.

^Our wash place has a heater and 2 doors. FTW

ive heard salt is in its most corrosive state when wet and dry salt is not as corrosive on a painted/treated surface. Regardless it is very abbrasive and potential to do damage so it should be removed carefully asap. I usually go to a touchless wash at least once a week and include the underbody wash. I cant wait for spring/summer.

im not to sure about what type of wash station you canadians have but here in America there is a Pre-soak that will break up loose dirt and salt then you use the high pressure soap and high pressure rinse....if you have time to brush and use a wash mit every day then do that but if you want to get the most of the residue off regularly...try this

^^^i don't think you've ever drove in Winnipeg or a city similar during a snow storm. they lay down tons tons (literally and figureatively) of salt on our streets, along with gravel, and the streets become slushy when it gets warm.

I understand you can sometimes get that stuff off with a high perssure rinse, but as soon as it stays there for more then a couple of days then its pretty well stuck.

i wash my car with the carwash soap first, spend about 4 minutes or 2 dollars doing that. then i let the soap sit for about a minute. then i go at it with the rinse for about 4 minutes or 2 dollars, then finally i get out my bucket and wash mit and basically just slide it over the car, no pressure needed, finally i rinse it for another 2 dollars or 4 minutes. each carwash probably costs me about 8 dollars between the coinwasher and my carwash soap....sometimes i wonder if i pay more for washing the thing then for gas lol.

i understand and i'm sure we do not get as much snow here as you do up there so of coarse less salt is used........aside from the 2 1/2 feet we got last night in PIttsburgh....I just can't get myself to hand wash in weather under 30degrees F

^^^as instructed, fill a bucket with water and car soap, grab a wash mit and head to a local diy wash station. rinse the car off, go at it with the wash mit and then rinse it off, make sure to get under the side skirts etc.

for reference i do this approximately every 10 days or less, but i hardly drive my car....1000 miles in 2 months.

Well, its snowed like **** here again, and it is coming tomorrow night.


I am thinking of washing by body part.

My question is, how does this work?

I often see people say it, but never go into detail.

I am thinking of doing the whole bucket with hot water and soap and mitt, along with a water bottle of hot water to 'wet' each panel of the car i am doing. And I will have a towel ready to dry it off.

Wiht that said, anyone do it like this? Am I doing that right?

I will start at a fender, and work my way down to the trunk, and all the way around til i hit the other fender, then hit the hood and front bumper.

Will this work?

Keep the hot water away from the windows. You could crack it.