Keeping Your Car Clean in Hawaii, Part 1

I have lived in both California and Hawaii for the majority of my life. As a teenager I worked for a mobile detailing service, where we focused on luxury vehicles. As a young adult I detailed vehicles in California in my own business during college.

While auto detailing information exist in abundance, in Hawaii we deal with unique conditions compared to the rest of the United States. This article is great if you are from the mainland and want to be ready for Hawaii specific challenges to auto maintenance. Also, if you are from Hawaii, this post will serve to bring conditions to your attention that you may not be aware of.

This article focus’s on external conditions that will make it difficult to keep your car clean in Hawaii. This article is the first part of a two-part series. The second part of the series is a guide with specific methods and product recommendations for keeping your car clean in Hawaii’s specific conditions. Click the link below to view part two.

https://mtoguchibodyshop.com/keeping-your-car-clean-in-hawaii-part-2/

Mineral Content in Hawaii Water

Some our water is extremely rich in mineral content. Mineral rich water is usually referred to as ‘hard water’. Most of Hawaii’s water sources have relatively short flowing paths, which usually keep their water from being hard. Much of Hawaii’s water using outdated infrastructure. Thus, from time to time, water can be hard.

Some of our water is extremely rich in mineral content. Mineral-rich water is often referred to as ‘hard water’. Most of Hawaii’s water sources have relatively short flowing paths, which usually keep their water from being hard. Much of Hawaii’s water systems are using outdated infrastructure, which creates hard water.

Tropical Weather Conditions

Intense Hawaii Rain

Unlike most tropical regions in the world, Hawaii boasts volcanos that are nearly 14,000 feet tall. The mountains serve to catch passing water vapors. Thus, Hawaii boasts some of the most rain heavy spots on the planet. Many cars were not designed for torrential rainfall.

Unpredictable Tropical Wind

The Hawaii winds are usually rather inconsequential but both tropical storms and hurricane’s are all too common in Hawaii. Wind causes unexpected debrie which can cause vehicle damage.

Consistently Humid Weather

Humidity is both a blessing and a curse for the Hawaii car owner. One advantage of humidity is that your car will tend to try off less quickly when you are washing it, giving you more time to get all that car soap rinsed off.

The negative side of humidity is that you can accrue moisture on your car at a constant rate.

Additional Factors

Salt from the Ocean

Surfers and ocean people, beware of salt. Make sure that salt water doesn’t lead to rust and damage to your vehicle. If salt is on the body of your vehicle, make sure to remove it as salt can easily eat away at your clear coat.

Sand from the Beach

The best way to remove sand is to never get it into your car in the first place. On carpeted surfaces, sand from the beach is very difficult to remove. You can vacuum or brush it out, but I promise that you will never get all of it. In comparison to California, Hawai beach’s sand is generally much more granular that other sand. Because of the larger grain sizes of the sand, it can difficult to remove them with a vacuum.

Hawaii Roads

During stormy conditions, roads will be damaged by rain within a week a week after being repaved. Rain and debris are constantly damaging roads in Hawaii. Occasionally, drivers will dodge a flooded or damage section of roads, driving off the road, which will get mud on your rims.

Clay Rich Soil or Mud

Our deep red, volcanic soil is like dye. Hawaii’s dirt can be more difficult to remove than dirt from many other places in the world.

Mahalo for Reading

Again, The next article in this series can be found here: https://mtoguchibodyshop.com/keeping-your-car-clean-in-hawaii-part-2/.

Let us know what you think below. If you have any questions as well, the comments are a great way to get additional feedback from us.