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So, you have finally decided that you want to Ceramic Coat your beloved car! That is great news. We are happy for you because we know how we feel when a car is protected with Ceramic Coating and when you see it for the first time the morning after. The first drive, first rain. When it comes to cars and exterior detailing, it's the closest thing to magic. Now, let us start! You have your ceramic coating product in your hands. You're looking at your car, and might be thinking, 'How to prepare a car for Ceramic Coating?'. Well, there is actually quite a lot you will want to do. Contents: Steps to washing your car properly What products will we need to wash your car The two-bucket washing technique How to prep? - Long and Detailed Explanation Can I clean and detail my car on a budget? There are a couple of answers to that question, and we will try our best to answer them as best we can and transfer our experience into words that make sense and are easy to read. Short Answer - You have to wash your car and have a clean, dry, and degreased surface before applying the Ceramic Coating. Long Answer - Oh boy! There are a couple of steps that we will do to prepare the paint on your car for the coating, and we will need a few things to work with throughout those steps. So let us make a quick list of the steps and a list of all the materials that we would normally use to complete all those steps successfully. We will first list them and then do a detailed explanation as to what everything is and what tips and tricks we recommend when performing those steps. Before you even start, if your car has a old ceramic coating applied, you'll need to remove that old coating first before applying the new one. Steps to washing your car properly: If you have any damage to your paint, now is the time to correct it Make sure you are working in either a closed and ventilated closed space ( e.g., your garage ), or if outside, make sure the sky is calm, it is not windy, the sun is not scorching, and your car is not under a tree or somewhere where birds would usually sit around Spray foaming your car using a pH neutral Shampoo and clean it using a detailing brush to loosen all the dirt in all the corners and tight spaces; then use a microfiber glove to agitate all the dirt on the car's surface using only horizontal or only vertical movements to avoid creating swirls Using brake dust cleaner on your wheels and using a separate brush to loosen all the dirt and brake dust off your wheels Washing off all the dirt and foam from your car using a power washer and spray foaming the car a second time just to make sure you've got all the dirt off Now you want to clay bar the car to remove all the contaminants that might be stuck inside the surface of the clear coat Using a polishing compound, go over the exterior surface of your whole car Using a fine polishing compound, you want to polish your whole car to bring that perfect shine Using a degreaser or isopropyl alcohol, you want to remove all grease, oils, or fat from the surface of your car before applying the coating Your car is now ready to be coated with Ceramic Coating What products will you need to wash your car: power washer ( garden hose with attachment can be a worse alternative ) snow foam canon ( snow foam gun is a much weaker alternative, but it will do the job ) gloves pH-neutral Car Shampoo microfiber washing glove bucket with grit guard a dozen of microfiber towels a few drying microfiber towels brake cleaner a car detailing brush clay bar spray bottle dual action polisher ( regular polishing machine or even microfiber applicators can do the job, but obviously either harder or simply much, much slower) car compound car polish degreaser or isopropyl alcohol sandpaper ( 600, 1500, 2000, 3000 grades ) If you do not use these recommended items and instead opt for alternatives or skip some, you will almost certainly end up with much worse results than you would with them. The two-bucket washing technique If you do not have access to a snow foam cannon or gun, the best way is to use this technique. It is very simple yet extremely effective. All you need is 2 clean buckets to hold water and a grit guard for one of them. You will be using the bucket with the grit guard to rinse and clean the microfiber washing glove while using the other one to get clean water or a cleaning solution. Ok, now, for those uninitiated, let us make sense of all of this! Short Explanation Let us assume you have all these products and you have a place where you can work for the next couple of hours. Part of the preparation is also knowing how long all this is going to take. In reality, especially if you are new to this, you should count on the car being in the garage for the next 24 hours at least. Better yet, 48 hours! If you are working outside, then prepare in such a way that the weather forecast is not forecasting rain, snow, hail, windy weather, or very hot temperatures. It might be a lot to ask, but if you want to do it right, the conditions need to be right as well. The reason for all this is that you need to wash the car exterior thoroughly and most likely polish the paint as well. All that will take you several hours ( especially if you decide to throw in the interior as well since you are already washing the car ). If you are using a ceramic coating for the interior of your car, then you are likely looking to ceramic coat the leather finish inside your car ( seats, steering wheel, etc. ). In the article above, you can learn everything there is to know about ceramic coating for leather. Detailing a car's surface using