(CLAY BAR DETAILING) Tricks for Ceramic Coating Prep
In terms of overall quality and appearance, maintaining your trucks, car paint in great condition will take effort and money. Many products have hit the market in the last several decades that claim to help keep the paint of your vehicle in good shape, and some are claiming to be the greatest.
I'd say for the past ten years or so, ceramic coating continues to be one of the most essential technologies in all of this. We'll talk about ceramic coatings and if they're worth every penny. The ceramic coating industry has exploded in popularity during the last few years, offering the best paint and clear coat protection available.
You can find it endorsed almost anywhere, from detailing shops to car content creators. There are plenty of people that recommend this stuff. A lot of people get a little turned off once they get a good look at the cost the first time. Let's start by understanding what ceramic coating actually is. A ceramic coating is often called a nano coating and has the key ingredient silicon dioxide, or in most cases, silicon carbide.
It is available in a liquid form, allowing it to be applied to a vehicle and adhere to the vehicle's finish.
When the coating hardens, the Silicon dioxide and other characteristics of the coating combine to produce an additional protective layer that repels water and provides some protection from the sun's UV rays and other such things. For the longest time and I mean a long, long time, waxes dominated the paint protection and car detailing industry. It used to be that when old horse carriages needed a good shine, they used animal fats. But that quickly changed, thankfully, into more cruelty-free solutions using plant-based products. As early as the 1900s, different waxes were used to detail vehicles and give them that shiny, glamorous appearance that their owners desired.
If you wanted to keep your paint looking good, repel water and add just that good little bit of layer of protection, adding a good layer of wax was your solution.
Using nano-ceramic technology, 360 Products (found at ADSO stores) has a series of products that help protect your vehicle's painted surface. Due to this, everything changed. But like, why?
How did this new product change the game? What were the key differences between car wax and ceramic coatings, and why did ceramic coatings cost so much? The biggest difference between wax and ceramic coatings is their longevity. Generally, a wax will last between three and six weeks before a reapplication is necessary. Ceramic coating on the other hand will typically last anywhere from two to five years depending on the application and the quality of the product.
In addition, ceramic paint protects better against UV rays and other things that harm your paint.
It works fine, you've seen the videos of people throwing mud on their own car or truck and it just falls off and they can just rinse it off. In the end, though, sometimes people just like to over-hype things. It is my understanding that some detailers and people who promote ceramic coating tend to stretch the truth just a bit because it is so popular. Meaning that there are some common myths about the product and about ceramic coating out there.
It does not completely eliminate water spots. Unfortunately, that's the truth, although it does help. Since the ceramic coating has water-repelling properties, the water and water droplets run off much, much easier than a regular paint, which is why you see it in the videos. That reduces the possibility of water spots. In the videos you'll see that the ceramic coating is extremely hydrophobic, so the water sticks to the surface of the coating, not the surface itself, so it runs off much, much more easily, hence reducing the likelihood of water spots. Ceramic coatings don't protect against rock chips or scratches.
The solution may protect against some light scratches here and there, but I wouldn't say it is scratch-proof. A protective film or Clear Bra would be an appropriate choice for check here something like that. Finally, it's not costly as you might think.
It was pretty expensive when ceramic coating first came out, costing upwards of $1500 An expert detailer can now professionally ceramic coat your car for right around $700.
If you're getting a quote to have your car coated, you might have to get the paint corrected first, which adds to the cost. Then you can do it yourself, learn the process, maybe mess it up once or twice.
Everything costs more when it's new, and eventually that price goes down, that's just how things are. It is important to note that part of the cost of ceramic coating your car is paying someone to do the application for you. It has to be worth it for you and your car.
If you own a nice paint job on your car, you should protect it. If you want to make sure that your cars painyjob lasts longer, it is a good idea to go ahead and have it ceramic coated. And your car isn't the only thing that can be coated either. Ceramic coatings for your wheels for instance, is extremely popular. Having this done is so popular that we have started offering packages as an add-on when you're checking out. We can literally do it for you before you leave and it makes cleaning your tires so much easier.
We've also seen people get their seats and other interior parts ceramic coated, stuff that they don't want to have to worry about scrubbing off, and that makes cleaning so much easier.
And if that's something that's worth it to you, then by all means, there you go. A lot of people here have ceramic coating done to their cars because they swear by it. Therefore, it has to be worth it to you to put on a car or part of your car that you want to protect.
It's an investment and you wanna protect your investment. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on ceramic coating and whether you've had it done in regards to any of your cars, wheels or seats.