From frosty windows to salty floor mats, your car can take a beating this season. While salted streets can help keep you safe, it can also wreak havoc on the interior and exterior of your vehicle. Learn why properly cleaning road salt from your car is an important task this time of year.

The Effects of Road Salt

Just think, a substance that’s strong enough to melt through layers of ice and snow coats winter roads and gets mixed into slushy streets. This same substance is then splashed up onto your car and gets carried onto the floor mats by snow boots. Left untreated, that strong substance can cause a number of issues inside and out of your car. Here are a few examples:

1. Corrosion. Road salt can corrode and rust the metal surfaces of your car, including the vehicle’s body, frame, and undercarriage. Excessive salt buildup on your car’s undercarriage can also affect the brake and suspension systems, leading to premature wear and tear.
2. Paint damage. Salt can lead to unsightly rust spots and chipped paint on the exterior.
3. Upholstery stains. Road salt tracked into your car can stain the carpet and upholstery.
4. Electrical issues. If salt gets into your car, it can corrode electrical components, leading to malfunctioning of various systems, including heating and cooling.
5. Low visibility. Excess salt residue on your car’s windows can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of accidents.
6. Floor damage. If you park in the garage, road salt can drip onto the floor and corrode any protective surface and create pockmarks. Tracked into your home, it can also damage wood floors and stain carpeting.

You can’t control how much salt your car is exposed to while on the road. But you can do your part to help clean it off and protect surfaces from damage.

Cleaning Road Salt from Your Car

While washing your car is not an ideal outdoor activity in the winter time, it’s important to remove road salt properly. Even driving through a car wash will help in cleaning the undercarriage and wheel wells where salt is likely to build up. You can help protect your car’s exterior with a wax coating to provide a barrier against salt and other contaminants.

Vacuuming the interior of the car is important to remove salt particles. You’ll also want to wipe away any stains from the upholstery or floor mats. Rubber floor mats are easily rinsed off and help protect the interior from damage and stains.

Properly cleaning road salt from your car is not just about maintaining its appearance; it’s also about preserving its value and ensuring your safety. Let JDog Carpet Cleaning & Floor Care focus on the interior with our upholstery cleaning services. Whether the seats and floors are salty or mud stained, our team of Veterans and Military Family members take pride in offering a gentle technique to clean your upholstery and treating your car with care. Call us at 844-GET-JDOG today to schedule a cleaning.