Here's how to maintain your car's paintwork

Your daily routine may be damaging your car’s paintwork without your even realising it. Seemingly innocent things like accidentally spilled fuel and bird droppings can leave long-lasting stains and scratches on the surface of your car or, even worse, cause corrosion. This may force you to shell out hard-earned cash for a paint job. Here’s how you may be ruining your car’s paint – and how to fix it.

1. Splattered bugs

Bugs might be tiny but they can do plenty of damage to the paint on your car. Insects are acidic, and if not properly cleaned off the surface of your car, they can etch into the paint.

Tip: Don’t put off cleaning splattered bugs from your car for too long – the more the time that goes by, the more difficult they become to remove. All it takes to wipe them off is a little bit of bug-and-tar remover, a soft washcloth and some elbow grease.

2. Spilled fuel

Filling your tank to the brim increases the chances of having fuel overflow and spillage on your car. If not quickly wiped off, spilled fuel can seep into the car’s top coat, causing it to lose its shine and leaving a stain that’s difficult to remove.

Tip: To avoid leaving a brown, fuel-coloured blemish around the fuel tank cap on your vehicle, wipe off any fuel drips as soon as possible with a microfibre cloth.

3. Bird droppings

Not only are bird droppings ugly, they can also do some serious damage to your car’s paintwork. Their diet of seeds and bits of gravel gives them acidic and grainy droppings that can stain, dull and scratch your paint, and take the gloss off.

Tip: Spray a bit of wash solution onto affected areas and use a soft microfibre cloth to gently wipe away droppings. Use a lifting motion to avoid dragging any grit across the paint.

4. Stone chips

Loose stones, pebbles and stone chips are everywhere on the road. These tiny pieces are kicked up from the ground and peck at the sides of your car. This can chip the top coat and sometimes go all the way down to the lower layers of paint, exposing it to weathering it’s not equipped to handle.

Tip: It’s best to treat these chips as soon as possible to prevent the affected spots from rusting. Use paint technology that offers dense and strong bonds between elements in the paint, resulting in a harder, stronger and more scratch-, chip- and etch-resistant surface.

5. Ash

Murky air can leave behind a layer of ash and soot on your car. Though many people are inclined to wash this away with water, this can actually end up creating a powerful alkali that ruins your car’s finish.

Tip: The easiest way to avoid this situation is to keep your car covered if you park outside. To get ash off, gently dust it away with a cloth.

6. Dirty washing accessories

Regardless of how many times you wash your car, if you are working with dirty cloths, you can cause permanent damage to the paint. Even if you’re cleaning with the softest and finest microfibre cloth or sponge, the moment it drops to the ground, it will pick up microscopic bits of grit, sand and dirt, which can’t entirely be rinsed off.

Tip: If a cloth or sponge drops to the floor, grab a new one. It’s always useful to keep a spare cloth or two beside you to avoid scratching your car with dirty accessories. If you can get a touchless carwash, the better. A touchless wash removes any chance of microscopic pieces of dirt and grit coming into contact with your car.