Elon Musk’s electric truck stands out from the competition in many ways, stainless-steel bodywork being among the biggest offenders. It sure is durable, but how easy is it to clean? Coleton, from Out Of Spec Detailing, argues in his series of YouTube videos that you will be better off with some cheap and readily available domestic cleaning products.
The high-tensile steel that the weird pickup wears for a body has a porous composition that lets dirt accumulate on it more than you’d expect. As the pores fill up over time, the truck changes its hue from shiny silver to matte brownish, which – as you can guess – doesn’t look that great at all. Coleton proposes a four-stage cleaning routine.
First, you are supposed to apply a normal dishwasher liquid on the body panels. Barkeeper’s Friend is recommended in the video, but this news article is not an advertisement, so feel free to pick your own brand and experiment if you happen to have a Cybertruck in need of cleaning. Anyway, the second stage is cleaning the surfaces with water and wiping them off. Next, you are supposed to apply a window cleaning fluid to the panels (Windex in the video). Last but not least, you need to polish the entire truck with a new, clean cloth.
It may take a while given the sheer size of the Cybertruck, but the result is a silvery EV that looks mint – check it out in the video, you’ll see the difference at once.
Coleton also gives some advice to the owners. First, avoid applying chemicals to the plastic fender flares (they can lose their color). Second, avoid touching the panels with your bare hands as they can easily leave greasy prints all over them.
Finally, be careful if you are going to apply a layer of protection to your Cybertruck. The regular ceramic coating barely sticks and doesn’t work at all well, while paint protection film (PPF) causes it to lose its trademark metallic shine. A full-body vinyl wrap seems to be the only feasible way, according to the detailer.
