Looking After Your Car During a Heatwave
Recently we wrote about getting your car ready for summer and after a couple of recent heatwaves, summer is truly here. But how can you stop the steaming sun from damaging your car bodywork?
How Does Hot Weather Affect Your Paintwork?
Prolonged exposure to hot sun will oxidise paint and the protecting layer of lacquer, causing it to peel off in extreme circumstances. It also affects plastic headlight covers and other plastic trim parts. If you’ve ever seen cars with nasty grey or white bumpers, instead of black, that’s a sign that the car’s been left out in the sun for too long.
The hot weather brings more insects out to play too, so you’re going to get a lot more bugs squished on your paintwork. Those and errant bird muck need to cleaned off quickly and carefully because they can lift the paint if you aren’t careful.
Cover Up
The best thing for your paintwork in a very hot period is to keep your car out of the sun altogether.
Park in the shade as much as you can, although consider parking under trees carefully because tree sap might cause more damage than the sun. Garaging will help, but a car cover is a good alternative.
Careful Cleaning
Don’t stop washing your car because there’s less dirt on the roads during the summer. The inevitable rain, followed by sunshine, leaves damaging minerals on the paintwork after the rain has evaporated. Wax polish will lay down a layer that will protect paint from the sun too.
As we said before, be careful with bird muck and dead flies. Use hot soapy water to soften them before wiping off with a non-scratch cloth or sponge. Get to them as quickly as possible, before the sun hardens them.
Smartway Can Help
If worst comes to worst and your paintwork starts to peel, you’ll need help. For cost-effective car body repairs, London-based Smartway can help out with a mobile service that’s both quick and convenient.
Contact us now to find out how we can help return your car’s paintwork to as-new condition.
