Reasons why car paint fades quickly

Regularly park outdoors

Following the development trend of society, more and more households have the conditions to use cars. However, the number of parking lots and underground parking lots in urban areas in Vietnam today only meets 8-10% of people's needs, and the area is quite cramped. Therefore, outdoor parking is quite common, causing cars to be directly affected by factors such as sun, rain and salt fog. These are factors that accelerate the oxidation process on the car's surface, causing the paint to fade and lose its shine, causing loss of aesthetics.

Parking your car in the sun will cause the color to fade quickly. Illustration: Vietnamnet

Insect carcasses and bird droppings

Headlights at night will attract a lot of insects to your car, unfortunately most of their bodies contain acid inside, if not cleaned quickly, you will see small spots on the car's paint begin to appear. In addition, when their bodies dry, it will be very difficult to clean and sometimes the protective coating will be removed. The most common places for insects to stick to the car are the front bumper, hood and both sides of the exterior rearview mirror. When their bodies are dry, you should spray water on them before wiping so as not to affect the paint.

A common characteristic of birds is that they always look for clean places to drop their droppings, which is also the reason why car roofs and hoods are often the places where bird droppings are often stuck. Bird droppings contain uric acid, phosphoric acid, potassium carbonate and especially a high content of nitrate salts. This mixture of salts and acids will quickly "destroy" the car's paint if not cleaned quickly.

Insect carcasses and bird droppings damage car paint. Illustration photo

Car washing not done properly

Improper car washing can cause swirl marks to appear on the car's surface. In addition, using well water containing many metal ions such as Magnesium and Calcium or cleaning solutions with a PH level of less than 7 to wash the car can cause yellowing, especially with white car paint. Over time, these stains will penetrate deeply and permanently remain with the paint surface.

Improper car washing can cause swirl marks to appear on the car's surface. Illustration photo

Due to fuel

When you finish filling up your car, sometimes the gas station attendant will pull the pump out of the car while the gas is still leaking out. Gasoline is a very strong detergent, so it will quickly corrode the paint if you don’t clean it. Meanwhile, diesel motorbikes are often prone to yellow stains right under the fuel tank cap because of the oil spilling out when filling up. It is almost impossible to remove these stains once they appear, so you need to pay close attention to this issue every time you have to fill up your car.

Due to using the wrong car cleaning towel

When you look closely at some dark-colored cars in the sunlight, you will see thousands of swirling scratches appearing around the car. This is the result of wiping the car with ordinary cloth towels. Although these towels feel quite soft when you hold them, they have the ability to scratch the paint and make the car lose its shine.

You need to buy towels made from microfiber, the characteristics of this fabric are super absorbent, dry quickly, clean 4 times better than other fabrics, do not harden, do not scratch the surface and do not rot. This type of specialized fabric for cleaning cars can be found in supermarkets or stores selling car care products.

Due to rain water

Rain is actually a mixture of water and sediments deposited in the atmosphere, and this mixture contains higher concentrations of nitric and sulfuric acids than regular tap water. If you leave your car to dry after a rain, this acid layer can gradually destroy the paint surface, creating stains and reducing the shine of the car.

How to protect car paint

Do not leave your car outdoors for long periods of time.

To preserve the car's paint, users should park their cars indoors, in garages or covered parking lots. However, parking outdoors is an unavoidable situation, so car owners should take advantage of the shade or use a tarpaulin to avoid direct sunlight on the surface.

Clean regularly to remove dirt

During the use of the car, the car owner should clean the car regularly 1-2 times/week to clean the dirt, bird droppings or some chemicals on the surface. In particular, after each time it rains, the car needs to be cleaned immediately so that the acid in the rainwater does not damage the paint.

When washing the car, it is important to use a specialized detergent and a soft cloth to avoid scratching and wearing down the paint. In addition, users should not wash the car directly under the harsh sunlight because soap suds dry quickly and stick to the paint, causing discoloration.

Car surface stickers to limit paint corrosion

Ceramic coating, decal, vinyl or protective film are the best ways to keep your car's paint color beautiful, shiny and scratch-free due to environmental impacts and corrosive substances. These protective layers are resistant to acids, calcium, magnesium in dust, rainwater, cleaning solutions, and at the same time prevent negative effects from UV rays, slow down the oxidation process, and retain the original paint color. In addition, this service is not only affordable but also helps the car become more prominent and different.