During winter, when the weather is freezing with snow everywhere, including the roads and highways, government agents lace the streets and other road surfaces with salt to combat ice formation.
However, this doesn’t always mean well for your car. In fact, your vehicle is always at risk of salt damage in the winter. Read on to learn how to protect your car from salt damage this winter.
What is road salt?
Road salt is table salt in its purest form. What is usually applied on the highways is a combination of sand and salt. The salt helps to keep the temperature just above freezing point, while the sand ensures that the salt stays in place and doesn’t get thrown off the roads too quickly.
Why is road salt bad for cars?
Even though road salt helps to prevent road surfaces from freezing, it has a huge disadvantage as it sticks to the bottom of cars leading to corrosion and eventually rust. Road salts are corrosive, which means if stuck to your car and left unattended, or over time, it begins to eat into the car paint, thereby damaging the car’s protective covering with prolonged contact.
What can you do to protect your car?
Here are some tips for protecting your car to look clean and brand new during the winter season.
Wash your car regularly
You may feel like washing your car regularly wastes time and money, but keeping your car clean during the winter is even more critical. Regular washing can eliminate traces of salt on your car and reduce the damage it would have otherwise been subjected to upon prolonged contact with the road salt.
Keep the tires clean
Ensure that your car’s tires are properly cleaned before the start of winter, and keep cleaning them throughout the winter months. This will help to eliminate any road salt sticking to it. When your tires aren’t cleaned, they can kick up dirt and salt under your car while driving, thus causing damage to the undercarriage and even the engine.
Cover windshield wiper blades
During the cold and freezing season, you will notice that your wiper blades get frozen and get stuck to the glass, making it almost impossible to clear or wipe the windshield, making it difficult to see the road, putting yourself at risk, and even other drivers. Waiting for the ice to thaw or defrost can take a lot of time; save yourself time and energy by using a pair of socks to cover the windshield wiper overnight.
Detail your car
Regular car detailing is the ultimate solution to protect your car in every possible weather condition, including the damaging effects of road salts in the winter.
Before the winter comes around, you can take your car to the experts and have it detailed. This way, you can drive around as you please during the winter and never have to worry about the corrosive effects of road salts on your car.
After reading through these tips and maintaining your car during the winter is still a problem and a tedious task, contact us for all your car maintenance needs. Our professional and competent agents are always ready to tend to your car needs.
