Carbon fiber side skirts are a popular choice for high-performance cars and modified cars because they are light, strong, and have a unique texture. But you have to be careful when you use and clean it every day so that it doesn't get damaged or affect how well it works. Here are the exact steps to take:
I. Safety Tips for Daily Use
Stay away from sharp things that could scratch you.
When you park, stay away from sharp things like curb stones and branches. When you wash your car, don't use rough towels or hard bristle brushes.
Principle: The coating or varnish layer on carbon fiber is not very thick, even though the surface is hard. Sharp things can easily scratch the coating, which will show the fibers underneath and change how it looks and how well it resists corrosion.
When parking, stay at least 30 cm away from things that might get in the way. When washing the car, use soft bristle brushes or ultra-fine fiber towels.
Stay away from high temperatures
Scenario: Park for a long time in an open parking lot or close to the engine compartment, exhaust pipe, or other areas that get very hot.
Principle: Carbon fiber itself can handle high temperatures, but the surface coating (like epoxy resin) may crack, turn yellow, or get older when exposed to high temperatures for a long time.
If you have to stay in the sun for a long time, cover the car with a car cover or use a sunshade. Otherwise, try to park in the shade.
Limit your contact with chemicals
Avoid touching strong corrosive liquids like gasoline, engine oil, and brake fluid, as well as cleaning products that have solvents in them, like alcohol and acetone.
Principle: Chemicals can break down the coating, which can make the carbon fiber surface lose its shine or corrode.
Suggestion: When you fill up or do maintenance, cover the side skirt. When you clean, use neutral car cleaning products.
Be careful when you go over speed bumps or potholes.
In this situation, the side skirt may bend when you drive over speed bumps, potholes, or curb stones at a high speed.
Principle: Carbon fiber is strong, but it doesn't hold up as well to impacts as metal does. A hard hit could cause the coating to come off or the structure to break.
When you go over obstacles, slow down. You should also put in side skirt protection strips or rubber buffer blocks.
II. Safety Tips for Cleaning
How often to clean
To keep dust, sand, and other things from sticking to the coating and damaging it over time, you should clean it once a week (or more often if you use it a lot).
Exception: Clean right away after it rains or after driving on muddy roads to stop acidic rainwater or mud from corroding the surface.
Choosing the Right Cleaning Tool
Use ultra-fine fiber towels to keep from shedding fibers or scratching the surface.
Choose soft-bristled brushes, like horsehair brushes, to avoid scratching the coating with hard brushes.
Cleaning Agents: To avoid products that contain abrasives, solvents, or strong acids and bases, use neutral automotive-specific cleaning agents.
Steps for Cleaning
Before rinsing, use a low-pressure water gun to wash the side skirt surface to get rid of big pieces of dust and sand.
Apply the cleaning agent: Mix the cleaning agent with water and spray it on the side skirt. Let it sit for 1 to 2 minutes to loosen the stains.
Gently wipe: Use a towel or brush with soft bristles to wipe in the direction of the fibers. Don't rub back and forth.
Rinse well: Use clean water to rinse well to make sure that no cleaning agent is left behind.
Dry: Use ultra-fine fiber towels to soak up the water, or let it dry on its own (stay out of direct sunlight).
Dealing with Tough Stains
Oil stains: Use neutral cleaning products and soft-bristled brushes to wipe them off over and over again. If you need to, use a special oil stain remover.
Tree sap and bird droppings: Use a plastic scraper to carefully remove them without scratching the coating. The rest can be soaked in neutral cleaning agents and wiped clean.
Water Stains: Use decontamination wax or water stain remover to gently sand the area to bring back the shine.
Protection for the coating
Waxing: Every two to three months, put on a layer of wax (like palm wax or synthetic wax) to protect the surface from acid rain and UV rays.
Diamond Coating: Do diamond coating treatment once a year to make the coating harder and less water-resistant, which will make it last longer.
Don't polish: Carbon fiber coatings are thin, and polishing could scratch the coating and show the fibers underneath. Do this only when you need to by professionals.
III. Special Care for Scenes
Removing Snow and Ice in the Winter
Do not use hard things like ice picks or keys to scrape off the snow or ice. This could hurt the coating.
Advice: Use warm water (not hot water) to rinse the side skirt, then wait for the ice to melt before drying it off with a soft towel.
Transporting and storing things over long distances
Protection: Wrap the side skirt in a special carbon fiber cover to keep it from getting scratched or bumped during shipping.
Storage: When you park for a long time, cover the whole car with a car cover and keep the side skirt dry so mold doesn't grow.
Check After Making Changes
Situation: After putting in a new side skirt or moving it around.
Check: Make sure that the gap between the side skirt and the body of the car is even and that there is no friction or interference. The torque of the fixing bolts should also be correct.