How To: Remove Salt From Your Car
If you live in a cold climate, you are undoubtedly dealing with one helluva dirty car at the moment. With all of the snow, ice, sleet, hail, rain, and general sludge comes an overload of salt. Salt is to rust as the clap is to burning pee. Get it away from you car immediately. However, this presents a problem. Taking your car to most automatic car washes is like drinking ocean water to quench your thirst. Most car washes in the United States are required to recycle their water, which means the last 300 cars worth of salt is being dumped on your car and polished into it if you’re the next in line. Yes, there are complicated filtration systems and desalinization chemicals, but they are expensive and most car washes skimp on this big time. I generally make it a point to avoid them unless the hen is whining. If you do frequent them in the winter, avoid the gas station car washes and the cheap labor.
The problem is not so much the fact that there is salt, as salt is easily washed away with water. The problem is that the US Department of Transportation authorized the use of “salt brine” as a preventative way to stop roads from icing. The brine sticks to the roads, and unlike rock salt, it doesn’t get scattered to the shoulders. This “solution” has the consistency of runny glue which sticks well to the road to prevent icing, but it also sticks to your car so well that it is common for it to rust the lug nuts of your car right into the axels. That on top of the fact that it has a basic pH and will be all over your paint, dulling it and giving it that “sat in the sun” haze. What’s a car enthusiast to do?
Well first things first, get your lazy ass off the couch in the Fall and wax the car at least once. Assuming you have done that, the best way to get rid of the salt and keep your car looking good is to go to one of those DIY washes that provide pressure washers. Self serve washes are typically excluded from the water recycling laws AND they usually have a far greater chemical concentration than the tunnels. For $2-4 you can blast your car with 120+ lbs of water force and watch the salt wash away. Be sure to get inside the wheel wells thoroughly and pay attention to all seams in the body. They are the places where it accumulates the most, and where rust is the most prone to begin forming. It’s cold, it’s Winter, so rinsing with a spot free rinse is understandable. It will air dry in no time, however I keep a fresh set of towels I’ve borrowed from the good people at the Sheraton in my trunk for these very moments. Do this weekly and your car will thank you.
If you are really want your car looking sharp in the Arctic, DO NOT USE TIRE DRESSING in the Winter. It will react badly with the salt causing unnecessary corrosion to your wheels. You don’t need to make your tires even more slippery than they already are to begin with. You would be amazed how long that stuff will stay on the bottoms of your tires in cold weather.
Be A Man.
- The Founding Father
Good call, Founding Father, a clean car is a happy car. And an impressive car. If people are impressed with how you care for your vehicle, they’ll assume you’ll put even more work into your personal and professional lives. That reminds me I need to head to the car wash.