compound and polish takes a very long time. You are looking at 3-5 hours easily for a medium-sized vehicle unless you are experienced. Only then can you start with Ceramic Coating your car. Here, depending on the brand of Ceramic Coating you are using, it might require you to apply 2 coats with some waiting time in between. After our car has been coated and buffed, it usually takes around 24 hours for the Ceramic Coating to fully harden and about 1 week to cure on top of the car's paint fully. During those 24 hours, you do not want anything interfering with the coating. In fact, you do not want dust, dirt, debris, water, high temperatures, and particles, in general, interfering with your car's paint or the Ceramic Coating itself. Once you have survived all this and you have done a good job cleaning, detailing, and coating the car, you can give yourself a well-deserved high five as you now have a Ceramic Coated car! Long and Detailed Explanation If you have any damage on your paint that needs to be corrected, you can do that now since you will have an additional 24 hours of wait time for the new paint to harden enough for it to be considered safe to work with. You can do that now, but we highly suggest washing the car first so you have a better field of view on the actual condition of the car's paint before making that decision, so you don't miss a spot. First off, you can get your car wet by using the powerwasher. The purpose of this is to loosen up the dirt a bit so the shampoo can do a better job of removing it later. After that, you want to use your foam cannon and pH-neutral shampoo to snow foam the entirety of your car's paint and, as per the shampoo's instruction, leave it to work the dirt from the surface of the car as gravity does its thing. If the car has some very dirty or greasy spots or is generally in bad condition, you want to use a microfiber glove and choose either horizontal or vertical movements and cover the whole car or just the difficult areas to agitate all the dirt further. Also, take a detailing brush and brush the shampoo into all the crevices, edges, and places difficult to reach with the microfiber glove. Dirt can be hiding in between panels, around the rubber areas, even though the car might look mint fresh. After all this, you want to give the car another wash with water to remove all that now loose, dirt, and excess shampoo foam that was leftover before it starts drying and leaving water spots or marks. Always keep in mind that the lower parts of your car and wheels will be extra dirty, and it is considered best practice to clean them with a separate bucket and a different microfiber glove or towel dedicated only for those areas since they will contain larger particles that might create creases or swirls in the cars clear coat much easier. Spray your wheels with a brake dust cleaner and let the chemical reactions take place. All the places that contained brake dust will turn purple. Agitate all the dirt on the wheels with a larger detailing brush before using the microfiber glove. Once the wheels have been cleaned properly, rinse the area using water with the pressure washer. Brake dust is notoriously difficult to clean if not using brake dust cleaner. It is important to dry all wet surfaces because most waters contain minerals that will stay on the paint's surface after the water dries. The best way is to use microfiber drying towels. They are thick and are designed to absorb water the best. Using regular microfiber towels to dry the surface of the car is also ok, but keep in mind that you will burn through them much more quickly, and you will be left with wet or damp towels that you will need to dry. So unless you have dozens of clean microfiber towels lying around, we suggest using those specially made for collecting water. Now is the time to inspect the paint of your car. It is safe to say that you will be polishing your car, so you don't have to look for swirl marks or light scratches. You are looking for paint chips or deeper scratches in the paint where the scratch goes all the way to the primer layer or the bare metal of the panel at hand. You can easily check if the scratch can be buffed out using a polisher by pouring water or some liquid grease ( e.g., WD-40 ) and check if the scratch is still visible. If it is not, that means the scratch is not deep, and it will buff out, but if it is still visible, that means the damage went through the clear coat layer, and you will have to correct the paint. You can do that by taking a small detachable panel part of your car that is the same color as the rest of your car. And also taking the color code of the car. It is usually found on a sticker at the side of the inside of the driver's door. Take that panel and the code to your local paint shop and have them mix up a small amount of the color you brought for a 'touch-up job' on your car's paint. They will most likely already know exactly what you need. You can get it in various forms ( e. g. spray can, tin can container, touch-up stick, etc. ). We suggest you stay away from the spray version. Just tell them you are a beginner, and they will know what to do. You will get a small number of your cars to paint in one can and some clear coat in another. Or sometimes you will get them mixed in one. If it is the first option, then just mix them before when you do the paint correction. Before correcting the paint, make sure that the areas to be fixed do not have rust in them. If they are rusty, the rust will eat even through the new paint, so make sure to remove the dust first and apply primer before using the touch-up. If there are lots of rusty