So how do you protect clearcoat from environmental damage? Well first understand that this type of damage should be a real concern for the newer vehicle car owner. While this type of damage exists for the more conventional finishes, it’s far more obvious for the clearcoat finishes.
Examples of environmental damages are if you commute a long distance for your job, or just live in a metropolitan area, your clearcoat is exposed to carbon black from other people’s exhaust will build up over time. In addition, if you live near or drive to an airport then you are subjected to the jet fuel fallout that happens. To this list you can also include states in the Eastern and North Eastern industrial zones. In a continuous fluid state this industrial pollution continues its journey farther south every day, every year. With this environmental damage you can include Acid Rain. No, not Purple Rain. The most common place for Acid Fog is in Southern California. In the industrial north, you will find Acid Snow. Don’t forget the early morning Acid Fog. Basically, every type of precipitation carries with it the threat of Acid fallout which results in clearcoat damage.
If you are not washing your vehicle frequently, then you subject it to more acid fallout. A light rain, morning mist, fog or dew mixes with these Acid particles and creates the moisture that is now on your vehicle. All that you need now is the sun to bake them into your finish. You don’t need a whole lot of sunlight for this baking process to get busy destroying your finish. After all, it is said that some of the most damaging sun is the sun that is behind the foggy clouds. Surely you can see that if you subject your clearcoat finish to this day in and day out acid damage, then you are destroying your finish coat.
There is only one way to prevent this; you must dedicate yourself to washing your car daily. Hopefully, this description will pop up in your mind when on the weekends, you’re just too busy to wash your vehicle.