What is a Ceramic Coating?
There’s no denying that a ceramic coating or graphene coating would protect your car’s paint better than any wax can do. If you’ve been scared off by the exorbitant price of having a professional detailer do the job, or if you love the feeling of a job well done, why not do it yourself? Knowing how to apply a ceramic coating to your car contains more than one life skill that a proud car owner should have in their toolbox anyway.
If it’s your first time applying a ceramic coating, it’s going to be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s go step by step through the process to apply a nano ceramic coating that looks great and protects your finish for years.
Step 1: Detail the exterior
The toughest part – and most time-consuming part – of applying ceramic coating isn’t the application itself but the prep. A perfectly clean, unmarked paint job is required or you’ll see every bit of dirt and every scratch preserved under the invisible coating.
If you’re applying ceramic coat to a new car, you might be thinking about skipping the prep stage. DON’T!! Even on new cars, there are bits of stuck-on dirt, rail dust, glue, and other junk. You’ll kick yourself.
Clean the exterior
Decontaminate the paint
Remove scratches (If Needed)
Give it a final once-over
Step 2: Apply the ceramic coating
The time-consuming part is done, and it’s time to lay down a glassy layer of ceramic coating. This process requires precision, and it’s best to apply it in a climate-controlled space between 65 and 75 degrees.
Step 3: Let it cure
It might look and feel like the ceramic coating is dry, but it hasn’t fully cured yet. In fact, you should protect it from getting wet for at least 48 hours after you wrap up the job. After two days, it’s safe to drive it and get it wet, but the ceramic coating will continue to harden for seven days or so.
Step 4: Keep it up
Although your car’s porous paint finish has been smoothed at the microscopic level and water and dirt don’t adhere like they used to, it’s going to get dirty again. Bird will continue to poop. Trees will continue to drip sap. The sun will keep beating down on it. Like oil changes for the engine, maintenance for your ceramic coating will keep it looking its best.
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