Car care is an essential part of protecting your investment. Waxing your car is one of the key elements involved in routine car maintenance. But why is it so important?
You need to wax your car on a regular basis because it will help protect the paint from a variety of conditions. It also offers the additional benefit of shine and water repellent. Read on to learn more about why wax is important and how you can conveniently apply it.
Why Do I Need to Wax My Car?
If you’re anything like me, you take pride in your vehicle and want to keep it looking great for as long as possible. Waxing it on a regular basis will not only help protect the paint, but also make the paint shine! It does this through a couple different methods.
Wax Creates a Barrier Between Your Paint and the Elements
When you regularly apply a coat of wax to your car’s paint job, it helps create a barrier between the paint and the elements. Things that can cause major damage to your paint are:
- Salt
- Sand
- Dust
- Road Grime
- Sunlight
- Bird Droppings
The list of potential hazards for your paint goes on and on! The layer of wax that you apply to your car can directly combat these elements by being the first line of defense. Instead of the salt or bird droppings hitting your paint directly, they will hit the wax first. This helps your paint keeps its shine longer.
Wax Can Repel Water Off Your Car
I’m sure you’ve experienced the following phenomenon:
It’s a beautiful, sunny day. You literally JUST washed your car, and all of a sudden the sun goes into hiding and out come the storm clouds. You proceed to drive through a monsoon that lasts a short period of time but is just long enough to destroy your hard work. Not to mention the fact that you can’t see while driving because of all the water! THIS. IS. INFURIATING.
Sound familiar? Me too.
This is another reason why wax is such a benefit to you and your vehicle. In situations like this, the wax can repel the water, causing it to bead up on your paint job and roll off. This means that once your car is dry, you are less likely to have dirt and water spots all over it.
PRO TIP: If you have the wax applied in a car wash tunnel instead of by hand in your driveway, it will also hit your windows. When that happens, the water will bead up and roll off your windshield, too! BONUS!
Wax Will Keep Your Paint Shining
For those of you who like to keep your car until the wheels fall off, this is a major reason to wax it on a regular basis. I prefer to pay off my vehicle and then drive it for as long as possible with NO car payment. This means I need to take great care of it so it will last as long as possible.
If you prefer to upgrade your vehicle every 3-5 years, waxing is still important for the following reasons:
- It makes your car look awesome and shiny
- It does all the things we already talked about in this article
- It can help your car hold its value so you can get more for it when you trade it in
Whether you love the shiny car, the length of time it will last, or the resale value being improved, it’s a good idea to wax it on a regular basis. Doing so can achieve all these different goals and is pretty simple to do!
How Often Should I Wax My Car?
As with most things in life, it depends. If you’re waxing your vehicle by hand, it will be a different scenario than waxing in a car wash tunnel. Here are a few key differences.
When waxing your car by hand, be sure to read the manufacturer’s instructions on the label of your chosen product. Some will claim to last for 3-4 months, while others recommend reapplying on a monthly basis. However, it is often dependent on whether or not you follow the instructions (i.e., wax your car in a cool, dry place, leave the wax on the car for X amount of time, etc.).
If you don’t have time for that and you prefer to use a car wash service, you can have the wax applied with each visit. Many car washes like Woodie’s offer this as a part of their wash packages. More applications won’t hurt your paint, so it’s fine to have it applied every time you’re there.
How Do I Know if My Car Needs to Be Waxed?
One of the simplest ways to do this is a water-bead test. Soak a terry cloth towel in water and wring it out over the hood of your car. If the water beads up, you’re good to go (for now). If the water spreads all over the hood in sheets, it’s time to get it waxed!
Conclusion
Waxing your car on a regular basis is a critical part of car care. Be sure to find a routine that works well for you and stick to it! If you want to learn more about our wash packages and which ones offer wax, CLICK HERE.
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