spots, perhaps consult a professional to remove them and respray paint the affected panel. Using a small painting brush, a toothpick, or even an ear cleaning pick, it doesn't really matter. What you want to do here is apply the paint onto the paint chip area or the deep scratch filling the cavity and leaving enough paint to form a small hill on top of the paint. You want to make sure the whole area is filled. The excess paint will be sanded down later. You now need to wait 24 hours for the clear coat to harden and for the new paint to bond with the old paint. The new paint will cure for up to a month in reality, but after the initial 24 hours, the paint is hard enough to be worked with. Note that you can use this technique only to fill very small areas of damage on your paint. Any large defects on the paint will need to be resprayed. After 24 hours, you want to sand down the new paint, which is leveled with the old paint. Spray some regular water onto the area you are about to sand and use the 600-grade sandpaper. Work the area using a sanding block and have the sandpaper wrapped around the sanding block. That way, you are exerting equal pressure on the whole surface. Otherwise, you would be pressuring the sandpaper with your fingers creating an uneven finish. If you do not have a sanding block, you can use any piece of wood. Just do some research on the web to get an idea of what a sanding block looks like. On a flat surface, use the sanding block, but when working on angles or around edges, use a sponge, so you don't cut through the clear coat too quickly. Sand in only one direction (e.g., only up-down or left-right motions ) instead of random or circular motions. Once you have flattened the bulged new paint a bit, switch to higher grade sandpaper ( grade 1000 ) and go the opposite direction than the previous grade sandpaper. Repeat this process until you have finished with the grade 3000 sandpaper. If you wash the area you've worked with, close your eyes, and go over the area with your fingers, you shouldn't be able to feel any difference in the surface of the paint. Once it is slick, you are finished. Do the same for all areas you have done the paint correction on. Ensure you do not use too much force or sand for too long, so you don't burn through the clear coat. Since then, you will have to paint correct that spot again and wait another 24 hours for that new paint to harden. Once you have dried the areas you have worked on, the clear coat on them will be hazy due to the scratches from the sandpaper. Do not be alarmed. That is perfectly normal. The main part is that they feel smooth on the touch. The hazy part will buff out once we polish it later. So ignore that for now. Next up is using a clay bar on the car to remove all those contaminants or stubborn particles that have lodged themselves in the clear coat of the paint. Prepare a spray bottle with a mixture of water and car shampoo. Just a little bit of shampoo so that it leaves some foam. The idea is to create a slippery surface for the clay bar to avoid creating friction and burning through the clear coat. The way you use a clay bar is by flattening it and spraying the area you will be working on. If it still looks dirty, you see small particles stuck in the paint, or it just feels rough to the touch, which means the area is contaminated with dirt. After you have sprayed it, again choose horizontal or vertical movements and work the area with the flattened clay bar. Spray the area from time to time so it doesn't dry up, and make sure to check the area you are currently working on to see if it feels smooth. You can use the same 'closed eyes' trick. The idea is that you can not feel any transition to rougher terrain, so to speak. Once the clay bar has pulled dirt from the clearcoat, the particles will be stuck on the clay bar. If it looks dirty, just fold the clay bar onto itself and flatten it again to get a clean surface again. Cover your whole area of the car's exterior with the clay bar if needed. Once that has been done, you want to spray foam the car again, let it sit a bit, and rinse the car again with water. Dry it and prepare the car for the compound. We suggest a dual-action machine polisher. It is called 'dual action' because it rotates and does those 'wax on, wax off' motion movements at the same time, while a regular orbital polisher will just rotate at the set RPM. The Dual action is just much more effective than the Orbital one and does the job quicker and easier. It is also more beginner friendly. If you have none of these, you can really do the same with a microfiber applicator or even a microfiber towel wrapped around some sponge. But that will take ages, and prepare yourself. Your hands will fall off. That will be the hardest workout of your life! But we have done it, so it is doable. We do not suggest it, though! Use the polishing compound first and work your whole car. Apply the compound onto the foam pad. A few pea-sized beads will be enough. Without using the rotation, first, apply the paste from the foam onto the area you are going to work on and smear it over it. Work in small sections ( e. g. if you are currently polishing the hood, divide it into four parts, it will make your life easier in the long run ), and when activating the rotation, start on the weakest setting first to apply the compound paste to the area you will be polishing a bit better. The reason for applying the paste to the area on its lowest setting is so you cover the paste over the area you are working with, and you cover the paste more evenly over the polishing pad. If you would start with the highest setting, the paste