Most people tend to use a snow brush, jacket sleeves, or gloves for clearing snow off of their vehicles. But these can all lead to scratches on the surface of the paintwork. If you’re a little more vigorous when trying to get the snow off, you can end up with deep scratches on your car’s paint job.
Below are a few tips on how to clean snow off car without scratching which you might find helpful in preventing damage to your vehicle’s paint surface when a layer of snow settles there.
Why Is It Important to Remove Snow From Your Car?
When you live in a cold climate, you’ll be faced with a build-up of snow on your vehicle at some point during the winter months. If you aren’t careful as you try to remove the snow from your car, you could end up causing quite a lot of damage to the paintwork.
It’s obviously important to remove heavy snow from the windshields of our cars, allowing us to see where we are going. But you’ll probably be wondering why it’s important to remove snow from the rest of your vehicle. Well, any snow left on your car could become a hazard to other drivers.
As you are driving along, chunks of snow left on your car due to improper vehicle snow removal could fly off as you drive along. This could then hit other vehicles behind you, which at the very least will cause a distraction. The other driver could then lose control of their vehicle, leading to an accident.
In cities where snow is a regular occurrence, people who fail to carry out proper snow removal efforts can be fined.
If you are concerned about causing damage to your vehicle when trying to remove even a bit of snow, you shouldn’t be. As long as you keep in mind the tips we offer below, removing a layer of snow from your vehicle should prove easy, ensuring that you won’t have to find the money to get an expensive repaint of your car in the future.
How to Clean Snow Off Car Without Scratching It
If you choose to use the wrong tool or technique to remove snow from your car, the risk of damaging the paint is greater.
The information below will provide you with the best ways of cleaning a light snow layer from your car without damaging the paintwork.
1. Use the Heat From Your Car’s Engine
If you have the time, go out and start your car’s engine and turn on the defrosters before you even think about trying to remove snow from your vehicle. Doing this will help loosen the more compact hard snow from the car’s windows and hood.
After the defrosters have been on for a while, you can remove the pile of snow from the windshield using a snow cleaning tool. Try to remove the snow layer in straight lines without placing too much pressure on the device you are using.
Once you’ve removed most of the snow, you can then use the wiper blades to remove any loose snow remaining.
Also, take a close look at your car’s exhaust pipe to check that it hasn’t been blocked by a bank of snow. If it is, remove it to ensure that fumes that would typically escape through the car’s exhaust pipe aren’t able to build up inside the vehicle.
2. Remove Snow From the Car With a Leaf Blower
If your car is only covered in a layer of fluffy snow, then a leaf blower will help to remove it very quickly. What this does is mimic what the wind would be doing as you drive along. But because you would be doing this before heading out on the road, you won’t be putting other drivers at risk.
This is one of the safest ways of helping to remove snow from your car without causing damage to it.
3. Use a Snow Brush or Broom, But Do It Carefully
You can use a stiff-bristled brush or broom for help getting rid of snow from your vehicle. To help reduce the risk of paint damage, wrap the stiff bristles in a soft microfiber towel. To help keep the towel in place, wrap some elastic bands around each end of the brush head.
Of course, you could also use a foam brush instead of a brush with rough bristles. These don’t cost a great deal and often come with an ice scraper attached on the opposite side. This will reduce paint scratches, but you can also use them in the summer to keep the windows on your car clean.
The main advantage of using a nylon snow brush is that they allow you to clear large areas of fallen snow in one go. But you should only use these and the foam broom to remove the topmost layer of snow. Don’t go any further down. Otherwise, you will make direct contact with the paintwork.
Let’s Wrap Things Up
The key to removing snow from your vehicle after a snowstorm is to do enough to ensure you won’t be fined. Plus, doing enough to ensure that you’ll know that not only will you be safe as you drive, but so will other drivers around you.
The best plan of attack when it comes to your battle with snow is to leave a thin layer of it behind. Then, as you drive along, allow the heat from your engine to carry on removing the rest.
Now you should know what you need to do when you come out in the morning to see your car covered after a snowstorm, and how to clean snow off the car without scratching it. If you keep in mind the above tips, you’ll be able to remove loose snow from your vehicle without risking damage to the paint surface.
Please let us know if the information above has proved helpful on what to do when your car gets covered in snow, and read more at automotivedrivingbelt.com.
