When To Wax Your Car
The best sign that it’s time to wax your car is when you notice water not forming beads and rolling off. At the very least, waxing needs to be done once a season – before summer’s hot temps set in and before it gets really cold in winter. For better paint health, we think that cars should be waxed monthly, and for ultimate gloss, you could wax your car as often as every couple of weeks.
Your Paint Takes Care of You
“Looking good” is actually the second role of auto body paint; its primary job is to protect your vehicle from the elements. If the paint is damaged, your car loses that shield and becomes vulnerable to the elements, which could lead to rust. By taking care of your paint by waxing it, it will return the favour and take care of you.
Ceramic Coatings
Exterior vehicle maintenance is the best time to talk about ceramic coatings. In many ways, ceramic coatings are the carnauba wax of the 21st century – they offer the same sorts of benefits as a premium wax job, but to a far higher standard and last for years rather than weeks. Read more about ceramic coatings at CJ’s Autobling right here.
Waxing is important, but we recognize that not everyone has the time. We are passionate about vehicle maintenance and take pride in treating every vehicle that rolls into our shop as if it was our own.
When to Wax
Sometimes this can be a tricky decision. Waxing a vehicle properly is no small job, so generally, people want to be sure that the vehicle needs it done before spending the afternoon doing the “wax-on wax-off dance”. Here are our best tips to help you take care of your paint.
- Season: In the Pacific Northwest, the mild summers with little precipitation are pretty easy on your car. If all you are looking for is protection (you aren’t much bothered by the aesthetics) you can get away with one proper wax for the whole summer. Once the rainy season sets in, however, your car should be getting waxed monthly. Rain, salt, snow, and road grit are all very hard on your car’s finish and you need the extra protection.
- Lifestyle: Consider the daily life of your vehicle. Is it usually parked under trees? Do you live right by the ocean and its salty spray? Are you going to hit up the logging roads this summer? All these examples contain environmental factors (acidic sap, salty spray, gritty dirt) that will degrade your car’s finish faster than a vehicle that is garage kept and only driven on sunny Sundays.
- Wax Type: Spray waxes are easy to apply, but don’t last very long at all. Liquid waxes are better, but you will only get a month out of them at best. Hard waxes (the kind from a tin, rather than a bottle) that contain carnauba give the best finish, offer better protection, and last the longest. We think they are worth the effort.
- Vehicle Condition: Newer vehicles that have been properly cared for since leaving the factory require less work than older cars that have seen a few winters. “Ol’ Faithful” probably has dull and scratched paint that demands a stricter polishing and waxing schedule, and may even require the attention of a paint restorer to bring it to its full potential.
Waxing is important, but we recognize that not everyone has the time. We are passionate about vehicle maintenance and take pride in treating every vehicle that rolls into our shop as if it was our own. CJ Autobling’s Exterior Detail will get your vehicle looking better than you can imagine, and includes (among many other services) a Power Polish w/ Premium Carnauba Wax.
Setting up an appointment for an Exterior Detail or Complete Detail is easy – just give us a shout and let us know what time is best for you.