Cleaning snow from your car

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OJ_GTI

New member
What do you use? Up until now I had one of those snow brushes but now that I'm becoming more interested in keeping my car in top shape I figure that it can't be the best thing for the paint.



Any suggestions?



PS - I'm talking about 6-12 inches of snow on the car, not just a light dusting.
 
~One manâ€â„¢s opinion / observations~



Snow! Whatâ€â„¢s snow?



Snow and Ice Removal:

Ice Remover-strong enough to rip through thick ice, the Ice Dozer has enough designed-in flex to handle the curvature of todayâ€â„¢s auto glass. Ice-cracking teeth cut into heavy accumulations; a wide, flexible blade finishes off the last traces of frost. A shielded handle near the scraping end lets you apply extra pressure with ease

(Ice Dozer)



Snowbrush-Stratmosphere Ultimate Snowbrush, this new innovation finally brings you the technology you need to save your car's finish this winter. It has Genuine Boar's hair bristles that stay firm, even when wet so itâ€â„¢s kinder to paint finishes than any other snowbrush. Prior to the Ultimate Snowbrush you have probably damaged your finish by using synthetic-based (plastic) snowbrushes that leave all sorts of scratches and swirl-marks on your finish (stratmosphere ultimate snowbrush.)



Sno Brum- a telescoping squeegee that removes snow from the windshield without scratching.

Clearing snow off the windshield is just part of the challenge, the rest of the car carries a heavy blanket of snow that obscures vision, blocks the radiator, and covers taillights. And on my 4x4, a foot of snow can pile up on the roof, creating a hazard for following vehicles. (Sno Brum)



~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted [each one / teach one]

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ JonM
 
clean off the windows, leave extra time in your commute to stop at local coin-op car wash and hit it with the hot water from the power wash! I would think any other way would scratch the he!! out of the paint!
 
:confused:



I just take my old WW microfiber towels and use it to brush the snow off gently. I dont have to go down to the paint because by then it usually falls off. I leave the ice on the paint until it melts and comes off itself, unless its thick then I crack and lift off by hand.



The mirrors I use the heated mirror feature. For windows I lightly bump the ice until it breaks and I can remove with my hand. Get the inside heat going too. Nothing fancy, but it works.



Also, if its snowing the night before and I know I am going somewhere in the morning I will go out every few hours and then right before I go to bed and remove the snow as to avoid doing it all in the morning.



Common sense really.
 
For windows you can use the scraper but in the past many have reccomended to use something like Rain-X on the glass. It really helps anything slide off.



For paint, make sure its sealed/waxed...The key is to never touch the paint. Heavy snows, I usually clear enough off so that I can see (leaving about 1-2 inches on my hood lets say). I let the rest blow off...The hood will also get hot once your car is running so it actually melts the snow and it glids right off.



Believe it or not, dragging snow across a clean hood will still swirl/mar the paint due to the actual snow's make up (crystallized).





Hope this all helps.
 
fireberd350 said:
clean off the windows, leave extra time in your commute to stop at local coin-op car wash and hit it with the hot water from the power wash! I would think any other way would scratch the he!! out of the paint!
Click to expand...



Then you come out of work to find your car one big sheet of ice and the doors, locks, and everything else frozen up on it. ;)
 
Usually the heat from the warm car prevents that from happening. I don't do that everyday but i've seen some nasty scratches from winter and do whatever I can to prevent them. If I don't feel any ice layer I usually let it blow off but sometimes the ice layers loosen up and glide off and scratch the paint in the process.....I think the only way around this is a GARAGE! we should all be so fortunate
 
The best I can do is use a brush, but do not remove all the snow on the paint, leave a little on, then just let the rest melt off. Ice on windows, I scrape it off and let the defroster do the rest.
 
I only get everything but an inch if my car happens to be outside during a snowstorm. If we know it's coming, we'll put a cover on my wife's car and my usual spot in the garage is there.
 
I use to be *really* bad and bang the big sheets of ice off my car with my fist (so they would break into smaller pieces and fall off). Now that I'm an Autopian, I won't be doing that. I figure that put a good deal of scratches on my cars doing this. But it was fun to pull off a big fender shaped sheet of ice.:)
 
I usually only clean the windshield if the car has snow / ice from sitting out during the day. At night, it sits in the heated (55 degree) garage. No snow in the morning.
 
kompressornsc said:
I use to be *really* bad and bang the big sheets of ice off my car with my fist (so they would break into smaller pieces and fall off). Now that I'm an Autopian, I won't be doing that. I figure that put a good deal of scratches on my cars doing this. But it was fun to pull off a big fender shaped sheet of ice.:)
Click to expand...



