How To Protect Your Car from Road Salt
Wondering how to protect your car from road salt? It's simpler than you think!
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Though road salt is certainly our friend when it comes to melting snow and ice, it is also something that can cause rust and corrosion in our vehicles.
Though this might be the last thing on your mind when it comes to winter weather, it definitely needs to be more prominent in a car owner's to-do list. This is a list of the best ways to protect your car from road salt, and how to avoid rust, damage, and any other harm to our vehicles.
Wax your car.
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Coating your car's exterior with wax is one of the best ways protect your car from road salt. As a great way to maintain your paint job, the wax adds a layer of protection to your paint, that will keep the salt, weather conditions, and grime away.
The best time to wax your car is right before you are expecting the worst of your winter weather, because it does dissolve over time, especially in the harsh conditions of the winter. Be sure to especially concentrate on the headlight when waxing, and the snow and sleet can affect the lights up to several weeks.
Be sure to check that your drainage holes are clear.
You can find your drainage holes in your frame, floor, and the bottoms of your doors. These holes are incorporated in the design of your vehicle to get rid of any excess moisture.
But while you've been driving around in the snow and rain, it is very possible that these holes are blocked by salt, snow, dirt, you name it. If your car cannot rid itself of this moisture, this will cause rust.
Go through the car wash, often.
A very simple action, but one that will make a huge difference in protecting you car against road salt, take it through the car wash a bunch.
You should really be taking your vehicle to the wash every ten days or less, and especially if the temperature reaches 40 degrees or higher. After it snows or rains, you should wash your vehicle, to avoid build-up, rust, corrosion, and any other type of damage.
Purchasing a great rust-proof spray is next on our list of the best ways to protect your car from road salt. To remain resistant to rusting, you simply have to apply this spray to your car, to improve its resistance to the harmful chemicals in road salt.
A strong, thick, and long-lasting preventative, the spray is created to be sprayed on iron, steel, and metals. It will protect your vehicle from rust for years without cracking, peeling, or flaking.
Park your car facing east.
Much like using a natural defroster, parking your car facing east will allow your car to automatically use the sunrise as a car warmer.
Also, a great way to minimize your time in the morning scraping away at the ice on your windshield, parking your car in this direction will allow your car to naturally defrost, as well as rid itself of moisture and avoid rusting up.
Stray away from deep snowbanks.
Though it might seem obvious, avoiding deep snowbanks at all costs is definitely one of the top ways to protect your car from road salt. We could simply say to avoid driving your car much while there's snow on the ground, but we know that's unrealistic.
So instead, avoid the deep patches of snow, or even slush. This exposes your undercarriage to not only the snow but the salt.
Scratches and dings should be taken care of right away.
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If you are proactive when it comes to taking care of any scratches or dings on your car, you will avoid rusting caused by salt.
This is because the paint will improve the quality of your car and avoid exposing the car to the rough elements of the winter, and prevent salt from sticking to the dings and scratches. Plus, it will just look better altogether.
Avoid puddles and standing water.
Next on our list of the best ways to protect your car from road salt is much like avoiding snow banks: avoid puddles and standing water as well.
Driving through large puddles or standing water is yet another home to lots of road salt. In fact, it is where road salt collects and sits, waiting for your car to become its new home. So if you can avoid it, drive around those puddles throughout the winter.
Wash the underside of your vehicle.
If you just can't seem to avoid that huge puddle of water on your commute home, washing the underside of your vehicle will help you feel better about potential rusting.
Something that many people neglect to do, be sure to wash the underside of your car often during the winter months of the year, especially after a recent snowfall or rain shower. You can get this done in a car wash, just be sure to find one that does not use recycled water.
You also have to be sure to protect the interior of your car from the winter. And last on our list of the best ways to protect your car from road salt, purchasing floor mats for this purpose is a great way to maintain a clean interior.
This is far more important to the protection of your car than simply looking nice. Road salt can even eventually rot out your floorboards, on top of staining your interior carpeting. And rubber car mats are the best way to go, because they protect your carpeting and are easy to remove and clean.
About the Creator
Adrian Scott
Horror-movie fan and wanna-be chef looking to travel the world.
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