Winter is a wonderful time of the year, nobody objects that. Snow banks, frozen lakes and rivers, frosty days filled with sun are created for leisure and outdoor time. However, along with winter, also come snowfalls, and this is what often makes drivers crazy!
Imagine you wake up in the morning, come ip to the window, and you see that your car has turned into a giant snow bank during the night! And it is exactly the time for you to go to work! Naturally, you will want to remove that snowy “cap” as soon as possible.
But here is the riddle for you: how to do this without scratching the paint on your vehicle? If you scratch too hard, it is not only snow that you can take off.
Fortunately, we are here to help you out with this stuff today! In the article below, you will find handy tips on how to clean snow off your car without scratching the paint layer.
In addition, we will share a few useful tips with you regarding what could be done to avoid even the tiniest scratches and other minor damages on the paint layer of your vehicle while getting snow off it.
So stay with us, be attentive, and read on thoroughly! We bet you will learn plenty of new and useful things you have not been aware of before!
How to Get Snow Off Your Car Without Scratching It?
Snow looks wonderful and it brings a lot of fun for both kids and adults in winter, but only not for the adults that have a car!
See, it might have a wow-effect to wake up in the morning and find out that your whole vehicle was just covered with a finger-thick pile of snow during the night. However, it is not going to be a wow-effect to try to get all that snow off a car!
And what would the majority of us do in such a situation?
You are right, we would grab a snow cleaning tool and start scraping the snow piles off the vehicle. However, this is the direct way to scratches and further expenses on repainting the car!
This is why, if you need to remove snow from your wheeled mean of transportation, we recommend you take a few easy tips into consideration:
- Try to pull the snow off your car, not to push.
- Move your snow cleaning tool in a straight line from the front bumper by extending your arm as far across the hood as you can.
- Keep all your motions in straight lines while cleaning the snow off.
- Work from the top of the vehicle down to the sides and then to the hood and trunk areas.
- Minimize the contact between the car and the snow brush. Do not try to remove every last bit of snow!
- Clean most of the snow with a brush and let the heat from your car’s engine melt the rest.
Like this, you will be able to safely remove the snow bank from your car in quite a short period of time.
And even if you make any minor scratches during the process, if you follow our tips we provided above, those marks will look more or less naturally as if they appeared after the contact of your car with debris while moving.
What Is the Best Tool For Cleaning Snow Off Your Car?
When snow falls, it is always an impressive and spectacular occasion. However, if it falls right onto your car, you might not be that impressed and excited! Everyone who had to clean snow off their cars knows very well how exhausting it is.
So of course, after a heavy snowfall, it is so tempting to grab your shovel, broom, or a snow brush and swipe that snow away with a few moves! Nevertheless, we would not recommend you do that.
See, like this, you will most likely leave quite significant scratches on the paint layer of your car while vigorously removing the snowy cover.
And moreover, if the layer of snow is rather thick, even with a brush or a shovel, you will hardly get rid of it all at once.
Which means that you will have to repeat the procedure. Which means, in its turn, that your car is going to have more scratches.
And since this is not the scenario you are dreaming of, we suggest you take another approach into consideration instead. First of all, you will need a completely different tool in order to deal with the snow and cause no damage to the vehicle at the same time.
The best solution in this case will be to buy a no scratch snow brush that is made of foam.
This tool is non abrasive and freeze-resistant, moreover, it is made of molded polyethylene foam that is used for the brush head. In addition, the head of the brush has a recessed plate even though it is made of hard plastic.
Thanks to this feature, the foam brush has no contact with the surface of a car in the process of cleaning. Finally, a steel telescoping extendable handle can be extended up to forty six inches! This will allow you to reach even the most hard-to-get areas!
However, there is another tool that can be successfully used for removing the snow from your car in case you have no foam brush. And guess what? We are talking about your own hands!
Yes, simply put on thick and waterproof gloves (leather gloves will do as well, by the way), and start your battle with snow to free your car from the white trap! Simply push the snow off reaching as far as you can.
This method has only one but significant drawback: you will not be able to reach really far with only your hands since the area of your reach will be limited by the length of your hands.
Related: 10 Hacks | How to Keep Your Car Warm Overnight?
How to Clean Hard Snow Off Your Car Without Scratching Its Paint?
If you have experienced a really heavy snowfall recently, and your whole car is buried under the gigantic pile of snow, it will be pretty hard to release it from there. However, it is still possible to do!
You will have to act in several stages in order to successfully free your vehicle from the snow prison.
- Start with removing as much snow as you can. You can brush it off, for example.
- Then, take a snow broom and take off the rest of the snow cover carefully to not scratch the surface.
- Finally, turn your car’s engine on and let it work for a while. The heat from the vehicle will melt the rest of the snow easily. Starting your car and turning on the defrosters before you begin snow removal can help loosen hard snow from your hood and windows. Make sure your tailpipe isn’t obstructed by a snowbank, however, to prevent toxic fumes from filling your car.
