Ceramic coating treatment

[s219]

I put a ceramic coating on one of my cars. It is good, however, all of the serious ceramic products want you to apply a "reload" product after every carwash, to beef up the ceramic (SiO2 or similar), improve the shine, and maintain the performance. In my opinion, if I have to apply a product and buff after every wash, I may as well have used a standard wax. Theoretically the ceramic is better, but a standard wax would also be pretty good if you reapplied it and buffed after every wash.

I applied the ceramic to a new car, so paint correction work was minimal. Applying the ceramic is tedious and requires care. The coating hardens to a glass-like material so you have to get the timing right. Apply the coating a panel at a time, let the carrier flash off, then buff. If you miss the window, it will harden and leave a mess. And you have to change applicators frequently, since the ceramic will harden on the applicator as you're working. I think I used about 6 applicators on a small car. Once the coating is done, I waited 12 hours and then applied a second product to increase the shine (the main ceramic coating was not that shiny).

One oddity I noticed is that the car gets dirty faster than our other cars, which others have noticed with ceramic too. I think it attracts dirt/dust more quickly.

I probably would not do it again, at least not with a pro product. I might try one of the consumer spray on products that is easier to apply and less involved/risky.

BTW, the ceramic is not permanent, it does ablate over time.

 

[jjeff]

Years ago I used a product called Ceram-Kote (I believe) on A severely blistered fiberglass hull of a boat it was a lot of prep work that I did myself and was a two part ceramic epoxy. unfortunately the boat ran aground during a storm on a sandy beach, it destroyed a lot of the gelcoat but the parts of the boat below the waterline that were covered in the ceramic epoxy were mostly undamaged so from personal experience I can confidently say ceramic coatings are very durable and worth the cost In my opinion especially if the prep work is done correctly.

Roflmao, I totally misunderstood this post, I was talking about, and my experience is with a completely different product i.e a barrier coat. I Definitely wouldn't apply this product to my car, a frequently used steel utility trailer, however, yes.