HAHA...I've been known to do the same! All the fun things always cause problems though:rolleyes:
 
As has been said, leave a small layer of snow on the paint to prevent scratching. Aquapel is great for auto glass. Snow and ice slide right off.



Also, do not get lazy and let the roof go. A raise in temp and a hard braking can force the snow down over the windshield. Danger, Danger, Will Robinson! Not to mention, if it slides down the hood scratches will undoubtedly appear. If the snow has had a chance to melt a bit, and then refreezes, ice forms. This will scratch even more if sliding across paint. Ice is not nice.



Heavy snow on the roof can also fly off (sometimes in large blocks) as you increase speed during normal driving. This is dangerous for those behind you.



Risk of scratching increases as the car gets dirtier and the protection lessens. It is difficult to keep dirt off in the dead of winter with salt and sand everywhere. So, take the Bus!



Just get the polish out in the spring and clean up what old man winter left you, or move south and forget it all.
 
Safety should be your primary concern! Leaving snow on the hood, roof or trunk can be a serious safety issue to yourself as well as the vehicles behide you as Shaw highlighted above. I've seen several accidents where a driver behind a vehicle where a large size snow/ice piece flies off and cause a 3-4 car pile up.



It's much easier to polish out some minor scratches then it is it repair a windshield or get into an accident.



Personally, I let my car warm up (remote starter) for 5-mins and then brush off all the snow before ever leaving my parking spot.



Trick, when you turn off your car; turn up the fan to full blast and heater all the way up. That way, your car will warm up a lot quicker!



Paco
 
TOGWT said:
~One manâ€â„¢s opinion / observations~



Snow! Whatâ€â„¢s snow?





Snowbrush-Stratmosphere Ultimate Snowbrush, this new innovation finally brings you the technology you need to save your car's finish this winter. It has Genuine Boar's hair bristles that stay firm, even when wet so itâ€â„¢s kinder to paint finishes than any other snowbrush. Prior to the Ultimate Snowbrush you have probably damaged your finish by using synthetic-based (plastic) snowbrushes that leave all sorts of scratches and swirl-marks on your finish (stratmosphere ultimate snowbrush.)







~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted [each one / teach one]

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ JonM
Click to expand...





Does anyone have any experience with this brush. For the last 5 years Iâ€â„¢ve prided myself on how I have taken care of my car. Well this last year Iâ€â„¢ve really taken it to the next level and finding this site certainly has a lot to do with that. I still keep saying the information on this site is AWSOME.



Iâ€â„¢ve always used standard plastic bristled snow brushes. I now wondering if there is a way to minimize the damage cased by cleaning off the snow and ice (I live in Ohio and am not moving any time soon). This brush looks interesting but Iâ€â„¢d love to hear from someone who has actually used it.



Thanks for the heads up on this product TOGWT.



Shawn
 
Car cover. As moronic as it sounds, i cover the car at night (and during the day sometimes at school), it snows heavily, get out good old $2 synthetic brush, and peel off the cover. No damage to paint (unless cover is covered in dirt), and car says decently clean. Only thing that you can run into, is sometimes the warm hood will melt the little bit of snow thats left on, and when you recover the car, sometimes the cover gets frozen to the car, but usually you can just tug at the cover and it pops right off if the car was waxed or sealed well. Thats what i do. Figure if it works in northern michigan, will probably work anywhere
 
Prometheus said:
Car cover. As moronic as it sounds, i cover the car at night (and during the day sometimes at school), it snows heavily, get out good old $2 synthetic brush, and peel off the cover. No damage to paint (unless cover is covered in dirt), and car says decently clean. Only thing that you can run into, is sometimes the warm hood will melt the little bit of snow thats left on, and when you recover the car, sometimes the cover gets frozen to the car, but usually you can just tug at the cover and it pops right off if the car was waxed or sealed well. Thats what i do. Figure if it works in northern michigan, will probably work anywhere
Click to expand...
Careful with this cause I have heard of people peelig the paint off the car when the cover freezes to the paint. :up
 
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