The Impact of a Car Wash Sponge on Your Car

Let’s take a little closer look at the types of contaminants that can accumulate on your cars paint surface. You may think you have done a thorough job of washing your car; you’ve gone the extra mile in snow foaming and giving the body a thorough cleaning with the best shampoos etc., but is it really clean?

If you slide your hand across the paint surface, it may feel like it has a rough, gritty texture. You may see or feel tiny particles of dirt or muck stuck to the surface. If you look closely, you may see little specs or small areas with stains, or you may see black blotches of tar or even tree sap or bugs stuck to the surfaces. This disturbing collection of contaminants can come from a variety of sources.

Bonded Surface Contaminants

Paint Overspray

Paint Overspray is a term that is often generally applied to any contaminate or particulate that settles on top of the clear coat and other surfaces of your car that cannot be easily washed off. Simply put, overspray can be anything unwanted attached to your car’s surfaces. These tiny specs on your car’s surface may be a by-product of paint that was sprayed near your car. The wet paint mist will float through the air and settle onto your car and dry. Besides attaching to the paint, the particles can attach to any surface of your car regardless of the material: glass, rubber moldings, plastic trim, wheels, tires etc.

Some overspray, like soot and chemicals, can settle and erode into the clear coat and will seep into pores of the painted surface. It will require special cleaning procedures to remove these from the surface of the vehicle.

Exhaust Emissions

Exhaust emissions from motor vehicles also have very small particles in them that can attach to your cars paint. This can be a serious problem in industrial areas or areas with greater pollution.

Brake Dust, Rail Dust and Rust Spots

If you notice small orange patches on your paint, or even just tiny dots, this is most likely caused by fine metal or carbon shavings rubbed off from vehicle brake pads or brake rotors. This dust coming off your own car’s brakes or the brakes of other drivers is known as “brake dust.” These tiny metal shavings can easily oxidize and corrode into your paint finish much quicker than other materials. This is especially noticeable on white cars. With darker colored cars the color simply hides the stains. Brake dust can be a problem if you do a lot of freeway driving, especially in congested areas with a lot of stop-and-go traffic and heavy braking.

A similar problem is fine iron shavings that come off the wheels of rail cars as they rub against the rails. This “rail dust,” similar to brake dust, is also quite corrosive to a car’s finish, and can be a serious problem for cars often parked near rail lines.

Tree Sap and Tree Pollen

Parking under the shade of a nice tree can protect your car from weathering caused by UV light, but it can come with a cost. Tree sap and tree pollen can create a tough challenge once they get onto your beautiful paint job. Also, not all tree saps and pollen are the same. Some may drip onto your car as droplets, while others float around as tiny particles that can attach to your car. Some saps and pollens are water soluble, while others are not.