What is a Ceramic Coating?
Commercial grade ceramic coating is a chemical polymer solution that can be applied to the exterior paint work of a vehicle to prevent it from external paint damage. Applied by hand, it blends with the paint of your car and creates an additional hydrophobic barrier of protection. It can also be applied to your trim pieces, wheels, windows, and windshields!
Although many car enthusiasts assume that it is an alternative to a PPF(Clear Bra Paint Protection Film), it’s an alternative to wax and paint sealants. The whole purpose of the coating is to prevent dirt, grime, bird stain marks, tree sap, rainwater minerals, and other defects from eating into your paint. Which can thus lead to oxidization, rust, paint fading, paint peeling, and end up in clear coat failure.
Ceramic coatings, are a semi-permanent solution to your worries depending upon the coating and type of polymer used. One way I like to think of it is as is like another clear coat, but that it has properties to repel and resist the elements. The great thing is, that it can be applied to almost every part of your vehicle!
So, what can it actually do for your car?
On the left, we have a fully ceramic coated Tesla. Pay attention to the hydrophobicity and water repellent traits that the coating has.
On the right, we have a BMW that has been coated on the left half of the hood while the other half is not. See how the water tends to just sit on the surface of the uncoated side?
Ceramic Coating Advantages & Benefits
Here are a few reasons to have it applied to your car, truck, boat, RV, or airplane!
Protection from Harmful UV Rays
You can only imagine the damage that the sun’s harmful UV rays can do to your car’s paint job. Ceramic coating will protect your car’s paint from oxidizing, preventing it from fading and wearing a dull look. This is absolutely critical if you park your car outside. Once clear coat starts to fade, it can start to peel off and at that point cannot be saved with any paint correction/detailing methods and would have to be taken to a body shop for new paint.
Protection from Bird Stains, Tree Sap, Water Minerals
Stains that come from birds, trees, and rain water will eventually dry on your vehicle and will eventually etch into your paint. Once etching has begun, it starts to eat into your clear coat and may not be removable once it has been there for a long period of time. This will leave random spots and markings in the paint’s finish.
Cuts Down The Time It Takes To Clean By Half
When it comes to waxing and other types of detailing, washing your car and maintaining that gloss gets exhausting. With a coating, you really don’t have to worry about the polymer wearing off. This doesn’t mean you can just ignore your car and wash it once a year as the coating will get clogged with the amount of debris on it, but it will be much easier to maintain!
Not only does it blend with your car’s paint but also has water repellent properties. This means that all water-based dirt and grime will bead and simply sit on the surface and eventually slide off. A quick rinse, foam bath, rinse afterward and you have yourself a spotless car.
Candy-Like Gloss
This is perfect for the car owners that are chasing that aesthetic look. Much like clear bra, ceramic coatings also add extreme gloss and depth of the paint. It will give your car a glossy look, bringing the best out of the original paint job.
But there still are some myths that go around when it comes to this high end protection. Some of the most common myths about ceramic coating are listed below.
Ceramic Coating Myths
Every product in the world has its benefits and drawbacks. These are some things that a ceramic coating will not do.
No More Scratches And Swirl Marks
Ceramic coating will not protect your car from the usual threats: scratches, swirl marks, and rock chips. However, they are scratch RESISTANT. Despite its blending properties, it still retains the characteristics of paint. This is why you should still expect your car to get these once in a while. However, there are methods of washing/detailing to minimize and prevent those from happening.
No More Water Spots
As discussed before, after the application of ceramic coating, most water-based contaminants will bead on your car’s surface and eventually slide off. But if they dry on the surface before it can slide, then it will still sit on the coating.
Self Cleaning Means No More Washing?
You will still need to regularly wash your car. Easier maintenance is a better term for self cleaning as the coating will make cut down your washing time in half. Everything that sits on the coating will come off much easier. All it takes is a quick pressure wash, foam bath, pressure wash again, blow dry and bam, new car again!
