How to maintain your ceramic coating?
What is imperative when it comes to longevity is maintenance. When it comes to maintenance, there are a few rules to stick to, which will increase the life of your coating.
- Use a pressure washer
- Use a fallout remover occasionally
- Use clean equipment and keep them clean (buckets, wash mitt, drying towels, etc)
- Do not wash in direct sunlight
- Do things in order and follow the instructions
- Use a Pressure Washer! Even a hobby one for £100 will be better than the slow trickle from a hose. What we are trying to achieve here is removing as much of the loose dirt as possible before making any physical/mechanical contact with the wash mitt. We do this as we don’t want to push dirt particles into the painted surface which causes minor surface imperfections, aptly named “wash marring”
- Use a Fallout remover. Ferrous fallout from brake dust, rail dust and industrial fallout will still collect on the surface of a coating and inhibit some of the hydrophobic water beading features that are commonly associated with a ceramic/graphene coating. Fallout removers smell horrible, gloves are a must, be sure to let it dwell for the required amount of time and rinse off (it will need a lot of rinsing)
- For the same reason that we try to remove as much dirt as possible with the initial jet wash, we want to limit the amount of abrasion caused by wiping dirt across a car panel. Clean buckets (use grit guards too), clean wash mitts (clean often during the wash), clean drying towel. Trying putting it in the washing machine after each wash.
- Do not wash anything in direct sunlight. This is generally the best bit of advice especially for those with black cars. The car panels can become hot enough to evaporate any product that is applied. This will cause the content of the product to become more and more concentrated the more it dries out, which can leave plastic trims and rubbers all out of whack and leave chemical staining behind. If, for example, your shampoo/water combination dries out across a panel, there will be no lubrication to help the wash mitt glide across the surface. This will also introduce marring to your paintwork. On those hot days, get out early before the sun is out or if possible, park where there is plenty of shade.
- Doing things in order will help you get the most from the wash. For example, you wouldn’t want to go straight in with a wash mitt and shampoo on a dirty dry car, over time this will abrade away the protection that a ceramic coating gives thereby reducing its longevity and usefulness. On the subject of following instructions, most manufacturers have researched the best methods for application, dilution or technique so it’s probably a good idea to follow them. Here is a link to my previous article on safe wash techniques.