Your car is one investment that you’ll want to maintain over the years. From making sure the battery is in good shape, to ensuring its aesthetic is clean, all maintenance is paramount. In regards to the latter, you may eventually become a little tired every time you have to clean its surfaces. Thankfully, there are some tricks to circumvent this.
Enter the process of ceramic coating. When you discover that your vehicle’s lustre is dwindling, applying ceramic coating is key. Ceramic coating is definitely an investment that is worth conducting, especially for car lovers. Over the years, our vehicles become more susceptible to external elements, forcing us to do laborious maintenance. For a long-lasting shine, it would be in your benefit to try out ceramic coating.
Your car’s shine shouldn’t be exhausting to maintain; just prepare it first to achieve the best result. Follow these steps on how to prep car for ceramic coating:
1. Ceramic Coating Supplies
When you prep the car for ceramic coating, it’s important to have all the supplies first. As with any initial preparatory process, you’ll want to be organized. This entails acquiring the right materials for the job first and foremost. Although you won’t necessarily be applying the ceramic coating just yet, you’ll still need the right supplies. For starters, some microfibre towels will be essential.
When you begin washing your car, ensure that you also have a few buckets of water as well. A soap-like shampoo will also be essential, so that your vehicle is spotless before the ceramic coating application. Once these are in your possession, you can start the procedure.
2. Washing Your Car
Ceramic coating works at its best once your car is thoroughly cleaned. After you have gotten the right materials for the process, use a hose to spray off any superficial grime on your car. Once you are satisfied with the cleanliness of the first spray, use soap to strip away any remaining residue.
Use the car shampoo to then clean off the surfaces of your vehicle. This helps to ensure that it is primed for a ceramic coating application. You always want the final part of this process to work as effectively as possible. Eliminating all sources of dirt on your car is the most vital step to achieve the desired result.
3. Prep the Clay Bar
Washing your car with water and the respective car shampoo is easy. However, you’ll now need to get into a more laborious state of mind. Before proceeding with the clay cleaning component, just make sure that your car is completely dry. Then, apply the clay bar or lube to all surfaces.
Clay cleaning is important for several reasons. For instance, it helps to reinforce the eventual bond that the ceramic coating will have with your vehicle. The clay, in addition, also helps to pull tiny traces of dirt that could remain on your car. If you feel that you missed even the tiniest trace of grime during the wash, you can rest easy with this step.
4. Polishing the Car
The next component is to give your car a good polish. Polishing should not be glossed over, even if your vehicle is still relatively new. You don’t want ceramic coating to be applied to scratches that linger on a surface. So, use a requisite compound to remove these blemishes outright.
Polishing needs to be conducted with the utmost in care. One wrong move can have you spending hours on something that should only take minutes. Ceramic coating needs to be applied to a near-flawless car state. Take your time here, and do your best to not rush!
5. Wipe Down the Car
Many consider this to be the simplest part of the preparatory process for ceramic coating. After you have removed all scratches, and have thoroughly cleaned your car, grab your microfibre towels. A good isopropyl alcohol spray will work best here, which you’ll need before wiping the surfaces.
This helps to provide a final removal of any lingering chemicals. Make sure that you employ a modest application of the spray, before proceeding to wipe the external areas. Your microfibre towel should obviously be clean, but also lint-free for the best result. After you are satisfied with the final wipe down, you are good to go.
6. Ceramic Coating
The preparation you have done so far may seem like it was labour-intensive. However, all steps are compulsory, in order to get to this final part of the process. After you have conducted the previous phases, you’ll have to make a decision. You can either get a do-it-yourself kit to apply ceramic coating, or have it done by an expert.
Doing this yourself is extremely easy, if you are going about this route. The ceramic coating can be wiped over a surface, which will eventually lead to an adequate bonding. This may save you a lot of time and money in the long run!