Washing your car: Wash your vehicle in the morning or evening to avoid water spots. Once they form, it only takes a week or so for them to begin etching into the surface making it difficult at best to buff them out. Wash the top first then section wash and dry your vehicle. Our Lambswool Wash Mitt cleans and polishes your vehicle safely without scratching. Lambswool mitts, not the polyester imitations, are best if you wish to avoid swirl marks or scratches that can happen with brushes. Our CleanEz is 100% natural and does not contain harmful phosphates. You can wash your vehicle without damaging the sealant and without toxic chemicals running into the streams or sewer systems. Use just half a capfull to clean your vehicle. Steer clear of harsher detergents like Simple Green and Mr. Clean. They can damage your vehicle's finish. Add one-third cup of distilled white vinegar to your bucket of wash water to boost the cleaning action and help prevent water spots. Caution about cleaning with microfiber: Industrial paint and sealant manufacturers warn against washing your vehicle with the popular microfiber products. They are made from 80 to 85% polyester, which is plastic. Plastic scratches and over time and repeated use they will scratch the sealant off your coat and then start on the paint. Your car will begin oxidizing even though you have taken excellent care of your vehicle. Due to VOC regulations, paint is now being changed from lead based to water based. The paint is not as hard as it has been in the past. Even though sealants are applied over the paint to protect it, if the sealant is scratched off due to microfiber or the wrong kind of petroleum distillate being used in a wax, the paint is then left vulnerable to rapid oxidation, rust and deterioration. I sell microfiber cloths and do not want you using something that I know will damage your sealant over time. At a large industrial trade show I had microfiber manufacturing companies verify this information. If your vehicle is a 2002 or prior to 2002 using 100% cotton is safe and does a great job cleaning safely without scratching. If your vehicle is newer than 2002 then 100% Lambswool is recommended. It is even softer and gentler than cotton.
Removing bugs from your windshields and front of your car: Ignoring bugs will cause pits in the paint. Look at the front where the paint has samll chips. You thought those were rock chips. Those are caused from bugs being left on the vehicle. When you clean your car, wipe down the front with a heavy cotton towel or our Sof Wash if you have a van, truck or RV, dampened in warm water with CleanEZ added. Let that set for several minutes while you wash the top. Then wipe it down a second time. Given a bit of time the bugs soften and are much easier to remove. To help with bug removal on the front of your car, apply Advantage twice a month until you have 5 or 6 coats of a protective layer built up. The polymers leave a slick surface on your vehicle. Bugs and dirt wipe right off. Then apply 3 to 4 times a year to rejuvenate the coating. When time is tight and you need to speed clean your car, that slick surface will cut your cleaning time in half. Dirt, grease, grime and bugs have a hard time clinging to a slick surface. Apply Advantage to your rear view mirrors and car headlights as well for a fast cleanup. The five minutes of extra time you spend will save you an hour of scrubbing each time you wash.
Cleaning your tires: Tires require regular cleaning. Rubber naturally oxidizes with time. That oxidization causes the tire to appear like they are cracking. Scrub tires four times a year with TerraPlus and our Red Scrub Pad to remove the oxidation. If after scrubbing, the tire still appears to be cracked and is under warranty, take them in to be inspected. If you apply a tire treatment before doing so, the dealer will blame the problem on the tire treatment and your warranty will not be honored. Warranties only cover manufacturing defects. Tire treatments are not part of the manufacturing process.
Cleaning Wheels: When Wheels get to spinning they do collect brake dust on the rims. Our TerraPlus again will quickly clean your wheels. For wheels that are not sealed (sealed wheels are very shiny with a coat of what looks like polyurathane) TerraPlus does an excellent job removing the oxidation. We will have a cleaner that will not only clean the wheels but shine them as well. Sealed wheels need nothing more than cleaning with our TerraPlus. Do not use metal polish on sealed wheels. It will ruin the sealant and they will be very difficult to clean.
