danny99

Hello fellas, it has gotten cold here, and I couldn't bring my car to the car wash in time before storing it away.

The car currently has a fair amount of "dust" on it right now, how damaging is this to the paint? I am not too concerned about scratches, as those micro scratches have been on it since I bought it 2 years ago.

I am more concerned about making it clean and shiny again.

Can i take it to the hand car wash in 30 degree weather? or would that be a bad idea?

Even if I do take it to the car wash, my cover is still dirty and will dirty up the car again.

My cover instructions say I can put it in a big industrial laundry machine at the laundry mat, but NOT to dry it in the machine. How would I dry it? I doubt I can hang it up at the laundry mat.

Should I take the car to the wash in 30 degree weather (just found out this local wash has climate controlled bays ..$68 for their upgraded wash or $28 for non climate controlled wash) I am stuck in a stand still and not sure what to do

cmonkey713

It is always best to store the car clean and waxed whenever possible. The cover should be as clean as possible where it contacts the painted surfaces. that being said, you can experience some micro scratching on the painted surfaces if the car and or the cover are less than clean. The worst case is when you take the car out of storage you will need to do paint correction to remove any micro marring scratches. You could wait until there is a day above freezing in your area wash and wax the car and run the cover through an air/fluff cycle with no heat to remove most of the dust. I don't like "Hand wash" because of the swirls and scratches it can introduce if it is not done correctly. Wow! $68 for a climate controlled wash bay seems extremely high, but maybe that is normal in Colorado.

z06clif

30 degree weather will not hurt the car BUT......the engine loves colder weather but the tires dont. Caution should be used as spirited driving will cause unexpected handling problems. Also the car will leave the car wash nice and clean but it wont get home that way. Road treatments will get all over the car leaving it worse than before your left the only difference is youll be $68 lighter If minor imperfections dont bother you then use a detail spray to clean it up shake the cover off put on a battery tender on it ....cover it and say ....nite nite

Clif

KyJim

do a rinseless wash. I use Wolfgang Uber and it is very slick.
Do it right in the garage or out side. Detail Image has a review and so does Mike Phillips with Autogeek.

WIC7Diver

ONR is also an option when things start turning cold. Also, if car is stored inside, other than cover microswirls you can just leave until things warm up. Just don’t move the cover around during the winter. If it’s outside, I’d definitely ONR or Waterless Wash otherwise the wind will be your biggest enemy combined with the cover.

pickleseimer

+1 for ONR. If using ONR inside a garage, then you can usually find a day where it can be done without it freezing. If storing inside and you can't get the cover washed, then put it on with as little moving around on the paint as possible. You can always place a clean soft bed sheet or two on the car and then cover it to keep the dirty cover off the paint.

If outside, I'm not a big fan of covers unless they are tight and those can still be problematic if exposed to windy conditions. If the car was outside under a lean-to or partially sheltered, I would consider not using a cover and plan for a thorough clean up in the Spring.

Buggy650

Unless in a place where the cover is disturbed a lot I would leave well enough alone until spring. IF any marring has happened putting the cover on it will not increase if the cover is not moved. A good detail will remove any swirls or light scratches you may have in the spring.