- Make sure you are using the right tool for removing the snow! Of course, you can grab the very first snow brush that you come across, but then, don’t complain if you notice scratches on your car’s surface. This is why you should opt for the highest-rated foam brush/snow broom you can find on the market! It will cope with removing even wet, heavy snow from all areas of a vehicle without causing damage to the paint. Such a snow broom usually contains high-impact, metal-free faceplates with durable crosslinked polyethylene foam to prevent surface contact.
- Plan your snow cleaning strategy. Think ahead of your snow removal efforts. Like this, you will be able to minimize your inconvenience. With a long handle snow broom, for example, you can easily push away from you, clearing an entire sedan from one side. For a tall full-size vehicle, pull snow from half the roof toward you to fall to the ground while you step away and remain dry. A snow broom enables you to keep a distance between the falling snow and yourself.
- Remember to use protective wax. Applying wax is a more general method for protecting the finish on your car and reducing discoloration. All that has to be done is to apply protective wax after washing. Also, you will most likely want to get this done when temperatures are at least in the mid-50s. Generally speaking, if the weather is warm enough for you to wash your car, it is warm enough for you to apply a spray-on wax.
However, you need to keep in mind a few important aspects when dealing with a heavy snowfall aftermath on your car!
First of all, when brushing the top layer of snow, you still need to act carefully with rather light moves.
Even though the snow layer might be thick, it does not mean that you can’t scratch the car’s surface if you press the shovel or the brush too hard!
Second, you can also make use of your own hands to remove that top layer of snow. Only make sure that your hands are well protected with gloves.
Also, when dealing with the underlayer of snow, we would recommend you opt for a foam brush since it is much safer to use on the surface or a car.
Now you know in detail how to remove a pile of snow from your car and what tools to use for that purpose. And now it is the right time to remind you what tools should be avoided when cleaning your vehicle from snow in winter.
Related: How to Keep Car Windows From Fogging Up In the Rain?
What Tool Not to Use For Brushing Snow Off Your Car?
We have already figured out that the best and the most optimal tool you can use in order to remove snow from your car’s roof (as well as from the rest of the vehicle) is a foam brush.
Due to its frost-resistant and non abrasive features, this kind of brush will free your car from snowy cover both effectively and safely leaving no scratches!
However, there are other snow removing tools that most of us tend to use in winter on our cars. And those tools are better to be avoided if you want the surface of your vehicle to remain glossy and smooth longer.
So if after a heavy snowfall you find your car totally covered with snow, don’t rush to grab the following things in your garage:
- a shovel
- a snow brush
- nylon brushes
- corn-straw broom
All these tools can easily leave significant marks on the surface of your car that will be pretty hard to remove later.
So if you don’t want to spend a fortune on fixing the aftermath of your vigorous snow cleaning, consider opting for a harmless foam brush instead just as we suggested above.
How to Remove Snow From Your Car Without Scratching its Surface? Extra Tips to Consider
One of the most frequent questions that car owners ask once winter comes is “can a snow brush scratch your car?” The answer is obvious: if you are using the wrong tool or the wrong technique, then yes, you should expect scratches and other unwanted marks on your car’s surface.
This is why we suggest you keep reading in order to find out the best ways to clean snow off your car without even the minor damage.
Cleaning snow off your vehicle can be more than a seasonal annoyance. It can cause significant damage to your vehicle’s paint and finish!
Depending on the tool used in the removal process, this damage may vary from unsightly color marks and swirls to deep scratches that will require an expensive re-paint to fix. And of course, any serious fixtures will cost quite a lot of money!
Every winter, paint jobs pay the price for improper vehicle snow removal, whether by corn-straw broom, nylon snow brush, or any variety of snow shovels.
This is why using a foam brush to sweep snow off your vehicle will protect your paint and finish from the former products’ rough bristles and sharp edges.
However, there are a few extra tricks you should know to be ready for even the heaviest snowfall!
- Start your car’s engine and turn on the defrosters before you begin to remove the snow. It will help to loosen the hard snow layer on the hood and windows.
- Always make sure that the tailpipe is not obstructed by a snowbank. Otherwise, toxic fumes will fill the car!
- Use a foam snow cleaning broom. It will cope even with wet and heavy snow!
- Use a long-handled snow broom to reach as far as you can and have enough distance between yourself and the falling snow.
- Use protective wax after washing for protecting the car’s finish and reducing discoloration
And remember that, if you keep on using the wrong snow removing tool, as well as the wrong technique, it will sooner or later lead to a pricey visit to a car painter!
So make sure you are equipped with the right tool, and remember what we have taught you regarding how to work with it to clean the snow off correctly.
So, now we are sure that no snowfall will prevent you from getting to work in time since now you know everything one needs to know about the correct and professional snow removal.
And remember that it is much better to take preventive measures and have your car prepared for winter than dealing with damaged paint later because of the improper snow removal.
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