To maintain a ceramic coating is to keep your car looking clean and shiny. Heads turn in awe as you cruise down the street in your finely polished vehicle. But simply applying a ceramic coating isn’t enough. Let it go neglected for too long and you’ll have peoples’ heads turning towards you for the wrong reasons.
Mother nature has a devastating array of weapons in her arsenal to sabotage your car’s clear coat. From the sun to dirt, nature’s elements will take a heavy toll on your car if you’re not careful. Poor maintenance of your ceramic coating can dull its shine, reduce its hydrophobic effects and eventually lead to complete failure. More can be found here.
That’s why it’s crucial you take care of your ceramic coating. By following these five tips, you can maintain your ceramic coating and keep your car clean, protected and resilient.
How To Maintain A Ceramic Coating
Wash Your Car Consistently
Although your ceramic coating has hydrophobic properties that help keep most contaminants from sticking to your vehicle, it only fights part of the battle. Without regularly washing, dirt and other substances will wear out your coating’s hydrophobic effects.
Therefore, the best thing you can do to maintain your vehicle’s ceramic coating is maintain a regular washing schedule. Experts recommend washing your car by hand at least once every two weeks. If you maintain a regular washing schedule, wiping off any dirt buildup will be nearly effortless.
As important as it is to simply wash your car, it’s also essential to use the proper method. The best way to wash your vehicle is to start at the roof and work your way down. Since the bottom of your vehicle is the dirtiest area, starting from the top lets you save this part for last and avoid cross-contamination.
Use the Two-Bucket Method
Another way to reduce cross-contamination when you wash your ceramic coating is to use the two-bucket method. Only using one bucket while washing your car is highly ineffective since you end up contaminating your car shampoo. This ultimately leads to you simply smearing all the dirt you washed off right back onto your vehicle.
Instead, we recommend using the two-bucket method. The first bucket is filled with both car shampoo and water, while the second bucket only has water. Each time you apply shampoo to your vehicle, you can now rinse off all the dirt from your mitt in the water bucket. Repeating this process throughout the entire wash ensures that you don’t wipe any dirt back onto your car.
In addition to using two buckets, you can also use multiple mitts when you wash your vehicle. Although this isn’t always necessary, using multiple mitts can also help avoid cross contaminating your ceramic coating depending on how dirty the vehicle is. Next article here.
Take Advantage of Ceramic Coating Specific Car Shampoos
Using the right car shampoo also goes a long way in maintaining your ceramic coating. Specific shampoos, such as CarPro Reset, are specially designed for cleaning ceramic coatings. Non-specialized shampoos, even the highly rated ones, contain chemical agents and pH levels that significantly damage silica-based ceramic coatings.
Ceramic Coating specialized shampoos effectively clean your car without causing damage to your coat. In addition, you avoid leaving behind gloss enhancers and other surfactants. Not only do ceramic coating friendly car shampoos keep your coating safe, but they also add shine and help rejuvenate your coating.
It’s also important that you use the correct amount of car shampoo for your ceramic coating. To get the best results out of your shampoo, first fill your bucket with three to four gallons of water. Then, mix in around one ounce of your ceramic coating friendly shampoo as the bucket fills. This helps create the ideal solution to wash your coating.
Avoid Water Spots at All Costs
One of the worst things you can do to your ceramic coating is allowing your car to airdry. This essentially guarantees you’ll leave behind ugly water spots over your coating. In addition, allowing water spots to sit for too long will toughen the mineral deposits.
These mineral deposits could eventually harden to a point where even a thorough washing won’t remove them. For instances where you do end up with water spots that can’t be easily removed, it’s best to visit the certified installer who applied your original coating.
One of the best ways to avoid water spots is to manually dry off your vehicle after washing. Although a properly maintained ceramic coating will sheet away most of the water after washing, some water will remain on the car. To effectively dry any remaining water after washing, you can use an air blower like the Master Blaster or an electric leaf blower.
Do Not Wash Your Car in the Sun
Another way you can avoid water spots is to keep your vehicle out of direct sunlight when you wash. In addition, you should only wash your vehicle when its surface is cool to the touch. Washing your car in direct sunlight leaves behind dry soap streaks and water spots that cause long-term damage to your ceramic coating.
To keep your vehicle out of the sun, we recommend always swashing underneath a covered structure or heavily shaded area. If these options aren’t possible for you, then the time of day you wash is key. The best times to wash your ceramic coating are early in the morning or late in the evening. Either time works because the sun is low and creates extra shadows to protect your ceramic coating.
The Importance of Inspection
Following these five ceramic coating maintenance tips will help put you on the right track to keeping vehicle’s finish clean and resilient. However, it’s also important to work with a trusted professional by keeping a regular vehicle inspection schedule. Visiting the certified installer who applied your ceramic coating once every 12 months ensures your warranty is upheld for the entirety of its duration.
In addition, if your ceramic coating does start to wear off and lose its hydrophobic effects, you should contact a professional for support. While it’s best to maintain your ceramic coating for as long as you can, if you notice the signs of a complete failure, don’t hesitate to work with a professional service. They can help strip the bad coat away and prepare the application for a new ceramic coating.
Overall, having a ceramic coating is a great way to offer protection to your vehicle’s body. However, it’s far from a permanent solution by itself. At the end of the day, taking care of your ceramic coating is a crucial measure to keep your vehicle’s body spot-free and resilient.