would shoot in small particles all over the place, leaving you with the extra work of cleaning the car again. There is no need to mask the surrounding areas because that is very labor-intensive, and we won't need masking tape since we will be covering the whole car anyway. After it has been covered, switch to a medium to high setting depending on how quickly you want it done and how confident you feel. Stick to medium speed if you are a beginner, and once you develop a feel for it and feel a bit more confident, you can work on a higher setting. Make sure not to be too slow or polish the same area for too long since it will build up heat, and you can burn through the clear coat. Polishing Compound and Polishing Paste are both basically liquid sandpaper, just with a much much higher grade than what you would find on sandpaper since the abrasive particles are so much smaller. After you have compounded the whole car, do the same thing with the polishing paste. All those hazy areas we had on the sanded areas where we did paint correction should now be gone. Car Polish is the same as Car Compound but even finer, leaving a mirror finish. So let us do that, so we have the perfect glossy surface to apply Ceramic Coating on. Once you have polished your car, it is time to take a clean microfiber towel and some degreaser to remove all residue grease, oils, or fat that might have been left on the car from polishing it earlier to ensure maximum bonding with the paint protection you are about to use. We recommend you use isopropyl alcohol since it evaporates really fast and leaves no smudges when it dries. Congratulations! You now have a prepared surface to apply any method you choose to protect your car's paint. We recommend Ceramic Coating. But as always - the choice is yours! Now the question we often get asked... Can I clean and detail my car on a budget? Of course, you can, but not everyone has all those tools and items needed to perform a good detailing job on a car. There are numerous guides and tutorials on what and how to do it. We, in clear conscience, definitely cannot recommend that because the finishing result will be far from what someone would expect a car to look like after paint protection has been applied to their car. If you do not care for the car's look and just want to do the coating as it currently is, sure, of course, you can do it should you choose to, but we know that we wouldn't feel comfortable promoting something like that. Cheers!

Woah! "BEST" is a pretty big word. Fortunately, we just might have an answer to the question - "What is the best way to protect car paint?". Let us presume you've just bought your new car. And the only thing, besides driving it and keeping it spotless and clean, that is constantly on your mind is - 'How can I keep the car protected?', 'How can I keep the car clean long-term?', 'How can I keep the car looking as new forever?'. Well, you know, if you have money flying out of your butt, you can do the following. Drive the car to a professional Car Detailing Shop and have them check if the paint needs any correction before the next step. Since sometimes, factory paint even can leave some nasty orange peel that you wouldn't want to look at for the next 10 years! So once that is done, do some research and find a shop in your local area that installs Pain Protection Film onto cars with the highest reputation. Take your car there. You can even have it delivered there to avoid driving it and having the paint contaminated in any way ( avoid highway driving for that one to minimize the risk). Have them install the highest quality PPF onto your whole car. We would recommend the gloss finish to bring out the original paint, but you also have the option of satin or matte at some shops. You can read more on how Wax, Car Sealant, Ceramic Coating, and Paint Protection Film differ and compare to each other, what each offers, and their disadvantages. Once that has been successfully completed, take it one step further and cover the car, which is now covered in Car Protection Wrap, with Ceramic Coating! Yes, you are reading this correctly. You can indeed put Ceramic Coating on top of PPF! And since you are mega-rich, have some professionals do that for you! Note that car shops performing PPF installation or Ceramic Coat will usually do detailing work. Most of the high cost comes from the preparation work that is being done to ensure a flawless finishing result. You can rely on them to do a perfect job, but we are talking a mega-rich scenario, and a detailing shop jump might do a bit better of a job at making your car's paint perfect before Paint Protection Film and Ceramic Coating installation. All this should cost you anywhere from 6000$ all the way up to 12000$ for the two-plus the cost of any paint correction or detailing that was perhaps performed beforehand. But who cares! Your car is now covered in a happy cocoon of happiness, and you won't have to worry about driving it anywhere or getting scratched or dirty. It is now, and will for the foreseeable future be - protected. It is now safe! So now you probably have an eight-millimeter-thick PPF on top of your car's paint. And on top of that sits a top-quality Ceramic Coat that shields the paint even further. And the question is, 'How does that work?'