To understand this issue, Autoportal decided to imagine what would happen if... you don't wash your car in winter. Not at all.
Opinions
Opponents of frequent car wash visits in winter argue their opinion with the following assumptions:
- dirt not only doesn't harm the body but also protects it. They say that when stones and pieces of ice fly from under the wheels of other cars, dirt prevents them from damaging the paintwork
- after driving in the cold, rinsing with water means a temperature difference. Therefore, washing a car in winter is fraught with cracks and general destruction of the paintwork
- washing the car will lead to freezing of locks, cable drives, etc.
Supporters of washing a car in winter argue their opinion with such assumptions:
- salt and reagents that are sprinkled on roads destroy the paintwork. Therefore, the car body should be rinsed as often as possible
- if the car is dirty, then the driver and passengers will be too, as they will get dirty on the dirty sills and body elements
- a dirty car is invisible on the road, which increases the risk of an accident
What professionals think
Specialists always help resolve disputes, so Autoportal asked the Nissan dealer in Kyiv, the company "KIY AVTO", to comment on this issue.
"Clients often come to us with a similar question. In fact, both those who rarely wash their car in winter and those who wash their car regularly are right. I believe that washing a car in winter is possible and necessary. Firstly, no one knows exactly what our roads are sprinkled with. Even if it's just salt or sand, cleaning the body from them won't be superfluous. Regarding the negative impact of various reagents, I can give an example. Our colleagues from Moscow were forced to spend a huge amount on warranty replacement of radiator grilles Infiniti, whose chrome coating was seriously damaged due to reagents that were sprinkled on Moscow roads in winter", - shared his experience with Autoportal Sergey Kuzmichev, Nissan car sales specialist.
"Avers-Center", which offers the AversClean service, which involves repair and restoration of car interiors, as well as car washing services, also shared its opinion on washing a car in winter with Autoportal. According to specialists of "Avers", nothing terrible will happen if you don't wash your car in winter:
"If we talk about modern cars, their bodies are well protected from the negative effects of the environment. If you don't wash your car in winter, the only possible consequence could be a fine for an unwashed car and dirty license plates. Otherwise, a dirty car will not be more or less susceptible to corrosion than a clean one. This is especially true when operating at low air temperatures."
Low air temperature is a very important point. Few people think about it, but the stronger the frost, the less often you need to wash your car, even if it is very dirty and even white from salt. At least, that's what Associate Professor of the Chemistry Department of the National Aviation University, Anatoly Golovko, thinks.
"The lower the air temperature, the more the corrosion process slows down. That is, at sub-zero temperatures, any car is preserved better and practically does not succumb to the negative effects of the environment. But if the car owner often washes the car and/or stores it in a heated garage in winter, he destroys the anti-corrosion layer. After all, every trip out into the cold will be fraught with freezing of moisture", - believes the associate professor of the chemistry department.
The destruction of the anti-corrosion layer is facilitated by the freezing of water that gets under the protective coating at sub-zero temperatures and the thawing of ice in cracks.
Simply put, microcracks that appear in the anti-corrosion layer progress with alternating freezing and thawing, and therefore expose the metal more and more. A rough example: frozen foods. On packages, they often write "do not refreeze after thawing". Why? At temperatures below -10 °, microorganisms that are usually present in all products cannot multiply. When thawed, they become active. If you give them enough time to multiply, they can spoil the products, and they can no longer be used for food.
Of course, a car is not food, but sub-zero temperatures to a certain extent "preserve" its body. But the more freezing and thawing, the worse for the paintwork.
To wash or not to wash
Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude that if you don't wash your car in winter, not only will nothing bad happen, but it will even be better. But! This is only if you wash your car not according to the rules.
Rules for washing a car in winter:
- it is better to wash the car at zero or plus temperature. It is advisable to do this during a thaw
- you can wash the car at sub-zero temperatures, but good drying and blowing out water from the cracks with compressed air is mandatory. That is, complete drying is necessary
- when entering the car wash at sub-zero temperatures, it is better to wait 5-10 minutes until the car thaws a little. It wouldn't hurt to make sure that the water used to wash the car is not too warm (especially not hot)
- to make the water evaporate better, after washing you can open all the doors
If you decide not to wash your car at all in winter, remember the story about the Infiniti. The negative impact of salts and reagents can lead to dulling of individual body parts (especially chrome ones). As for the layer of dirt on the car, it may not be as terrible as frequent visits to car washes. Conclusion: washing a car in winter is not necessary, but desirable. True, not very often and taking into account the weather forecast. In addition, it is important to remember the space under the wheel arches. If you don't clean it of packed snow, tire wear will increase. Also, let us remind you that to avoid vibrations on the steering wheel, it won't hurt to clean the discs of snow from time to time.
P.S. Recently, information appeared that Kyiv roads will be watered with "vinegar". Autoportal has already started studying this issue, and soon we will talk about what will happen if Kyiv roads start being watered with vinegar...
