20 Ways to Destroy Your Car's Finish in 20 Minutes

Years ago, Zymöl published a satirical piece on the most effective ways to ruin your car's finish. It was picked up by the LA Times Sunday Magazine. The response was so overwhelming it crashed our phone lines and flooded our email server. We originally published only 10 of the 20 ways — and the calls asking for the rest never stopped.

Today, we're publishing all 20. The cars have changed. The mistakes haven't.

Despite having the best of intentions, many car owners actually damage their vehicles with every cleaning. Over time, armed with just an old towel and a can of randomly selected, heavily marketed, chemical car polish, motorists can achieve results that would make a group of vandals gasp with envy. In other cases, owners manage to do the damage by applying their old cleaning techniques and polishes to today's modern, high-tech paints.

In an effort to help car and truck owners protect, preserve or even restore their vehicles' finishes now that it's time for the annual Fall cleaning, Zymöl has developed a list of 20 common errors that can ultimately destroy your paint.

Avoiding these pitfalls can actually make a car or truck thousands of dollars more valuable at trade-in time. And today, cars and trucks are often a family's biggest, or second-biggest, investment. Proper care of vehicle finishes has never made more sense.

Here are some of the errors of commission and omission:

1. Do nothing, let the rain will wash the car, drive through an automated car wash or buy an off-brand Car Wash product.

For any number of reasons, this has become an increasingly popular option. Many owners think that the presence of a clear coat finish on their car or truck means that they do not have to do anything more than give the vehicle an occasional wash, if that. Actually, the clear coat process does not protect the paint. It is used to add depth and brilliance to the finish. "A clear coat is nothing but paint without pigment," says Chuck Bennett Founder and CEO of Zymöl. That means it not only should be treated with the same care you would give a color coat of paint, it actually must be treated more carefully as scratches on its surface will dull the apparent brilliance and depth of the color coat underneath. So even with a clear coat finish, a car owner should frequently hand wash his or her car and properly care for the finish with quality, non-abrasive cleaners and waxes.

2. Use a one-step polish that claims to eliminate the need to wash the car first.

Failure to wash the car first means that all the surface dirt, acid rain deposits, road tar, bugs and bird droppings on the car will be ground right into the paint. That can have a devastating effect on the finish.

3. Bake the car in the sun before washing and waxing it.

By doing this the car owner will not only guarantee having to cope with hard-to-remove water spots, but the hot surface will also give the solvents used in many commercial waxes an opportunity to attack and dissolve the top layer of paint.

4. Let the wax bake into the paint before removing it.

Some motorists actually drive around waiting for the wax to become really dry (they think it hardens the wax) before removing it. This delayed removal only gives products that rely on petrochemical solvents more time to dissolve and/or etch the paint. In addition, driving the car before removing the wax means that road grit will be present to scratch the surface when the owner finally does get around to buffing the job.

5. Compound the car before you apply wax, Dad did!.

Using abrasive compounding paste on today’s paint will result in costly damage. The compounding material can quickly remove not only oxidized paint, but also enough good paint to expose the primer. At this point, the only solution is to repaint. Clear coats should not be compounded at all with old-style abrasives. If you see a stain or blemish you feel you cannot remove, talk to a knowledgable technician about the ‘Right’ products to solve your problem.

6. Apply as much pressure (elbow grease) as possible while washing and waxing the car so the neighbors see you are in good shape.

Fortunately, you do not have to be a champion body builder to get superb results when cleaning a car with the right car care products. Using excessive force will only ensure damaged paint and dimpled body panels. A soft touch is all that is required to do the job properly.

7. Wax everything, including chrome, rubber and vinyl surfaces.

Chrome needs oxygen to preserve its shine, so covering it with any wax helps to assure pitting of the substrate and bluing of the Chrome surface. As for rubber and vinyl trim, cheap waxes will turn them an ugly white when they bleach out. And it will bleach out. Just give it time.

8. Use any available products that promise the world.

Caring for today's new paints requires special, skin safe products. While polishes that might have been acceptable in the past they are marketed and new products but they are not. Unfortunately, many older heavy petrochemical formulations are still available and are often sold at bargain-basement prices and referred on social media as ‘New’. Cheap out on your Fall cleaning products and you may have to pay later in the form of very expensive repairs.

