Advice
Washing your car in winter: why you should do it more, not less
In winter you should wash your car more often, not less. Road salt attacks paint, brake lines and the underbody, and stays active for as long as it sits on the car. A wash including underbody cleaning rinses the salt away. At Excellent Carwash in Amsterdam that starts at €12.50.
What road salt does to your car
Road salt works by lowering the freezing point of water. That same property makes it an excellent electrolyte: it accelerates corrosion anywhere the paint is chipped or bare metal is exposed.
The damage is not where you can see it. Salt works its way into wheel arches, along the sills, into the seam welds of the floor pan and around suspension mounting points. It sits there for weeks doing its work while the top of your car looks perfectly fine.
How often to wash
Rule of thumb: if the roads have been salted, wash within the week. If you drive on salted roads daily, once a week is realistic. Wait until spring and the salt has had three months.
Do not wait for a dry, sunny day. Washing right after a salting period is exactly when it is worth doing, even in drizzle.
Pick a programme with underbody cleaning
Washing only the top does nothing about salt damage. Choose a programme that covers the underside: with us, underbody and wheel-arch cleaning are part of The Best. A wax layer on top also gives the paint a protective film before the next salting.
Washing in frost
In light frost you can use the wash tunnel normally. Drive on for a few minutes afterwards so the car’s residual heat evaporates the water, and do not yank the doors open if the seals feel frozen. In severe frost it can be sensible to wait a day.
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