Dealing with Dust on "Garage Queen"

[MIsnowman]

Hey guys, I have a truck that sits for long periods of time (months) in a finished workshop without being driven and there is a lot of dust that accumulates on it. The truck is black and I'm basically having to wash it every time I want to drive it because it looks like crap with all the dust on it. This has caused me to drive it even less than I normally would because I don't want to take the extra time and effort to wash it before going somewhere. To be honest I'm not entirely sure where all of the dust is coming from, but I'm thinking a lot of it might be coming from the relatively new concrete floor. It hasn't been sealed so I'm thinking some of the fine concrete particles on the surface are sloughing off. I've also been doing quite a bit of woodworking in the shop lately so I'm sure that has contributed to it as well.

Anyway, I'm looking for the best way to prevent and/or deal with the dust that doesn't involve washing the truck every time I want to drive it.

- I'm afraid that a cover would cause marring and scratches and would also be difficult to install/remove on a large truck. Anyone have experience using a cover on a crew cab truck?

- Do you think some type of canopy over the truck would help reduce the dust? I'm thinking this would prevent a lot of the dust from settling on the truck.

- Would backing it out and blowing the dust off regularly help? I wonder how often I would need to do this? When I blow the dust off after it has sat for long periods, there always seems to be a thin layer of dust that remains. I'm wondering if doing it more often would prevent this?

I appreciate any ideas you might have. TIA

Pictures attached are of truck after sitting since March.

[PaulMys]

Dust is going to happen in any structure. Imagine not dusting your house for months at a time?!?

Being that the truck sits inside, I would think a cover would be best. There is no wind or weather to blow the cover around (causing marring).

Other than that, maybe just take 10-15 minutes a couple times a week to use a QD or waterless wash on it.

[vincec]

My truck sits in my shop as well and hasn't been used regularly due to having a take home vehicle from work. Any time you are using a saw, router, sander, etc. the fine dust is going to get airborne and settle on your truck. I would back mine outside of the shop whenever I needed to work on something and close the garage door.

If your keeping the truck up with a wax/sealant/coating you could rinse it off to remove the dust and blow dry with a leaf blower to avoid taking the time to dry it and potentially instilling swirl marks. Weekly or bi-weekly detailing with a WW or RW would help if you don't let it get really dusty. If you start rubbing that dust into the clear coat you'll have problems.

Those photos of your truck look like the table tops in my shop after sanding solid surface countertops. I would use my electric leaf blower with 230 mph wind speed to blow all the dust out the doors then vacuum the benches and floor to remove the nuisance dust. It still required periodic wet mopping to keep the shop clean.

A car cover may work but I would pull the truck outside when your working in the shop and keep it covered while outside.

[MarkD51]

Not sure what you want us to tell you here? Might sound rude, but if looking for a cheap solution, go to any thrift shop, and go buy yourself 3 or 4 cheapo bed sheets, and cover the truck. There's no magic pill here to swallow.

That's a black truck? Hell, it looks like it met Mt. St. Helens when it erupted!

A Car Cover, sure, but then you got the problem of that being filthy, and who wants to deal with that?

[WillSports3]

The only thing you can do as a long term solution is change where you park it when you're working. The reason is, a lot of these concrete type materials can get quite high in the ph scale when any moisture is introduced so you're doing a lot more damage to the clearcoat than just cosmetic.

[dpevans]

Maybe take sheet wrap body shops use to cover vehicles and keep it covered up. If not exposed to wind and weather and truly just need to keep the dust off that should work without worry about scratching. You can pick one up for less then 20 bucks.

[Bill D]

I have one of my cars covered zipped inside a Car Bag. I never have to worry about dust. Also, my garage floor is painted, which I noticed cuts down on dust.

[FUNX650]

IMO:
This is a scenario where a car/truck
“capsule” is a sure-fire remedy.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/22B7B97A-D185-47BF-B8F3-281494B7F7A8.jpeg


Bob

[MIsnowman]

Not sure what you want us to tell you here? Might sound rude, but if looking for a cheap solution, go to any thrift shop, and go buy yourself 3 or 4 cheapo bed sheets, and cover the truck. There's no magic pill here to swallow.

That's a black truck? Hell, it looks like it met Mt. St. Helens when it erupted!

A Car Cover, sure, but then you got the problem of that being filthy, and who wants to deal with that?

Yep that’s a black truck under there. :)

Not necessarily looking for a cheap solution and certainly not looking for a magic pill. Just wanted to get others’ ideas about what might work or not work to help reduce the amount of dust on the truck. I had thought about bed sheets also, but from past experience on snowmobiles, some dust always manages to get through the sheet.

If a car cover can be installed and removed without too much risk of scratching, I may look into going that route. A filthy cover would be better than a filthy truck.

[MIsnowman]

A lot of good ideas and feedback guys, I really appreciate it. I have a small pop up style canopy that will cover part of the truck. I may try this just to see what it does. I’m thinking this should prevent a lot of the dust from settling on the truck as it would have to blow up under the canopy.

Bill D, where does one buy a car bag and approx how much does one cost? I’m going to look into sealing the concrete floor as I think this is the origin of a lot of the dust.

[Bill D]

You can get a Car Bag at Carbag.com If I recall correctly, they are in the $300 range. I’ve had mine for about twenty years.

[Rsurfer]

They make some thin inexpensive covers for construction and painting companies. Check with some large painting contractors or waterproofing companies that use spray guns and need to cover cars.

These covers are light weight and cheap, think throw aways.

[Coatingsarecrack]

You can get a rinseless wash done in about 15 mins. Id just recommend doing one of those.


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[MarkD51]

[QUOTE=MIsnowman;1682639]Yep that’s a black truck under there. :)

Not necessarily looking for a cheap solution and certainly not looking for a magic pill. Just wanted to get others’ ideas about what might work or not work to help reduce the amount of dust on the truck. I had thought about bed sheets also, but from past experience on snowmobiles, some dust always manages to get through the sheet.

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That's the problem with a car cover, and no matter how careful you are removing it and installing it, has to be either rolled up, or folded up without the cover then hitting the floor.

Thus when such is done, the outside of the cover, which will likely be as dirty and dusty as your Truck appears to be in the photo will contact and contaminate the inside of the cover no matter how good, or how expensive a cover it is.

Yes, Covercraft does make a specific "Duststop" Cover, and it is no doubt better at restricting pass through of dusts versus my earlier suggestion of lightweight bed sheets.

But if you'll then find a need to then wash that cover every time you remove, and prior to re-installing it, that's going to get old real quick. Plus these large Covers to fit a full size Pickup Truck are not that "small", and one might then find it quite difficult or close to impossible to launder in a regular home sized washing machine.

The heavier duty car covers do get pretty bulky. I found that out with 2 car covers I had-have for my Tahoe, first the Covercraft NOAH, then the Covercraft Weathershield HD. I then resorted to using a used plastic 55 gallon Car Wash Soap Drum with a Ball Cock Drain installed at its bottom for manual hand washing of these Covers. (Cut the top off) Then hanging to air dry because there was no Laundermats in my town that had large enough commercial sized washers and dryers available.

Was why I thought lighter bed sheets would be much easier to deal with as far as laundering was concerned.
Plus the good custom fitted covers are going to cost some good money as well. Likely $500-$600.

Hope some of these thoughts help you.

[MarkD51]

The simplest no cost option would be to simply remove the vehicle when using your garage for shop projects.

Something like say using an Air Compressor with Blower Attachment to then blow off dusts would likely make matters even more messy. Plus you surely don't wish to be breathing those dusts, or getting them all over you.