Last week we talked about how important it is to wax your door at least twice a year. Waxing your door will protect it against rust while keeping the paint system looking fresh. Waxing your Clopay door is actually really important when it comes to maintaining the paint warranty even! But even if you have a door that is not from Clopay, or if you’ve painted over the original finish, you should be waxing your door.
Waxing your door is really not too different than waxing your car. The first step is to of course, get your wax. You can use any car wax, most of them are carnauba based, giving the paint system on your car or door a lovely shine and depth of color. We get car wax for our door, I just use the same bottle I bought for my car. You can get wax at a grocery store or any car parts store! Car wax comes as a liquid, paste, or spray. Liquid is kind of the classic medium being pretty easy to use. A paste wax is harder in both consistency, and use. But, since it is a harder substance, the wax can often last longer than liquid. Spray wax is the easiest to apply especially when applying it to your door in my opinion, so that’s the kind I use.
The second step is to clean your door! We did a post a while back on how to wash your door, so make sure to go read that too! Just use some warm soapy water and a nice soft bristled brush. Your door is very textured so you will be need to make sure that the brush scrubs into all the crevasses and gets the dirt out. Make sure that you take a cloth and wipe the door down under the surrounding seals. I like to wash my door when the day is a little warmer, because in order to wax your door, it will need to be dry.
I like to wax the door on a warm day, when the sun has passed from the garage. If the sun is shining directly onto the door, the wax could dry and leave streaks. Waxing your door in the winter time usually takes a little more time because it’s not warm enough to dry the door quickly. A microfiber towel will do the job well in that case!
When the door is dry, spray the wax into the door. I like to start in one corner of the top panel. Working from there, just rub the wax onto the door using short circular motions. Another damp microfiber cloth will be the perfect cloth to use. Make your way around the door, until you’ve rubbed wax into every inch of the door. Just as when you cleaned the door under the seals, you need to wax the door under the seals as well.
Once you’ve worked your way over the entire door, look for any buildup or streaks in the wax. Buff out any you see until there are none left and voila! You are all done for another six months.