White wax stains on plastic trim come from solvents in the wax. These solvents are not meant for cleaning the paint. They are actually just there as a carrier for the protective ingredients in the wax. Once the wax is applied to your car, the solvent evaporates, leaving the wax on the paint. The problem is, the solvents stain plastic trim.

The best defense against wax stains is to prevent them in the first place! You can tape off plastic trim if you’re applying your wax with a buffer. You can just be very careful when applying wax by hand. Accidents still happen so your other option is to choose a wax that will not stain trim. Many WOWO (wipe on, wipe off) waxes will not stain trim and you can identify them by the fact that they also do not dry to a white haze. Examples are Pinnacle Souverän, Pinnacle Signature Series II, Detailer’s Pro Series Max Wax, Wolfgang Füzion, Poorboy’s Natty’s Paste Wax, and P21S Concours Carnauba Wax.

If your wax of choice is an apply-and-dry wax, you can still remove wax stains from trim by acting quickly. You can use a dedicated wax remover, like Griot’s Garage Dried On Wax Remover or you can opt for Detailer’s Pro Series Cleanse-All Exterior Cleaner. It will remove everything from the trim, including any dressings, so you’ll want to reapply protection after cleaning the trim.

If you’re asking yourself this question, most likely you do need to use detailing clay. If your vehicle has never been clayed or hasn’t been clayed in a year or more, it’s time to use detailing clay. If you need more evidence, try the  bag test:

Wash and dry your vehicle, put a plastic sandwich bag over your hand and lightly rub your fingertips over the paint. The plastic bag increases your tactile sensitivity so can feel things you might otherwise miss. If the paint feels gritty or rough, your paint is contaminated.

Vehicles can accumulate industrial fallout, brake dust, rail dust, and other contaminants any time. Maintaining a coat of wax or paint sealant helps protect the paint, but these persistent little particles can still get through the wax barrier. To maintain smooth, silky paint, use detailing clay twice a year. You can clay more often if you have Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay, our ultra fine clay bar.

For more info on detailing clay and clay lubricants, read our Detailing Clay How-To.

It’s already October. Before you know it, you’ll be scraping ice off the windshield. Get prepared now before the snow and ice set in, so you won’t be left out in the cold.

Glass Care

It’s a little early for frost but you don’t want to be caught by surprise. Choose from Innovation Factory‘s unique snow and ice tools: the MINI IceDozer Ice Scraper, the IceDozer Plus Ergonomic Ice Scraper, and the SnowMover Personal Snowplow.

Ice scraping is easier when you use 1Z Einszett De-Icer Spray. It penetrates snow, ice, and frost so it can be easily scraped away.

Clean your windshield and prevent re-icing with 1Z Einszett Anti-Frost Washer Fluid. It works down to -20F!

Winter Washing

Washing your vehicle is a challenge this time of year but Autogeek has some options to make it easier.

The Nomad 18 Volt Portable Power Cleaner is a cordless, rechargable car wash – minus the bucket and hose. The Nomad holds 3.5 gallons of water and has a high pressure sprayer. Rinse off road salt and mud any time, anywhere.

Another way to wash is DP Rinseless Wash & Gloss, a rinse-free car wash concentrate. No water hose is needed! Wash your vehicle inside the garage using just two gallons of water.

Paint Protection

What stands up to road salt, moisture, snow, and grime? Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 does with its anti-static polymer formula. One coat lasts up to 5 months.

Klasse All-In-One and High Gloss Sealant Glaze are a popular and extremely durable combination for winter paint protection. The tough acrylic coating lasts and lasts.

Fall Coverage

Specifically in the Fall, car covers are a great way to keep falling leaves and debris off your paint. Select a custom Covercraft Car Cover to suit your protection needs.

Deflection

Minimize the amount of road salt and debris hitting the paint with WeatherTech No-Drill Mud Flaps. No drilling is requiped to install these sharp, custom-fitting mud flaps.

