BCM Community

After my last trip, there was a film of diesel on my toad.  I usually hose off the car, but I just tried to wipe it off of the front hood.  Surprisingly, the hood looked shinier than it had in years.  I never really wash the cars other than a hose down.  It reminded me of when I was young a fireman friend of my father told him they kept the engines bright and shiny by washing them with a kerosene and water mixture and just drying them off.  After that, my father used to wash his car the same way.  I never did notice any bad effects, so is there a real reason that one would not want to due that?  Maybe there would be health and environment concerns though.

   Car dealership I worked at many years ago, would spray new cars with kerosene before washing and going over for the showroom.

Lin DOT5 brake fluid works nice too, exspensive but...

While these tricks looks great today, if you ever want/need to repaint the car you will have a giant 'fisheye' problem.  See the oil impregnates the paint and new paint will not stick.  It repels the new paint in a round pattern that looks like a fish eye.   Surface prep degreaser and even sanding is not a full guarantee that it won't happen.  Must repaint if it does.   

Careful too with the brake fluid, I've seen it wrinkle paint.  Not slamm'n ya Van :)   

My brother told me years ago that the "wax" at car washes is kerosene.