Birdie's Auto Offers Top Five Car Care Tips

Getting your car professionally washed and detailed does far more than make your car “look nice.”  Using the right products and proper techniques, you’re actually protecting your investment.  A professional car wash and/or detail will restore and protect your vehicle’s exterior as well as preserve the interior.  Here’s how: 

1. Have your vehicle hand washed with microfiber towels 

Traditional car washes can cause light surface scratches and swirl marks to your paint due to the brushes and towels that are used.  As their name implies, microfiber towels are made up of extremely fine fibers about 100 times smaller than human hair. They feature soft surfaces that accommodate the "avoid scratches at all costs" mantra of a quality job.

2. Don’t ignore dirty rims 

Brake dust is the grayish-black material that coats the exterior of a rim and detracts from their appearance. The source of brake dust is the brake pads; as they wear, they turn into a high temperature brake dust which bakes into the surface of the rims. These elements, if not removed on a regular basis, can permeate the metal and cause permanent damage. 

3. Always tend to bird droppings, sap, berries and hard/salt water stains 

 Your vehicle has a clear coat which is intended to protect the paint.  If not tended to in a timely manner, these items will bake into your clear coat and eventually cause damage to the paint.  A car wash will not remove these items and trying to remove them yourself with a sponge or towel can cause surface scratches to your clear coat.  It’s recommended to have these items professionally removed to avoid further damage to your clear coat and paint. 

4. Preserve your showroom shine 

You should wax your vehicle every 3-4 months to properly protect your clear coat and paint.  Wax protects the vehicle from constant sunlight, rain and road salt. This will cause these elements to stick to the wax and prevent them from damaging your clear coat.

5. Soft is better  

Properly treated leather is soft to the touch.  To prevent your leather from cracking and fading, it is recommended that you condition your leather 2-3 times per year and most importantly, before the sweltering days of summer when your car bakes in the sunlight.

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Thanks to Eric Birdsall of for these great car care tips.