A car mat

How Do I Remove Road Salt from the Exterior and Interior of My Vehicle?

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Posted in How To

We all know that Canadian winters can last for several months. This means that the roads and sidewalks are salted almost regularly to improve traction for drivers and pedestrians. However, road salt can create a lot of damage to your vehicle if it builds up. Today, we will be teaching you how to remove road salt from both the exterior and interior of your vehicle. Read on to start learning!

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Removing salt from your carpet

While you may think that damage can only be done to the exterior of your vehicle, the interior can also be damaged by salt. Melting salt can lead to stains in your carpet or mats. However, removing the salt is easy:

  1. Mix equal parts warm water and white vinegar in spray bottle or bucket.
  2. Spray or rub the cleaning solution onto the area that has the salt.
  3. Gently scrub the area with a brush to bring up all of the salt that may have been pushed down into the carpet.
  4. Use a dry towel to absorb the salt. Repeat this step several times. If a towel doesn’t seem to work, use a vacuum.

Cleaning the exterior and undercarriage

A man during car wash

While it’s a good idea to wash your vehicle regularly at any time of the year, it’s even more important to wash it during the winter. If you can, you should wash your car every week and a half. The area that gets the most salt build-up is the undercarriage so it’s important to focus on this area. Washing your vehicle by hand is the best way to ensure that the salt is removed. When washing your car, remember to do these things:

  1. Start the car wash process with a thorough rinse to knock off any salt that may be loose already.
  2. Place most of your attention on the wheel wells and undercarriage as these areas receive the most salt damage.
  3. Properly dry the lock, door, window, and trunk edges to ensure that they don’t get frozen shut.

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Find more “How To” blogs from Stop 23 Auto Sales

Are you looking to find more “how-to” blogs? Keep reading the Stop 23 Auto Sales blog for more blogs just like this one! If you have any vehicle service questions, you can also reach out to our service team.