How to protect the finish of your car’s new paintwork

Your vehicle’s looking good – it’s been newly sprayed and is in pristine condition – and you want it to stay that way.

However, the paintwork of your car is subject to a barrage of corrosive elements on a daily basis. Therefore, a maintenance routine is needed to keep it at its best.

Wash your car at regular intervals

The longer you leave corrosive substances such as bird droppings on your paintwork, the more chance there is of damage. Insects and plant secretions can also corrode if they’re not cleaned off soon enough.

It’s a common problem, especially when you park your vehicle under trees. You come back to find your car decorated with plant debris and bird muck. In spring, trees also produce sticky substances that can be difficult to remove, especially if they’ve been exposed to direct sunlight. The sticky substance can become like burnt-on sugar.

Whether you hand wash or use a car wash, try and clean your car at regular intervals – once a week, if you use your car a lot. Hand washing is thought to be kinder to cars than power washes. The main thing is to use a mild cleaning agent and soft sponges, brushes and cloths.

Follow up with waxing

Should you bother with wax? Most experts agree that it does help to protect paintwork as the wax seals the top coat of the car paint.

A test to see if your car needs fresh waxing is to check if rain drips off the paintwork. If it does, your wax is still doing its job and protecting your paint from external elements.

How frequently you wax will depend on where your car is kept. If it’s always in a garage, the wax will last longer than if your car is left out in the open.

Remove slight scratches

If you have very light scratches, a polish containing microfine abrasives will gently clean the paint surface without damaging it. The polish also protects paintwork against the elements.

If there are still slight scratches after you’ve polished the paintwork, you could try a touch-up pen. However, it’s best for any car paint repairs to be carried out by professional bodywork technicians. With any paintwork repair, you need to be certain you have the right colour for your make and model – you can identify this from your vehicle identification number.

Treat matt paint differently

If you have a matt finish on your car rather than a gloss, metallic finish, you must make sure you clean it differently. Any abrasives in the polish you use will ruin the rougher surface of a matt finish.

Plus, over time, the brushes of car washes can work to smooth the finish of matt paint while wax sealants can also cause damage. Therefore, it’s generally best to clean your car by hand if it has matt paintwork.

Would you like to freshen up your paintwork?

At Smart Bodyshop, our vehicle body repair process starts with an assessment by a qualified in-house Vehicle Damage Assessor using an industry-regulated computer-generated appraisal.

We provide a full quotation of the work required that includes all charges, so you can be sure you’ll receive no unpleasant surprises on completion.

Why not bring your car in for assessment and our team will advise you on the best type of repair for your vehicle?

To find out more about our competitive prices and super-fast turnaround time, phone 01256 517230 or 0845 293 8111 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.