Car Care Advice

This particular entry applies to dressing for both exterior plastic and vinyl trim, and tyre dressings.

Even though I say elsewhere that I’m not over-struck by plastic dressings on the whole they do sometimes have their uses, (but I really would stick to water based dressings).

What I suggest you do is apply your dressings before waxing and polishing your car. This way, if you accidentally flick any onto the paintwork, they will get wiped off when you wax or polish the car. But even better than this, if you plastics are coated with dressing, if you accidentally get wax/polish on the plastics, they won’t stick and cause stains. Of course, of you polish right over the plastic it will polish right through the dressing, so always try and avoid getting polish on the plastic and vinyl.

So, you have applied your plastic dressing, and applied your wax/polish. Now is the best time to apply the tyre dressing before removing the wax/polish. This will have given your tyres time to dry so that they are no longer wet from washing, and if any tyre dressing goes astray as it often does, especially if you are using an aerosol, it will land on top of your wax/polish. So it will get removed when you remove the wax/polish. Otherwise, what often happens is that you get your car all nicely waxed and looking the way you like it, and the tyre dressing splatters all down the side of the car.

Aren’t they all ducky…

Actually, “magnet” is the right word for this.  Chaps who payed far more attention in science class than I ever did tell me that part of the problem is the metal that comes off your brake discs and pads becomes statically charged and so will actually stick to your ally wheels like a magnet. more »

You remove brake dust by cleaning your wheels often with a purpose made wheel cleaner.

Brake pads and discs are made from stuff which is great for making your car stop quickly in a hurry, but all the cast-off can be murder on your alloys. One of the biggest problems is the metal fallout from the discs as this has a static electric charge which makes it stick to your wheels like a magnet. Once stuck there, it will rust, a process which is made easier because the brake dust soaks up water from the road which contains salt. more »