Interior Protection

WeatherTech Floorliners offer durable, full coverage protection for your vehicle’s carpet. These mats hold moisture, like snow and mud, and cover more area than traditional floor mats.

Garage Gear

If you travel during the winter, you must have a Battery Tender battery charger! A Battery Tender battery charger keeps your car battery fresh over long periods of inactivity, saving you the cost of battery replacement. The Battery Tender Plus is our most popular model and it’s also available in pink to benefit breast cancer research.

Visit out Winter Car Care section for more great cold weather products.

It’s Fall at last! For many of you that means more rain showers. With daylight savings coming up, you may be driving to and from work in the dark. Many more chilly wet mornings are coming. You can’t change the weather but you can change how you prepare your vehicle for it. Autogeek.net has many options to keep your windshield clean and clear, even in inclement weather.

We highly recommend the Diamondite Glass Cleaning System Kit. You know how your windshield wipers skip over the glass and don’t really move much water? This kit solves that problem. Skipping or chattering wiper blades are caused by a dirty windshield. Dirt can become lodged in the glass, leaving the surface bumpy and gritty. An oily coating of exhaust film on the glass mixes with the rain to create a blurry mess on the windshield. The? Diamondite Glass Cleaning System Kit contains a glass cleaner to remove the oily film plus Spray Clay, a foam detailing clay, that removes the dirt that’s stuck in the glass. Lastly, Diamondite Shield creates a slick coating over the glass that allows water to bead and roll away. Your wipers glide over this coating and actually move the water. It’s like a new set of wipers! Try the Diamondite Glass Cleaning System Kit and the next time it rains, you’ll be so glad you used it.

Another outstanding glass sealant is Aquapel Glass Treatment & Rain Repellant. The sealant is packaged in a single use applicator. One application lasts up to 6 months. You can find this service at detail shops but now you can get it at Autogeek.net for a very small price. Aquapel creates a hydrophobic coating that repels water so it beads up and rolls away. The wipers just help it on its way. You’ll be able to see through your windshield in the rain, even in the dark. Aquapel reduces the glare from car lights and streetlights. The best news is that one application of Aquapel will last you through the entire rainy season!

This time of year, you find yourself using the heater because it’s colder outside, but then the interior windshield fogs up…then you’re trying to adjust the defrost. You need Glass Science Fog Clear. Fog Clear is a coating you apply to the interior windshield and windows. It dries clear. The coating absorbs moisture to eliminate condensation instantly. No more foggy windows.

One last tip: take care of your windshield wipers. People often don’t think about wipers until they’re worn out. You usually discover that during the season’s first big rain storm! Like the rest of your car, a little preventative maintenance will ensure your wipers function when you need them. Use 303 Wiper Treatment Wipes to recondition rubber wiper blades so they glide over the glass. Snow and ice will not stick to treated blades, so this is a product you will want to use all winter.

With a few inexpensive and easy-to-use glass care products, you’ll be able to maneuver this Fall weather safely. See more glass care products for all seasons at Autogeek.net.

With record high temperatures on the East Coast of the U.S., it seems like a great time to offer some suggestions for heat-resistant waxes and sealants. Intense heat is one of the factors that can affect the longevity of wax. All waxes have a melting point. Carnauba’s melting point is the highest of any natural wax but, for long-term staying power, you can’t beat a polymer paint sealant.

Collinite Insulator Wax #845 is a terrific wax that is literally made to withstand high temperatures. It was developed to insulate electric components but has proven to be an outstanding car wax both for its shine and protection.

DP Poli-Coat Paint Sealant is an entirely synthetic, high bonding sealant with great gloss and durability. Released earlier this year, DP Poli-Coat Paint Sealant has a built-in bonding agent that gives it the staying power that is so important in the summer heat.

Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze is, of course, a tried-and-true winner in the longevity department, no matter what the weather. Made with acrylic, Klasse forms a tough, protective coating that will easily last through summer, fall, and into winter.

Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 is another long-lasting, high gloss paint sealant that will keep your vehicle protected all summer long. It was developed using German Super Polymers for maximum shine and maximum protection.

This doesn’t mean you have to put the carnauba wax on the shelf for the summer. Apply a layer of carnauba wax over the paint sealant to get an eye-popping shine.

For more excellent paint sealants, visit our paint sealant page at Autogeek.net!

This isn’t one of those philosophical questions with no real answer like, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?” There is a definitive answer to whether the paint sealant or wax comes first. The answer is, the paint sealant always comes first.

The reason is that car waxes almost always contain some kind of oily, slippery-feeling additive. It’s necessary to make the wax pliable and easier to use. (Natural carnauba wax is rock hard!) If you were to apply wax first and then a paint sealant on top, these oils would inhibit the paint sealant’s ability to bond to the paint. This method is likely to result in a cloudy, streaky finish.

On the other hand, a paint sealant is usually free of such oils. Once the sealant cures to the finish – which can take anywhere from an hour to 12 hours, depending on the specific product – a wax can be applied top without any streaking or clouding issues.

There are, of course, exceptions. The makers of Rejex specifically state that a wax will not bond well if applied on top of RejeX. However, there are countless paint sealants that behave just fine as base coats: Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0, Klasse All In One or High Gloss Sealant Glaze, Griot’s Garage Paint Sealant, Menzerna Power Lock, and many more.

One more exception to the rule: you cannot apply cleaner waxes on top of a paint sealant. The cleaners will take the paint sealant off. To rephrase the rule: When layering, always apply the paint sealant first, followed by a non-cleaning wax.

If the idea of polishing glass makes you cringe, we’re here to tell you it can be done safely. And you can do it!

A glass polish works a lot like a car polish. It contains abrasives that level imperfections, leaving the surface smooth and, in the case of glass, perfectly clear. It’s important to know what a glass polish can and can’t do. It CAN remove water spots, mineral deposits, etching caused by bugs and bird droppings, and very light scratches. A glass polish CANNOT remove chips or cracks. If your windshield is cracked or chipped, consult a windshield replacement technician. If it has spots and scratches, we have a polish for that!

A quality glass polish like DP High Performance Glass Restorer will remove water spots and cloudiness to restore perfect clarity to your windows. You can apply it by hand or with a polisher, but set your machine on a low speed (1000-1200 RPM on a rotary or 5-6 on a dual action) and use a polishing pad. Do not apply pressure; the pad will do the work for you. When the polish starts to dry, stop polishing and buff the residue away with a microfiber towel.

Another option is Diamondite Spray Clay. This is a clay foam that removes embedded contaminants from glass, as well as mineral deposits, using an included sponge. Spray Clay is part of the Diamondite Glass Cleaning System, which also includes Diamondite Glass Cleaner and Diamondite Shield. Spray Clay will not remove etching, but it will correct spots that are still on the surface of the glass.

If your vehicle’s glass has mild to moderate scratches and mineral etchings, you may need the Diamondite Glass Repair System. This kit is specifically designed to be applied with a drill or rotary polisher. The included polishes and glass polishing discs remove more pronounced glass blemishes than DP High Performance Glass Restorer, yet the kit is still user-friendly for anyone who’s comfortable using a drill or rotary polisher.

After polishing, your windshield and windows are naked. This is the perfect time to apply a glass sealant. The glass is already slick and crystal clear. A glass sealant will help keep it that way. Windshield wipers will last longer if they’re gliding across a slick, clean windshield. Water beads up and rolls away to improve your visibility when driving in the rain.

Diamondite Shield will keep your glass clean and provide some protection against future water spots. Aquapel Glass Treatment & Rain Repellent is another great option that lasts up to six months. Both products keep auto glass cleaner, clearer, and smoother.

Click here to see all Autogeek’s glass care solutions.