Preventing and repairing sun damage & how to get a professional car wash at home!

How to prevent and repair sun damage to your car!

Believe it or not, but the sun can do harmful damage to your car's paint, jut like your skin!

Sun damage spots

The UV rays start to deteriorate the paint's clear coat and cause the paint to peel. Most times, when this gets pretty bad, you will need to get a professional paint job...which can be costly. The good news is there is are few things you can do to prevent it and fix the small spots as they appear. Try to park the car in a garage or shady spots outside if you can to avoid these spots. Window tinting can also help the interior from fading.

Preventing the damage:

• Wash the car often out of the sunlight. You can read below on how to properly wash your car like a pro!
• Hand dry the car with a cotton cloth rag, for best results.
• Apply wax to the exterior, this will not only make the car looking new and shiny; but it also puts a layer between the paint and any outdoor debris and sunlight.

Wiping off the scratch remover

Repairing the damage:

Try to do this out of the sun and in a garage, as to not let the sun react with any of the chemicals. Also, the sooner you notice the sun spots, the better the outcome. If the sun damage gets too bad, this buffing process may not help and you may need a new paint job.            

Buffer with shine restorer

Materials:

Buffer

Scratch remover

Shine restorer

Clean towels

Car wax

• You will need to wash and dry the car before attempting to repair the paint damage. If you don't, the dirt on the car could further damage the car.
• Then you can start with rubbing the restoration polish or scratch remover on the damaged paint with a sponge, towel or buffer. Use elbow grease and get all the flaking paint off. Do only one panel at a time.
• Next, wipe off the scratch remover with a clean towel and start buffing the shine restorer until the paint is shiny.
• Then wipe off the shine restorer and wax the area to reseal the paint.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  If you don't feel comfortable restoring the paint on your car, you can always take it to a repair shop for professional results.

Washing your car at home like a pro!

Make sure the car is not in direct sunlight; this could cause water spots and soap/chemicals drying on the car. Check that all windows and doors are closed and any antennas are put down, if possible. Put the windshield wipers up too.

Gather all your materials:

2 buckets
Hose
A clean cloth rag, sponge, microfiber towels or mitten (Scrub brushes can cause small scratches on paint)
Tire scrub brush
Car soap
Window cleaner (but not for outside tinted windows)
Clay bar
Wax
Interior plastic cleaner
Carpet cleaner

Car must be wet before soaping up

 Cleaning the exterior:

Use a soft cleaner

• Fill a bucket with water and your favorite car soap. Also, have a bucket of plain water.
  
• Start by hosing off the car to loosen any debris.
  
• Wash and rinse one section at a time on the car to avoid any premature soap drying, but keep the entire car wet the whole time to avoid water spots.
  
• Keep rinsing the dirt out of your sponge or cloth to avoid scrubbing dirt into the paint.
  
• Clean the lower car body and tires last, as they are the dirtiest parts on the car.
  
• Clean the hubcap or rim and the sidewalls of the tire.
  
• Then try to rinse under the car and in the wheel wells as much as you can with the hose (on a higher jet setting than you would use on the car's exterior). This is especially useful after a snowy winter; there is more salt than you would think under you car. And as good as salt is for keeping the roads clear and not icy, it can damage or corrode the parts under the car.
  

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  Cleaning the wheel

• Dry the car with clean towels or paint safe squeegee completely. Start with the windows and then move the the body. Get most of the water off the car first, then follow up with a fresh dry towel to fully dry the car.
  
• If you wish, apply wax to the exterior, following the instructions on the container. However, if there are still imperfections on the car after washing, use a clay bar (follow instructions on package) to remove the debris before waxing.
  
• It's also a good time to apply water repellent to dry windows. It's a rub on application; there are windshield wipers and washer fluid that can apply this as well. (Drying the windshields/glass with newspaper gets the glass extra clean).
  
• Don't forget to wipe down the door jams!

Cleaning the inside:

• Start by taking the mats out of the car and shaking them down away from the car.
• If you have an air compressor, use this to blow out vents, hard to reach areas and the car mats.
• Then get a shop vacuum and vacuum the car's interior from top to bottom, including and moving the seats. Then vacuum the exterior mats outside of the car. Don't forget the trunk either!
• Make sure you have a long, thin nozzle to get in between the seats and small areas.
• pray the carpet cleaning on the rugs and floor, following the instructions on the bottle. You could also use a steam cleaner. 

• The carpet cleaner may be able to be used on the seats, but if not, use an upholstery cleaner.

• Use the glass cleaner, paper towels and newspaper on the interior windows/glass.
• Next, use plastic car cleaner or any household dusting cleaner on the dash, doors, seat belts, center console and any other hard surfaces in the car.
• Run through the car with the vacuum again and place mats back inside.
• It's also a nice touch to replace air fresheners in the car and spray some fabric refresher or baking soda. (Baking soda will need to be vacuumed up after it sits for an hour or so.)