Salt: Good on Roads, Bad on Cars By Gina Cherundolo, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer Jan 19, 2011; 8:02 AM ET
Actually - I really wish they could have consulted experts in the field - like us. The article emphasized cleaning the salt from your car by washing - but it didn't mention paint maintenance.
I think that it's simply because this article was to emphasize removing salt from the paintwork and undercarriage more than to take care of the paintwork. Prevention rather than correction.
Plus it's made for the average person. I still believe LSP is a fundamental preventative step though.
Although dry salt is inert 15 – 20.oF (9 – 29.oC) is considered the lower limit for salt to melt snow and ice but once H2O, even in the form of moist air (i.e. humidity) is added the freezing point is lowered and the sprayed brine solution (pH 8.5) used on roads will have an adverse effect (the formation of rust and/or corrosion) on the vehicles paint and undercarriage, adding heat i.e. inside a garage, accelerates the corrosion process. When washing the vehicle ensure that all salt removed to avoid a brine solution remaining on the paint finish. Using a durable protection (Collinite Insulator Wax) will provide a sacrificial and renewable protection to the vehicles paint finish.
I am shocked to learn that salting roads may causes issues with undercarriages of cars, etc. I had also just learned that you need to dress warmly when going outside on cold days (a popular tip from most local tv news shows). Amazed.:giggle:
Random question that I'm sure has been answered before...what is the best way to get salt off the undercarriage of your car? Somehow sticking a hose up under there and spraying around just seems a bit hit-or-miss to me Too bad they don't JUST do an undercarriage spray at the car washes. I'm paranoid about rust on my GTI...I plan on keeping it for a long time and after seeing what the salt did to my Beetle I wanna prevent as much rust as I can, even though I know that the rust prevention on new cars is far superior to that on cars from the 1970's.
So...how safe are touchless washes? Outside of whether or not they cause marring, I've heard they generally use very harsh cleaners.
I'm not sure about where you are, but from where I am it's possible to choose just "warm water" spraying in CERTAIN car washes. Just to get the most of the crud off the vehicle. ou don't HAVE to use soaps.
Not that I know of. I haven't ever been in one of those car washes myselfas I use public transit during the winter and there isn't much salt gathering under the RX-7 at the frequency I use it as well as WHEN I use it, lol. I wouldn't start another debate about that. I think it's been covered enough. I would just let it go. Do as you wish though.
Nope, a regular car wash is the basic service. Going for the "under-carriage wash" is an option/upgrade that adds a dollar or two to the total cost of the car wash. At the end of winter, I just drive the front of my car up on ramps and blast all the crapola off the bottom of my car. Despite the rust-proof coating manufacturers apply to the under-carriage of all new cars from the factory, you'd be surprised at how much junk falls off from just a good rinse.
