Calima dust and your car's paint

Anyone living in Tenerife knows the scene: the sky turns yellowish, visibility drops and the next morning your car is coated in reddish or orange dust. If a little rain falls as well, it gets worse: muddy spots all over the bodywork. This is the calima, airborne dust carried from the Sahara on easterly winds.

For your car's paint, calima is more than a cosmetic nuisance. Handled well, it need not cause any damage; handled badly, it can leave marks that only a workshop can remove.

Why calima dust needs care

Saharan dust is made of very fine, hard mineral particles, largely sand and clay. On your bodywork they behave like microscopic sandpaper: drag them across the surface dry and they scratch. Those fine scratches show up mostly in sunlight, as a haze of swirls in the clear coat, and on dark colours they are very obvious.

On top of that, when the dust mixes with rain or dew it forms a mud that bakes on in the sun and sticks hard. Some particles can leave small stains if they sit on hot paint for a long time.

What not to do

• Wipe it with your hand, a cloth or a feather duster to ‘get the dust off’. It is the quickest way to scratch the paint.
• Use the wipers without washer fluid to clear the screen: the sand scratches the glass and wears the blades.
• Drive into a roller car wash covered in dust without a thorough rinse first.
• Leave it for weeks waiting for the next rain to clean it: dried mud only gets more stubborn.

How to clean it without harming the paint

1. Rinse with plenty of water before touching the paint. The aim is for the water to carry off most of the dust without any rubbing. If you use a pressure washer, keep a sensible distance.
2. Wash in the shade, with the bodywork cool, so water and shampoo do not dry on the paint.
3. Use a proper car shampoo and a soft, clean mitt well loaded with soapy water. Rinse the mitt often so you are not dragging sand around the car.
4. Start at the top and finish with the lower parts, which are the dirtiest.
5. Rinse again and dry with a clean microfibre towel, without pressing.

Good protection helps

Paint with a healthy clear coat, protected with wax or a paint sealant, copes much better with calima: dust sticks less and rinses off more easily. If your paint is already dull or porous, which is common on cars that spend long hours in the sun in the south of the island, dirt clings more and every clean is harder work.

If you can already see scratches or marks

Fine marks and swirls left by poor cleaning usually affect only the clear coat. In many cases they can be corrected with a professional polish, which removes a very thin layer and brings the gloss back. If the clear coat is badly worn or has gone in places, the answer is to repaint the panel.

If calima has left its mark on your paint, have a look at our polishing and gloss restoration service or, if more is needed, a partial respray. And remember, we hand cars back clean, inside and out.