Tips for maintaining a black car


As the author of hundreds of article on car care in general and paint polishing specifically and also an instructor teaching detailing classes for over 25 years as well as a professional detailer that has buffed out more swirled out cars than I can count or remember, I completely understand the issues that pertain to maintaining a nice looking finish on a black or dark colored car.

I also understand the attraction people have to black and dark colored cars as their color of choice because dark colors are sometimes the perfect color to showcase the body lines and styling of a lot of vehicles.

The issue with black and dark colored paints always comes down to how maintain the finish to keep it swirl and scratch free.


Modern paints scratch easily
One factor that cannot be easily overcome is the fact that modern clearcoat paints while harder than old school single stage lacquers and enamels used on cars before 1980 are scratch-sensitive.

This means that even though they are harder they still scratch easily. And because they tend to be harder it's more difficult and time consumer to remove swirls and scratches. Also, because they scratch easy, you must use high quality compounds and polishes anytime you compound or polish the paint. Cheap or inexpensive compounds and polishes may remove one set of scratches but they will then leave their own scratch pattern behind in the paint. Kind of a one step forward, one step back.


More information

Clearcoats are Scratch-Sensitive


Tips for maintaining a black or dark colored car

Here are some tips that my experience has shown me will give you the edge when it comes to maintaining a vehicle with a black or dark colored finish.


Automatic car washes
FIRST and for most, NEVER take your car to any automatic car wash that uses,

1. Spinning brushes
2. Swinging soft cloths
The problem with both these types of automatic car washes are you have physical contact between the paint on your car and either the spinning brushes or the swinging soft cloths and it is the spinning or back-and-forth mopping action of the soft cloths that put scratches into your car's paint.


Accumulated dirt and road grime
Besides the materials used for these types of automatic car washes not being soft enough to prevent scratching it is the dirt they accumulate from cars washed before you take you car through the wash that gets rubbed against your car's paint that inflicts the scratches.

You never know how dirty the car was that goes through the car wash before your car and if it was covered with heavy dirt and even mud this is a sure fire recipe for a paint disaster to your car.



Touchless car washes
Touchless car washes are a much saver option for preventing swirls and scratches from being put into your car's finish. The way the touchless car wash works is they spray a strong chemical cleaning agent onto the paint that softens the bond of any dirt or road film and then blast the car with high pressure water to flush the car clean. While a much better choice than any type of automatic car wash where something touches the paint the cleaning agents used can strip off any previously applied wax protection.

A good option if you want to use a touchless car wash is to maintain your car's finish with a detergent resistant wax, synthetic paint sealant or paint coating.




100% Hand Car Washes
A traditional hand car wash can seem like a safe option but the problem with having someone hand washing you car includes,

1. Are they careful when they move the wash mitt over the paint.

There's the right way to hand wash a car and the wrong way to hand wash a car and without proper training and a strong incentive to do the job right you're putting your car's paint at risk to let someone else hand wash it.

2. Is the wash mitt clean, soft and in good shape?
There's a HUGE difference between a brand new, high quality wash mitt being used on your car and a wash mitt that's been used for months, possibly years. There's also the HUGE risk that the wash mitt was used on dirty car before it's used on your car and what are the odds 100 percent of all dirt was removed from the mitt before it was taken to your car's paint.

Not to mention... it's real easy to drop a wash mitt on the ground and then simply pick it up and keep on washing with it.

You also have to consider the people working at most hand car washes will probably be using their wash mitt to wash all areas of the cars before your car including the lowest portions of a vehicle that accumulate the most dirt like lower body panels, under the front and rear bumpers not to mention cleaning wheels and tires where metallic particles from brake dust can accumulate onto a wash mitt.

The idea of using a 100 percent hand car wash can be a noble idea but in my book it's a recipe for swirls and scratches.

The reality of the 100% Hand Car Wash







Free dealership car washes
In my entire life and career in the car detailing industry I have never heard of a single instance where a person didn't get new swirls and scratches in their car's paint when it was washed for free at a car dealership.

Car dealerships are all about herding people into a cubicle where the closer closes the sale and writes up the sales invoice. For the most part, anything having to do with car detailing and car washing provided by any car dealership is a recipe for swirls and scratches in your car's paint.

I don't blame the people doing the washing and detailing as these tend to be good, hard working people. It's the owners and managers that are responsible because they don't offer training to their employees or quality tools and products. The underlying reason there is no support for the people that do the work is because the people in charge simply don't care and in most case they don't know the difference between a squirrel or a swirl.

The difference between a swirl and squirrel

For clarification...

This is a Squirrel



These are Swirls





IMPORTANT

It's normal and in most cases a part of the purchase of most new vehicles to take your car to the dealership where you purchased your car for regular maintenance procedures like having the oil changed.

As a courtesy service, most dealerships will also wash your car while it's in for service. Here's a tip....

DON'T LET THE DEALERSHIP WASH YOUR CAR!

I cannot count how many times someone has taken their new car or truck to the dealership to have it serviced only to have the dealership car wash or in-house detailer completely swirl-out the paint.

Here's the deal though... it's a standard procedure at most dealerships, like a knee-jerk reaction. They don't even look to see if your car needs washing they wash them all and when they do they put swirls and scratches into the paint and it all comes back to lack of training of tier staff and poor quality washing tools and products.

The ONLY way to stop the dealership from washing your car is to be proactive and be very firm in DEMANDING that they don't wash or touch the exterior of your car in any way. If you're not upfront and firm about this you're going to be sorry.

Read my article here and follow the tips I recommend to stop the dealership from wrecking your car's paint.


DON'T WASH CAR !!!!!!!!!!!








Car washes by mobile or brick-and-mortar detail shops
This option is also risky because whether or not you get a quality/safe car wash comes down to the person or shop doing the washing and whether or not they care to do a good job and are equipped to do a good job.

I've seen mobile detailer washing cars in store parking lots using wash mitts that look like they are as old as and as worn out as the parking lot the detailer is standing on. Let's not even talk about their technique.

I also know guys that treat a car like a diamond and get show car results when they wash a car. The difference comes down to their knowledge of proper tools and techniques and as simple as it may sound... whether they care or not to do a good job.

A true professional detailer, be they mobile or in a shop, will now their value and charge accordingly. They will also be able to explain in detail how they wash a car as well as how they detail a car. Chances are really good they share their work and the products they use on their website, Facebook page or on a forum like the one you're reading right now.



Owner performed car washes
The last option to getting the car clean is doing it yourself. This is in my opinion the best option if you're willing to take ownership of the car washing process. To wash a car correctly you need,

  1. A little knowledge of correct car washing techniques.
  2. High quality products like your car wash solution.
  3. High quality car washing tools.
In the below post I'll share the techniques and tools to wash a car carefully.