I never wash my car during the winter. I do this because I put a nice thick coat of sealant before winter starts and I find that frequent winter washes remove this coat really quickly, because of all the grime and salt that builds up on the car. When the weather warms up, I do a single, full wash and the sealant is still underneath, protecting the paint from the elements. Unfortunately, this leaves the car looking like a salt lick for most of the winter.

A few weeks ago, a hand car wash opened up in the neighborhood, just south of Summerhill. Called Mr. Shine it’s located at Yonge and Roxborough, just across the street from the Shell station. I took the car there to support a new local business – they had the tedious task of removing 4 months of dirt from the car. They did a pretty good job, and I recommend them. A basic exterior wash, without detailing, is $16.99. Usually I spend $13 in a car wash bay, so it’s not that much more. I detail my car myself, so I haven’t seen the results. However I’ll probably stop by soon and find out what products they use – and whether or not they use a sealant or a wax (or both!).

Detailing cars is something only auto-obsessed people enjoy. Unfortunately I am one of those people and think that spending 4-5 hours outside detailing a car on a sunny afternoon is something worthwhile to do. Most of my friends think I’m crazy.

A few years ago, with my first car, I used what most people used – “car wax”. This is generally a combination of carnuba wax (from a Brazilian palm tree) and some petroleum products that make it easy to apply and remove. Products like this have been around for decades and are usually hand applied and buffed.

Recently, many new products have come to the market that are not wax-based. These are generally called paint sealants and once were only the domain of high end paint/detailing shops. These are polymer based (manmade synthetic material) and have advantages of being very easy to apply and very long durability compared to carnuba wax.

The only downside I have found with paint sealants is that if left to dry too long before buffing out, they are very hard to remove. So, when applying sealants, apply to a small area and buff out soon after it hazes over. If it does harden and becomes very hard to remove, the trick i use is to apply more of the product and then buff it out quickly. That method removes even the most stubborn hardened sealant.

There are two types of sealants I have tried, although there are many on the market. I use eshine.ca to supply them:
Wolfgang Paint Sealant
Klasse High Gloss Sealant

Make sure your car is cleaned and polished before applying and you will have a very shiny car for months! Most sealant companies will offer a polish or pre-”wax” product that you apply and buff out before you apply sealants. These products are a combination of polisher (smooths the clearcoat), filler (fills gaps in the clearcoat) and cleaner (removes residue/oxidation).