The winter prep checklist we run on every customer car

Salt is hygroscopic — it pulls moisture out of the air and holds it against metal. That's why winter damage happens even on dry days.

Before the cold arrives

1. Decontaminate. Iron remover and a clay treatment, so you aren't sealing contamination under your protection.
2. Protect. A durable sealant at minimum; a coating if you're keeping the car. Salt struggles to bond to a slick surface.
3. Treat the arches and underside. The parts nobody looks at are the parts that rot.
4. Rubber and trim. A silicone-based dressing on door seals stops them freezing to the frame and tearing.
5. Glass. A hydrophobic glass coating meaningfully improves wet-weather visibility at speed.

Through the season

Wash more often, not less. The instinct is to leave it because it'll only get dirty again — but every day salt sits on paint is a day it's working.

A pre-rinse alone, focused on arches and the lower third, removes most of the risk. It takes five minutes and doesn't require touching the paint at all.

What we'd skip

Don't bother with a full correction in November. Do it in spring when the damage for the year has already happened. Correct, then protect, and you get the whole summer out of it.