Isn’t it amazing how much time and effort you see car owners put into the maintenance and care of their vehicle’s paint job? The care and dedication to detail are staggering. Car owners will do everything from using only the highest quality OEM paint, OEM paint supplies and using only OEM paint shops to washing and caring for their cars by hand.
There is a good reason for this. Many people take a lot of pride in the way their cars are presented. Car owners often view their vehicles as an extension of themselves and how they take care of their cars is very important to them. If you can relate to this, knowing how to take care of your paint is the most important step in extending the longevity of your OEM automotive paint.
Follow these tips to keep your genuine automotive paint in great shape.
1. Wash regularly to keep your genuine automotive paint looking new.
Regular washing is the number one defense against the damage that comes from driving around. By regularly washing the OEM paint on your car, you are lowering the chance that normally occurring factors like grit and salt from the road will damage your paint job.
Factors such as the types of roads you drive on, the weather in your area and how you drive will determine how often you should wash your car. If you choose to wash your car once a week or every other week, that will give your paint job a great chance at looking amazing years down the road
2. If you are going to wash by hand, use the right technique and materials.
This can be a point of disagreement between car enthusiasts as everyone has their own particular process for washing cars by hand. While there is no “perfect” way of washing a car by hand, there are a few standards that you can abide by that will allow you to take great care of your genuine automotive paint and will keep you from needing touch-ups at your OEM paint shop.
- Make sure you have the right materials. DO NOT USE dirty rags, rough fiber cloths or even some sponges. The best thing you can use to wash your car is a high-quality microfiber cloth or a specially designed carwash cloth.
- Use quality carwash soap. Regular dish soap or laundry soap may bubble a lot but can actually strip the protective wax layer off of your paint.
- Hose down your car to wash away any dirt BEFORE you wash by hand.
- Wash your vehicle in sections, making sure to finish one section before moving on to the next, starting with the roof.
- Have one bucket for soapy water and one with clean water. Wash and then rinse with clean water.
- Do the back of the car last as it is often the dirtiest.
3. Use the right materials to get the best wash.
As mentioned above, your OEM automotive paint deserves to be treated properly with the right materials when getting washed. This means you have to invest in:
- Proper washcloths
- High-quality car detergent
- Chamois cloths or a wash mitt (preferably 2 in case you drop one while washing your car)
- Drying cloths
- While not necessary, a quality nozzle for your hose makes a difference when washing your car
4. Use wax.
It is common knowledge that waxing your OEM paint protects it from all of the elements that would ruin your paint. But this common knowledge is not exactly right. It doesn’t protect your paint. What waxing does do is protect the clear coat that is layered over top of your paint layer.
The clear coat does two things. It creates a protective layer that stands between the elements and your vehicles genuine automotive paint. It is also what gives your paint job that beautiful shine and by using wax, you are protecting that protective layer and adding to that hypnotic shine that every car lover enjoys.
5. Polish to bring out the shine in your genuine automotive paint (but not too often).
Polish and wax are often mistaken but they are not the same. While they may be confused by the masses, the avid car care enthusiast knows the difference and uses polish accordingly. How are they different?
- Wax will create a protective layer and will enhance the shine of a vehicle’s OEM automotive paint. This layer adds to the protective nature of the clear coat that already exists on your car.
- Polish uses a slight abrasive to enhance the shine of a cars paint job. Using a polish can remove small scratches and swill marks from the surface of the paint. If you didn’t want to take the OEM paint shop or get any OEM paint supplies to repair the minor damage, polish can do the trick.
It is important to not overuse polishing compounds. If you do, the micro-abrasives could actually damage your cars paint job.
6. Remove any bird droppings or sap.
While it may be funny to see it happen to somebody else’s car, a bird leaving its supper on your car’s OEM paint is no laughing matter. Bird droppings are quite acidic and can permanently damage the finish of your paint if it is left long enough. That is especially true if your vehicle is left in the blazing sun. Make sure to remove any unwanted bird surprises as soon as you notice them.
Tree sap is another silent but potentially deadly car paint enemy. It is common to have trees leave sap or other types of excretions on your vehicle. Whether this is from the tree or from aphids, the fact remains that they can be very difficult to remove and they can permanently damage your paint if left long enough. There are enough factors that can send your car to the OEM paint shop in need of OEM paint supplies so don’t let this be another one.
7. When you need to repair your paint, use the right stuff!
You can’t avoid everything. There will be a time when you need to do some repairs on your paint job. When that time comes, make sure to use the right materials. Repair your OEM automotive paint with genuine OEM paint supplies to get the right match.
Everything from repair pens to OEM spray paint is available from great shops like TheTouchUpShop.com. If you aren’t going to take it into an OEM paint shop, get your genuine OEM paint supplies from a respectable dealer and do the job right. Your future self, and your car, will thank you.
8. Not all paints are created equal. Make sure to care for them accordingly.
Matte paint is not to be treated like other paints. How your typical OEM paint will react is different from your typical matte paint so it is important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when caring for your matte paint job.
According to MotorTrend, matte paints need to be washed more often and more gently. Only high-quality washcloths can be used and they MUST be washed between each car wash (which should be done for all paint jobs).
9. Store your vehicle inside to protect your genuine automotive paint.
The sun is amazing. It gives us life, beautiful beach days and grows our food. For your car paint, however, it can be a terribly destructive force. No matter the quality of your OEM automotive paint, the sun is stronger. Sitting in the sun won’t damage your car today, or tomorrow, but over the course of time, it will do lasting damage.
Parking your car inside a garage is the best way to protect its OEM automotive paint. It also protects it from all of the other elements that may harm your paint including, but not limited to:
- Extreme weather
- Wind blown dust
- Rocks or gravel thrown from oncoming vehicles
- Potential vandals or thieves
10. When parking in parking lots, try and stay away from other cars.
Nobody likes to walk through a parking lot to get to their car. It is pretty safe to say that almost anyone would prefer to walk a little bit further to their car than get a ding in their door or scratch in their paint from a reckless pedestrian in a parking lot.
40% of all accidents that result in physical damage happen in parking lots. By parking away from other vehicles in parking lots, you reduce the chance that you will need to make a trip to the OEM paint shop to repair any unintended vehicle damage.
OEM Paint Supplies from TheTouchUpShop.com
Preserving your car’s paint isn’t necessarily the most difficult task when it comes to maintaining your vehicle. It only takes some consistent and dedicated effort and you can preserve your OEM automotive paint and reduce the trips you take to the OEM paint shop.
As hard as you try, you won’t be able to keep your OEM paint perfect forever. When it comes time to do some OEM paint repairs, use TheTouchUpShop.com to get the best materials and the best service for the best value. We have the materials you need and we have them for you right now.
Reach out to TheTouchUpShop.com and get the paint supplies and materials you need today.