After last weekend's marathon 1500 miles in 60 hours I finally got around to cleaning my car.
Has the road treatment changed in the UK ? The dirt was almost ingrained in the wax layer like it had mixed with alcohol and stuck to the car. Took more than the usual sponge work to remove. Has anyone else noticed this or was it the Belgians ?
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 3 Feb 13 at 20:35
|
Cleaned daughters Fiat Panda today,had the same problem gmac dirt ingrained and stuck.
Took some cleaning.Could be road treatment.
|
Thanks for the feedback Dutchie.
On my car the dirt was stuck to the rear of all panels. Front wing behind the wheel, front doors on the B pillar seam, towards the top of the rear wheel arch for the back doors and all along the rear wing/bumper joint and up the rear light cluster where is connects with the rear wing.
The back of the car was caked in crud like my old Mk2 Golf. Never had this before.
|
|
I'm sure I remember reading that some councils were trialling mixing salt with molasses to keep it on the road. Perhaps you've driven through some of those counties?
|
Never thought of molasses, SWMBO wasn't around for a taste test.
That would explain the stickiness.
|
Great - the salt will stick to the underside better :-(
There might be something to this theory - the muck on mine seems to have a different quality to it after the recent Herts - Hereford-Scotland - Herts run. I'll find out when I wash it this week.
|
>> Never thought of molasses, SWMBO wasn't around for a taste test.
>>
>> That would explain the stickiness.
>>
There were certainly stickly dark patches on the drive, just behind each wheel of wifey's car, after the recent snow melted. They scrubbed away with a stiff brush and some remaining clean snow!
|
Iff you look at the side of a salting lorry there are a line of tanks in the slope of the hopper.
Had also heard they were using molasses.
|
>> Iff you look at the side of a salting lorry there are a line of
>> tanks in the slope of the hopper.
>>
>> Had also heard they were using molasses.
>>
Like this?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20559230
Not sure if it is molasses in the tanks, but it carries a liquid of some sort, I think i read somewhere that pre wetted grit / salt is more effective.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 4 Feb 13 at 08:15
|
Here (Sweden) they use some chemical mix that's thrown out as a slurry. It works better than salt as it's got a lower freeze point, but is much more corrosive. They also like it because it's sticky and doesn't wash away so easily. It also suppresses the dust kicked up the studded tyres.
The result is serious red wet rust, and all the tar stuck to the car after the winter. In the spring everyone uses a degreasing product that is basically kerosene white spirit mix, than when left on the car for 20 mins and washed with hot water, removes all the tar. Of course, it also dewaxes the car, and can soften the glue used on plastic and chrome trim. It look like this is what you have experienced.
|
My car was totally bogging dirty this weekend. It has black paint which was all but obscured by 3 or 4 weeks and 3.5 thousand miles of trogging around in salt etc. I don't normally risk car washes but decided to run it through one on Saturday which got the worst off but it's certainly not clean yet. However, it's going for a service today and they normally valet it at the same time so hopefully it'll look alright albeit briefly. It'll do another thousand miles plus this week though and with colder weather forecast I imagine it'll be just as bad next weekend.
Just one of the joys of motoring I suppose. "Her" car is equally filthy if not worse. It was used yesterday as mountain bike transport and it's hard to say whether there's more mud inside or out. Might have to address that at some point. Easter maybe...
|
Kerosene & white spirit mix y'say? Hmm that sounds really environmentally healthy. And of course none of it gets washed into rivers, streams and soil, eh?
I recently 'washed' my car by drving from Disneyland Paris to Calais in the rain. Worked a treat. Even the alloys were slightly less black.
Last edited by: TheManWithNoName on Mon 4 Feb 13 at 13:45
|
White spirit or terpentine I usually use for any stubborn marks.
Driving in the rain is the best option saves the hassle of cleaning.
|
Mine has just come back from servicing. (£369 by the way for a 50k service which doesn't seem too steamy I suppose ) blimey it's clean !
"She" has just been to Sainsburys and paid some Lithuanians or whatever to clean hers while she went to buy some groceries ( possibly to shame me ) but it's also looking good so hey ho...
Wonder how they do that without a hose ?
|
>> Wonder how they do that without a hose ?
They're allowed a toilet break from time to time.
|
Road treatment - Dutchie
