Brushing snow off a car.

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BMW645

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So what's the proper way to brush snow off your car to minimize any scratching?



I have a ice scraper/snow brush that I keep in the trunk of my car in the winter. I'm wondering if the bristles of the brush can scratch the body of my car? Are the bristles just meant to brush the snow off the car glass?



Are you better off just brushing snow off the body of your car with just your gloves, and leaving perhaps a 1/4 inch of snow before you touch the car body?



thanks.
 
BMW645 said:
I have a ice scraper/snow brush that I keep in the trunk of my car in the winter. I'm wondering if the bristles of the brush can scratch the body of my car? Are the bristles just meant to brush the snow off the car glass?
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Yes, even the boar's hari bristles of high-end snowbrushes will scratch paint. Yeah, use the brush only on glass and be careful using it even on that. Don't miss and hit the paint ;)



Are you better off just brushing snow off the body of your car with just your gloves, and leaving perhaps a 1/4 inch of snow before you touch the car body?
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That's what I do if I can't just warm up the car and let it melt (or if it's been outside long enough to get a lot of snow on it). You could use a SnoBrum to do this too, but always leave that last layer of snow.
 
I agree completely with Accumulator. I also wipe of the majority of the snow, leaving just a little left on the paint. The remainder will blow/melt off as you drive.
 
Would it harm the paintwork to get the snow really really wet (by drenching it with water) and then just gently push all the snow off? (Getting it wet causes the layer of snow on the bodywork to melt and therefore the snow just slides off)
 
I have really never brushed snow off of any painted areas of the car. I just clear all of the glass and then begin to drive. Of course, some snow will fly off as you begin to get up to speed. The rest of the snow then begins to melt away as the car warms up.



My thinking is that by the time the car warms up, there's less of a chance of ice particles rubbing directly against the paint. Also, by the time the car warms up, there's always a bit of melting water between the paint and the melting snow. That extra bit of water may help to reduce the chance of any remaining snow having an affect on the surface.
 
sliding chunks of snow will definitely scratch paint-several of my worst scratches are from making that mistake :furious:
 
mirrorfinishman said:
I have really never brushed snow off of any painted areas of the car. I just clear all of the glass and then begin to drive. Of course, some snow will fly off as you begin to get up to speed. The rest of the snow then begins to melt away as the car warms up..
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Yeah, I like to just do it this way when I can too. Heh heh, there are limits to this though, when my car has a foot or more of snow on it I'm not gonna blind the guy behind me with all that blowing off :D Back when I had a car outside 24/7 I'd get some *significant* accumulation on it, especially if I didn't drive it every day.
 
Flynn said:
Would it harm the paintwork to get the snow really really wet (by drenching it with water) and then just gently push all the snow off? (Getting it wet causes the layer of snow on the bodywork to melt and therefore the snow just slides off)
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You can't spray a car with water when it's below freezing. Well, you could....
 
White95Max said:
You can't spray a car with water when it's below freezing. Well, you could....
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You may well have a point there. :)



It doesn't really get that cold here so I don't have that problem.
 
I clear the glass and will SOMETIMES wipe off the first few inches of snow from the hood, but only if it's more than 6 inches deep.



Last year after work, I discovered that one of my coworkers "did me a favor" and cleared ALL the snow (top, sides...everywhere) off my car with his snow brush :scared: :eek:



He's a friend, so I thanked him (AND let him live), all the while inside I was :grrr :wall :faint:



Fast forward a few months when the weather calmed down enough for me to wash & detail the car, another :grrr :eek: as I surveyed the damage, a few hours of :waxing: :waxing: :waxing: and all was good again
 
I clear glass/lighting only.





The snow will blow off the paint quickly (usually). Being that your vehicle is soiled 99% of the winter (if you get snow), I would not trust myself putting pressure on the finish to remove some packed powder ultimatley risking lots of marring. Having the wind get under it and fly off seems more logical to me.
 
Someone suggested the use of a wash mitt. I wonder however how you deal with the fact that sometimes the snow will slide in a full chunk even if you tried to remove only a layer.....
 
Don M said:
..Last year after work, I discovered that one of my coworkers "did me a favor" and cleared ALL the snow (top, sides...everywhere) off my car with his snow brush ..
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*Almost* had that happen to us this winter. The manager of a restaurant we go to had just started clearing the snow off the A8's windows with a nasty brush when I saw what he was doing and nicely told him not to bother ;) Fortunately he hadn't marred up the b-pillars. The parking valet knows how to treat my cars and would *never* have done such a thing, but he'd been called home unexpectedly.
 
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