February 8th, 2022 by Sarah Miles

If you are a car enthusiast who takes great pride and joy in the aesthetic appearance of their car and doesn’t want its paintwork to be marred by rust spots, then you need to worry about salt corrosion.

If you are a car owner who doesn’t want the working parts of the underside of their car to be damaged, such as the chassis, suspension, and brake/fuel lines, potentially rendering the car unsafe to drive, then you need to worry about salt corrosion.

Basically, every car owner needs to worry about salt corrosion.

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What is salt corrosion?

Salt corrosion is what happens when salt and water come into contact with your car. They cling to the surfaces and produce a chemical reaction (oxidisation) that corrodes the metal if allowed prolonged contact.

How does saltwater come into contact with your car?

Salt is simultaneously your car’s best friend and its worst enemy. It’s what minimises icy conditions in cold weather as salt lowers the point of freezing. It means that the temperature has to fall much lower before water on roads’ surfaces freezes, making driving conditions much safer.

The trade-off is the damage it can do to your car. Saltwater splashes from the road onto your car as you drive. The same oxidisation process created by mixing salt with water that protects the roads also corrodes metal and ultimately creates rust. Rust compromises the strength of metal thus potentially damaging vital working parts of the car that can make it dangerous. While you may spot warning signs on the paintwork of the car, it can attack with stealth with much of the worst damage occurring where it has most contact – on the underside of your car and therefore out of sight.

What can you do?

As not driving on roads in winter isn’t really an option, the next best thing is to ensure that it is not allowed the prolonged contact it needs to start breaking down the metal. You can achieve this by something as simple as regularly washing your car.

Just by removing the salt from your car’s surfaces, you minimise the risk of corrosion. If you think of winter car washing as fruitless due to the length of time it stays clean in bad weather, you can revel in some smug satisfaction, knowing that you are caring for your car and preventing that rust from taking hold.

There are just a couple of things to keep in mind. Firstly, as we know the underside of the car is most vulnerable (along with wheel arches, bonnets, and the lower sides of the car) focus particular attention on rinsing underneath the car. A pressure washer is great for this as you can easily reach all areas, but a hosepipe is the next best thing.

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Using a pre-wash like snow foam is a good idea too. Snow foam clings to the surface and ‘grabs’ the dirt and contaminants, including salt residue. You then just rinse it away, so it also avoids rubbing particles over the car’s paintwork which can potentially cause micro-scratches.

Finally, for an added layer of protection, apply wax to paintwork as this will hold off salt damage for longer, as well as give you a great finish.

How often should you wash your car to prevent salt corrosion?

This is really dependent on the weather as the colder and wetter it is, the more salt is likely to be applied to the road and the more splash created. When it’s like this at the height of winter, washing your car every week wouldn’t be excessive. You can leave it longer during warm, dry weather but remember that there is salt residue on the road all year round so don’t become complacent.