How to properly clean road salt from car paint and underbody?

[Texarkana]

Hey all, I’ve got another question. This weekend the DOT went completely apesh!t and covered every inch of the road in salt just for a few inches of snow. I want it washed of my vehicle ASAP, but I don’t want to promote rust to from. What is the best way to throughly clean salt from my vehicle? I also plan in getting some spray on sealant for the underbody next year.

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[twiggy]

I just run it through an automated car wash that has the underbody spray. There is one around my area that is “touchless” which I like better.

[Anonymous]

Get a pressure washer that has a soap container attachment and fill it with vinegar. It’ll mix with the water and will neutralize the salt. Of course, your car will smell like a douche for a day or so, but it’s better than rust. If you can’t get your hands on a pressure washer, you can also use one of those hose attachments that you can fill with liquid fertilizer that you can buy at your local home and garden store. Same deal: fill it with vinegar and hose away. Use white vinegar; don’t use balsamic red wine vinegar, obviously.

[outdoorsman310]

since vinegar is a mild acid, wouldnt that increase corrosion?

[outdoorsman310]

i think it is best to wash and then wax i dont know how it would work thats like putting paint in soapy water and washing what you’re trying to paint

[Toxic]

Don’t use vinegar..it will only strip the wax off and make the salt more powerful..vinigar is an acid..use baking soda to neutralize the salt as it is is a non-corrosive and also non-harmful alkaline with the added benefit of order killer..just mix it with the soap and water and spray it off..i would also suggest something high powered as already suggested and make sure you go over the wheel wells and all the cracks and crannies and underbody of the car as it tends to accumulate the worst in there…I would also suggest to not use a touchless car wash as those are more or less a scam and don’t really wash anything. more or less just in grain things a bit better into the paint….after your done make sure to go back over everything and wipe it all down and shine a bright flashlight onto all the sections of your car and look for white film BEFORE you even think about waxing it as this will trap everything under it and leave it to destroy your paint.

P.s. Don’t mix wax with the stuff your washing your car with. #1 it gets all on the glass and on the seals and Ect. (Thats what causes that weird smog like scum on windshields you can never seem to scrub off) cause that’s what the gas station touch-less car washes do is mix the wax into the soap so it just sprays a coat onto everything and traps anything it doesn’t clean under the wax coat including soap and dirt and bug guts..and what ever is there…lol

[Anonymous]

I suppose it depends on what they use in your area. Calcium chloride is most commonly used to melt ice on roads and walkways when temperatures are well below freezing and can be neutralized in several ways. The most common method, other than water, is a solution of acetic acid, or vinegar, and water. The vinegar/water formula works very well for my application here in Seattle. I wasn’t aware they salted roads during the winter in Texas.

[Author]

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