Pollen nightmare.....

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

Even with a garage it seems all you can do is grin and bear it.

[Cadude]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

I live in TN but was in AL over the weekend. Yes, it is bad in TN but worse in AL where I was (Montgomery). It'll get worse here in another week. But, frankly there isn't much you can do. I hate it when the morning dew locks the yellow slime onto the paint. IMO, a California duster isn't going to do much good and will probably just make it look worse.

Worse than the yellow dust are the pear tree buds that hit the surface, then pop open. Looks like little wrens pooped on your car. In a little bit, the tassles from the maple will start falling and I won't be able to wash without getting a mitt full of them with every stroke.

How I wish I had a garage at home.

[RamAirV1]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

If you have that much pollen and you let it build up for a week, you stand a good chance of swirling the paint when you do wash. Try the duster on a small area using a very light touch. Once you get the majority of it off, use NXT Speed Detailer or Last Touch to restore gloss and slickness. The trick is not to let it build up too much. If your small test area shows swirls or micro marring, then the pollen is too abrasive to use a duster and QD. I can speak from personal experience with road dust, which can also be abrasive. On my black TA I used a duster and NXT Speed Detailer just about every day in the summer (as long as it doesn't rain) and never had a problem with swirls.

RamAirV1

[kenwarthen]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

I'm in Roswell, Georgia and dealing with the same pollen issues. I've been using Meguiar's Quick Detailer in the evenings when I get home. It takes about five minutes (though the car is a MINI) to do the entire car.

I moved to Georgia from Southern California about four years ago and was blown away by the Spring pollen. There is literally a thick green yellow coating on everything. I had never seen anything like it.

[ViperCrazed]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

I watched the cars in my college's parking lot today and EVERYTHING

[keesue]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

Northern Californina is not exempt. I use the duster. My car is so waxed up that it just glides right across and picks the pollen right up. Also, there is that swifter hand duster....wow...

[kenwarthen]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

I don't think Northern California is in the game. A bad day in Northern California might produce pollen counts of around 500. Today, in the Atlanta area the pollen count is over 4,000. If you're working outside, your spit is yellow from breathing this stuff. Cars, parking lots, and houses all have a thick yellow coating. It's a serious health issue. The car washes will do banner business this coming weekend.

[PaintPolisher]

Re: Pollen nightmare.....

Pollen is what nature does so we can have beautiful trees for the next eight or nine months then leaf season starts.

Hardwood pollens are the main culprit right now and in a week or two the softwoods pollen starts. Softwood pollen looks like tiny snow flakes that you can see floating around and with a slight wind this stuff actually blows around like snow up north creating mini pollen drifts.
In Georgia we have had two days so far over 5,000 parts per million with pollen. I have to wear a mask if outside more than ten minutes; I just can not get air otherwise. My eyes look like I have been smoking some really wicked stuff. I use drops to clean out my eyes which help a bunch. If only I could take out each eyeball and dunk them in some cool water that would be tops.

I use my small gas leave blower on the cars each evening before parking the cars in the garage. Sometimes I use the duster after blowing the pollen, weekly washing and vacuum out the inside also.

You can pick out our cars when out and about because we have the only yellowish/greenish cars with perfectly clean windows - for about an hour!