How to Protect Your Car from Volcanic Ash

Every year or so, some volcano in Iceland decides in its wisdom to ruin the vacation of all those planning trips in Europe and elsewhere. As it happened a year ago, an Iceland volcano erupted last week, sending ash clouds over some of the major airports in Europe.

These types of incidents have become rather common place, with the automotive industry reacting by creating all sorts of anti-ash solutions meant to protect the bodywork of the cars we drive and that might otherwise get affected by the abrasive rock dust.

Having in mind the fact that the dust particles currently raining down on the UK are larger than the ones of 2010, car care products manufacturer Autoglym decide to release, alongside the products meant for the task of protecting the car's paintwork from ash, a list of to do and not to do things in the presence on Icelandic dust. These hints and tips are listed below.

• soak car bodywork with water to loosen surface deposits
• use a pH-neutral car bodywork shampoo solution
• pay special attention to wiper blades which may scratch the windscreen when sweeping ash across the glass surface – and side window seals, which may harbour dust that scratches windows as they are wound up and down
• use a specialist automotive rubber treatment to cleanse and protect rubber seals, wiper blades and tyre sidewalls
• wash frequently until the volcanic eruptions cease.

“We saw a massive increase in calls to our customer support team after the volcanic eruption last year,” said Paul Caller, Autoglym CEO. “Motorists saw heavy swirls on paintwork after they failed to take sufficient precautions when washing ash off their cars. This latest ash cloud contains larger particles, which could be even more damaging, so we’re again warning motorists to be especially vigilant and take extra precautions when cleaning their cars.”