How to Care for Your Car

Are you tired of your car being covered in yellow?

The so-called pollen season is almost over. Well, at least the one that leaves tree pollen all over your car.

To put it simply, pollen sticks to your car (and anything really) because of tiny little “hooks” that are supposed to be used for pollination. 

A single grain of pollen can cause some damage to your car’s paint job. Pollen has a high acidity that erodes paint. When a grain of pollen lands in one of the tiny pores of your car’s paint, it wears it down. This can lead to staining and early oxidation of the paint.

This is also why it is important to wash it off. Water alone is not necessarily the best bet, so adding some soap and performing a hand wash is the most effective method. 

Just a Few More Weeks

This time of year pollen is almost always in the air. This type of effect from tree pollen usually lasts around four to six weeks. Depending on the weather coming out of winter, anytime between mid-February to mid-April is fair game for pollen.

If you don’t have a garage or carport to park underneath, there are some things you can do from now until the end of tree pollen season. Even though it may seem like overkill, it is important to give your car a rinse and hand wash as often as you can because we don’t get too much help from Mother Nature this time of year.

February through April is typically parched around here.

Prevention (Even Though It’s Too Late Now)

It’s too late for prevention so for next year, give your car some love before next season.

Also, it is important to remember to look under the hood as pollen likely has gotten into your air filter. So, pop the hood as well if you don’t want to be breathing in pollen for weeks to come.

By the time we get to the middle of April, new pollen will no longer form and drop on your car. That might be the time to give your car a good wash.

Unfortunately, that nice new shine may not last too long as May is the so-called “love bug season”.