Published on Jul 24, 2025
Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.
Today's question is:
This is a great one because we get it all the time—especially in the summer. Someone will call and say, “Hey, I’ve got a rock chip I need repaired, but I also really need to wash my car. Can I swing by the wash before I come in?”
“Ding ding ding - that right there is a big, fat no-no, especially when it’s hot out.”
Here’s the thing: your windshield might not seem like it’s under a lot of stress, but it absolutely is—temperature-wise. When it's 80 or 90 degrees outside and that glass is baking under the sun, it gets hot—like really hot. Now imagine you take that hot glass and blast it with cold water from a car wash. You’re introducing a sudden, extreme change in temperature—basically thermal shock. And when that happens to a glass surface with a chip, it doesn't end well. The chip, which might’ve been small and fixable, can crack right across your windshield instantly.
That’s why we always tell people: if you’ve got a chip repair coming up, please hold off on washing your car until after we’ve done the repair and it's cured. Once the resin we use has fully set, your windshield is safe to get wet. It doesn’t take long, but that waiting period makes a big difference in avoiding further damage.
So yeah, maybe you roll around with a dusty hood for one extra day, but it’s way better than turning a cheap chip repair into a full-blown windshield replacement. Trust me—we've seen it happen more times than we can count.
Avoid car washes before and after a chip repair, especially in hot weather. Spraying cold water on a hot windshield with a fresh repair can cause the chip to crack further. At Magnatech Autoglass, we recommend not washing the car before the repair, and after the repair, also waiting until the chip is fully cured before getting the car wet—just to be safe.
