Does Ceramic coating need any special care

[rorywquin]

They're good at what they do, but not the fit & forget solution some people think them to be. Generally makes cleaning your car easier, back to a nice finish, but does need a little TLC as to how you do it, or you reduce the coating's advertised life.

Other thing to remember too, if a panel gets damaged (car park door ding, handbag dragged down side, etc), the affected panel typically has to be wet-sanded back, polished and coating reapplied.

Dependent of the quality and age of the coating? I know the good coatings are very difficult to remove and require the techniques you mentioned.

 

[rorywquin]

Yes I have washed it and it was difficult to dry, so I will look at the cloth recommended. Thank you.

Buy yourself a water filter. No drying needed. After rinsing, I use the leaf blower to get most of the water out of the nooks and crannies and blow away the bulk of the water on the roof, boot lid and bonnet and then park it in the garage to air dry.

 

[rorywquin]

In what way was it difficult to dry?
A ceramic coated vehicle should actually be easier to dry than one without.
After washing and rinsing you should ideally give a final rinse with free flowing water from a hose pipe (this means any hose end attachments have been removed) working from top to bottom allowing the water to run off to leave very little apart from beads on the paintwork.
After that a large good quality drying towel can be used which only needs to be spread out on horizontal surfaces and patted to soak up the remaining beads of water, then use a gentle light contact method on the vertical surfaces.

Why would a top quality (£300+) ceramic coating need such careful drying?

 

[Ron240]

Why would a top quality (£300+) ceramic coating need such careful drying?

'Careful' washing and drying is just what I do with my cars and have developed this method over the years as I gained a better understanding of how easy it can be to damage paintwork, so I am just trying to give the best advice that I can.
I use this same method on all of my cars now so it is completely normal for me and will not take any longer to do than let's say a less careful method.
I find myself cringing sometimes when watching some people washing and drying their cars, but everybody has different priorities in life so that's fine.

Just because a vehicle has a ceramic coating it does not mean that it is impervious to swirl marks and other damage associated with the washing process.

Occasionally under certain circumstances I have been known to not dry my car after washing...in fact this last happened only 3 days ago.

 

[Rotorhead500]

Dependent of the quality and age of the coating? I know the good coatings are very difficult to remove and require the techniques you mentioned.

Yeah, I guess if the coating is coming to the end of its useful life, then removing what's left becomes a less "industrial" task.

I know a couple of body shops that despise the 9H coatings if they have to carry out a repair!

 

[Brian23]

There is no need to apply an additional wax coating over a ceramic coated vehicle. It won't do any harm but I just think you would be wasting your time.
Using a shampoo containing wax won't do any harm but personally I don't use it because my ceramic coating does everything that a wax can do.

Have you found out when the ceramic coating was applied to your car, who done it, and what grade of coating was used?
Without knowing all of this the coating could be at the end of its life.

Hi yes no need to wax on one site it says that some waxes can remove a tiny amount of coat each time, but each detail website says differently. No not asked about how old it is etc, but it is shiny. Thank you.
What about shampoos with added orange oil???

 

[Brian23]

'Careful' washing and drying is just what I do with my cars and have developed this method over the years as I gained a better understanding of how easy it can be to damage paintwork, so I am just trying to give the best advice that I can.
I use this same method on all of my cars now so it is completely normal for me and will not take any longer to do than let's say a less careful method.
I find myself cringing sometimes when watching some people washing and drying their cars, but everybody has different priorities in life so that's fine.

Just because a vehicle has a ceramic coating it does not mean that it is impervious to swirl marks and other damage associated with the washing process.

Occasionally under certain circumstances I have been known to not dry my car after washing...in fact this last happened only 3 days ago.

Thank you, most helpful

 

[Rotorhead500]

Hi yes no need to wax on one site it says that some waxes can remove a tiny amount of coat each time, but each detail website says differently. No not asked about how old it is etc, but it is shiny. Thank you.
What about shampoos with added orange oil???

Not sure about this... wouldn't get too hung up looking for that.

What is worth a punt, in my view, is a detailing spray wax (something like Meguiar's Quik Wax... their spelling, not mine! ) - acts as a drying aid, and give a little more gloss; couple of squirts per panel (light mist) and big soft towel, gives a lovely finish with negligible contact pressure.

 

[Rotorhead500]

This is after a quick maintenance wash. I used a ceramic spray when I first prepped this car, then interim washes is either dried using car dryer contraption, or a Meg's Quik Squirt and towel dry... this was the latter.

 

[rorywquin]

....................
I find myself cringing sometimes when watching some people washing and drying their cars, but everybody has different priorities in life so that's fine.

Just because a vehicle has a ceramic coating it does not mean that it is impervious to swirl marks and other damage associated with the washing process.

................

Yea - all the hype about how "scratch proof" ceramic is & how it “protects" your car from scratches.

My neighbour would make you cringe....small bucket, rag, soapy water (fairy liquid), very little rinsing (wastes water). They have 2 nice cars but he is a Yorkshireman. He thinks I'm crazy - I hate driving a dirty car & wash ours regularly, the neighbours call me “captain clean”.......

 

[Rotorhead500]

I won't tell you what my beloved calls me... (not always in relation to cars!)

 

[Ron240]

I hate driving a dirty car & wash ours regularly, the neighbours call me “captain clean”.......

Me too...it just annoys me when I know my car is dirty. Having said that peoples opinion on what constitutes a dirty car can vary, and I'm sure some of my neighbours probably sometimes say...there he's washing his car again and it's not even dirty!