9. Ignore paint chips and scratches.

These gaps in the painted surface are ugly and encourage surface rusting that is not covered by any manufacturer's rust protection warranty. Using the proper touch-up paint promptly and properly will maintain the appearance of the vehicle for years to come. If you don’t know where you need touch-up paint, it’s easy, just Hand Wash your car!

10. Wash and wax only twice a year.

The resulting dull appearance will significantly reduce the need for theft protection devices and everyone with think you are so rich you could care less how your car looks.

11. Wear Plenty of Jewelry.

Rings, bracelets and watches can all leave scratches during the washing, cleaning and waxing process. Of course, those scratches can be the stuff of which memories are made. The deep gouges jewelry leaves in the finish will be there forever, or until the car is repainted. That scratch on the hood will always remind you of your class ring.

12. Wear clothing with sharp buttons and a belt with a big buckle.

The scratches these leave will be deep and lasting. However, for car owners who prefer not to cause this type of damage to the paint, avoiding metal buttons and covering a belt buckle with a small towel will eliminate this source of scratches and gouges. You know in 10,000 years from now archaeologists who find scratched body panels could view the scratches as a forgotten language.

13. Use synthetic fiber towels.

Towels with synthetic fibers can leave literally thousands of fine scratches in the paint. They may not be immediately apparent, but they will be there, and as the gloss of the wax recedes with time, they will become more and more visible. Even new cotton towels can present problems. To make them look new at the end of the manufacturing process towel makers often treat the terry cloth with chemicals that can leave streaks or even damage the paint. For that reason, always dry a car with pure cotton terry towels, devoid of all chemicals.

14. Bunch the towel or cloth used for cleaning, waxing or buffing.

Instead of making sure the cloth is folded flat, roll it up in a crumpled ball. This will ensure plenty of edges, some of which can actually scratch the finish. This can be particularly effective if the towel has been sewn with synthetic fibers like fishing line.

15. Use a power buffer.

There are very few tools that can do more damage in the hands of the unskilled than a Power Buffer.. Sometimes, even skilled operators can damage paint when they are armed with a power buffer. The most common problems occur where the design of the car results in sharp edges in the painted panel. These can quickly be "burned" by an enthusiastic buffer operator. Buffers, even orbital buffers, can also leave swirl marks. These ugly swirls will show onlookers that the car owner is doing very well, economically. Either he can afford to buy a buffer or he can hire someone to care for his car who has one.

16. Use circular motions when applying cleaners and waxes by hand.

This can be almost as good as giving a power buffer to an unskilled user. The circular motions will leave their marks in the finish. Use straight line applications that are in the same direction as air flow over the car. These back and forth motions will give the finish a clear, glass-like appearance and help restore a new-car look.

17. Ignore problem areas.

Every car has them. A bird dropping here, water spots there and perhaps acid rain etchings everywhere. In addition, acids from the catalytic converter, part of the exhaust and emission control systems of the vehicle, can leave their marks on the trunk lid or tailgate. These require additional attention to remove, and taking the time to do it is well worth it, in the opinion of many owners. But why bother? Doing the job right could add 10 or even 20 minutes to the job.

18. Don't read instructions.

Hey, what could the people who made the product possibly know about its application and use? Right?

19. Clean, then don't wax.

Using a chemical cleaner properly really gets the car clean and shiny, right? So, why bother to wax? It only takes more time and within months, the wax will have to be reapplied.

Besides, isn’t the high level of protection a quality natural wax affords the paint is overblown. Isn't it?

20. Don't care.

Why bother. After all, the average new car only costs $38,000. And the average truck or sport utility vehicle is more than that. Failing to keep up the appearance of the car usually costs no more than 10 to 15 thousand dollars in lower resale values over two or three years. Who needs that kind of money? And just think of the joy of driving an almost-new car that looks far older than it really is!

While not as effective as driving your new car or truck off a cliff, these 20 approaches to car finish care can still cause a great deal of damage. They can make your car look much older than it really is and cost you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars at trade-in time.

Good luck!