Ceramic Coating Preparation for Your Car or Truck - Clay Sponge
Maintaining your car's paint is often a time intensive and often pretty costly process, but it really makes a huge difference regarding its overall look and quality. Many products have hit the marketplace in recent years that claim to be the very best and will keep your paint of your vehicle in tip-top shape.
And one that has really been in the forefront of all this and I would say the last ten years or so, has been ceramic coating. We are going to discuss whether ceramic coatings are actually worth the expense and whether they would be worth the work. During the last 10 years, ceramic coatings have gained enormous popularity, offering among the best paint protection offered.
You will find it endorsed almost everywhere, from detailing suppliers to automotive content creators. There are plenty of people who recommend this stuff. The very first time people see the price tag, they are usually discouraged. I want to first make clear what ceramic coating is. Silica dioxide or silicon carbide are the main ingredients in ceramic coatings, also known as nanocoatings.
It will come in a liquid form which allows it to be applied to a car or truck and adhere to the vehicle's finish.
After it has hardened, the silicon dioxide properties of the coating form an extra layer of protection that repels water and provides some protection from the sun's UV rays. Waxes dominated the paint protection and auto detailing world for a long, long time. What started out as using fats from animals in the late 1800s and early 1900s to give those old horse carriages a good spit shine, quickly and thankfully evolved into some 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.
ADSO (Auto Detail Supplies Outlet) stores carry 360 Products (developed with nano-ceramic technology), which helps protect painted surfaces. Due to this, everything changed. But like, why?
How did this new product change the game? Is there anything that separates a car wax from a ceramic coating, and why is it so expensive? The biggest difference between wax and ceramic coatings is their longevity. The wax will last anywhere from three to six weeks, before you'll need to reapply it. For ceramics, the lifespan is usually two to five years depending on the quality of the product and the application.
In addition, ceramic paint protects better against UV rays and other things that harm your paint.
People have shown that they can just rinse off their vehicles after pouring mud on them, and this has been demonstrated time and time again, here so I'm not going to tell you how great it is. There are, however, times when people seem to overhype it. Some people who promote ceramic coatings stretch the truth just a little bit because ceramic coating has become so popular. I'm saying there are many misconceptions out there about ceramic coatings.
It does not completely eliminate water spots. I'm sorry, it's the truth, although it does help. Using a ceramic coating that has hydrophobic characteristics, water and moisture droplets may flow off the surface much more easily, which is why water spots are less likely to appear. As a result of the hydrophobic properties of the ceramic coating, it allows water and droplets to run off easier, which explains why you see it in the videos. Ceramic coatings don't protect your car from rocks chips and 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 something like that. The third thing is that it's really not that expensive.
The ceramic coating was initially quite costly, ranging from $1500 to $2000 An expert detailer can now professionally ceramic coat your car for right around $700.
Many times, if you intend to have your car coated, you first need to have the paint of your car corrected (remove light scratches), which is where a lot of the extra cost comes from. That said, if you wanna just get a bottle of the stuff and do it yourself, learn the process, maybe screw it up a few times, that's cool.
Whenever a new technology like ceramic coating launches on the market, it will likely be quite expensive at first and then over time, the price will reduce, that's just how it works. However, a lot of the cost that is involved in getting your car ceramic coated is paying for that application process and paying someone to do it for you. In the end, you have to decide if it is worth it for you and your vehicle.
If you own a nice paint job on your car, you should protect it. Spend a couple hundred dollars, go get your car 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.
But that's not all either, we've seen people get things like their seats and other interior parts ceramic coated, a bunch of things that they just don't wanna have to worry about scrubbing down to really get all the dirt off, it just makes the whole process so much easier.
So, if that is something that you find valuable, then by all means, go for it. There has been a lot of progress in ceramic coating technology, and a lot of people here have had their vehicles coated because they swear by the results. All in all, it's gotta be worth it to you, it's gotta be worth it to be putting on your car or part of your car.
You want to protect your investment. Let us know what you think about ceramic coating and if you've ever had it done.