. Ceramic Coating and Paint Protection Film, are they compatible? Well, yes, they are. And they complement each other nicely. You see, PPF is much like the paint of your car. It has most of its strengths and most of its weaknesses. That is why you treat a car covered with PPF as if it wasn't covered with PPF. The Paint Protection Film will work as a shielding layer that will take the bullet instead of the car paint itself. But it will still get dirty, and you will always have to wash the car if you want to keep it looking nice. Now you can clean the car properly every time it gets dirty, or you can install a Ceramic Coating on top of the PPF to help you with the cleaning maintenance. The CC on top of the PPF will give the car its hydrophobic properties and slickness, thus repelling dirt and dust by letting it slip off the car's surface, and it will sometimes even further enhance that color and the deep, deep glossy shine. Of course, you will still have to clean the car occasionally. But a simple wash should do the trick instead of an hour or more of intensive labor, multiple buckets, pH-neutral shampoo, a foam cannon, tons of microfiber towels, and much more. The best thing about it is, even if you feel that the Ceramic Coat is starting to weaken in some areas over time, spray some Ceramic Coating on it using one of the spray-on - wipe off Ceramic Coating products, of which there are plenty on the market. Some enthusiasts might ask themselves if they can take it even a step further and put some Car Wax or a Polymer Sealant on top of the Ceramic Coating. Technically, you could, but that would be literally overkill and serve little to no purpose. You see, while Paint Protection Film and Ceramic Coating protect the car's paint in different ways, they end up fulfilling gaps where the other one fails, thus giving an even better result than what you previously had. Carnauba Wax and Polymer Sealants do almost the same thing Ceramic Coating does, just worse and for a shorter duration. So we recommend you avoid that 'extra' step some might suggest. But hey, it is your vehicle, and you are allowed to do whatever you want to it. Remember that. Can you do even more? You can always think about Ceramic Coating your windshield and the plastic trim of your car for even more protection. You can read both articles on our thoughts on those two matters if you want to go into more detail. And there you go! If you bought a new car, you have done everything mentioned above, and unless you wreck it, it will continue looking pristine or probably even better throughout its lifespan. If you are looking to preserve the value of a car - these are the things we recommend. It might seem silly at first, spending an amount of money with which you might buy a decent car. But hey, we all know that some out there can afford that the same way we could afford a trip to McDonald's and treating ourselves to a Happy Meal on a sunny Sunday. This is perhaps the ultimate way to preserve showroom cars, antiques, or any ridiculously expensive cars on Earth. If you find yourself having such a car, go and treat your car to an expensive makeover! You can read more about what Ceramic Coatings are, how they work, and how they rank among other methods of car paint protection. You can also read everything important there is to know about Paint Protection Film. Cheers!

- go back to Part 3 - Ceramic Coating - So we have finally reached the last part of this saga. Today we will cover PPF, or Paint Protection Film, and close this 4-part article with our final thoughts on everything we have learned about paint protection methods. For those that just arrived here - this is a 4 part article that covers all the ways to protect the paintwork on your car effectively. So far, we have talked about Carnauba Wax, also known as Car Wax. Then we covered Polymer Sealants, after which we learned all the essentials about Ceramic Coatings, and here we are, finally, with the last part. What is PPF? Paint Protection Film, also sometimes referred to as 'Clear Bra' or PPF, is a thermoplastic polyurethane in the form of a nylon wrap that you put on top of the paint of your car. Fancy words right there, but what it really means is that you are able to mold the shape of the nylon when the heat is applied to it directly via a heat gun, for example. And the 'polyurethane' part stands for a polymer made of organic units joined by carbamate links, also known as urethane links. Now if you want to know what carbamate or urethane is, then you'd have to go dive deep into the web or get a chemistry degree. We certainly don't and have no clue what it is, and thus we will not try preaching about it. We do, however, know what the material is used for, how you use it, and all its nice features and downsides. It is usually 4 or 8 millimeters thick, depending on the product price. It comes in various finishes. The most common is gloss, followed by satin or matte, should you choose to go for that. If you go for the gloss option, it is practically invisible. It is also important to note that Paint Protection Film is not the same as vinyl. The idea of film, its primary purpose is to cover your car and preserve it as it currently is for the foreseeable future. If you are using quality car wrap and take care of the car, you can expect the film to last the lifetime of the protected vehicle. That being said, you obviously want to prepare the surface of the car for the job beforehand because if you do decide to wrap it and you haven't corrected any defects on your car's paint - it will be visible. And after that, there won't be anything you can do about that except remove the wrap and retrace your steps, basically throwing away a huge sum of cash through the window. So make sure you do your research well before deciding to protect your vehicle with a car wrap. If you go for the satin or matte finish, the paint chips or swirls and scratches on your paint won't be visible that much, or at all, but since you are paying a lot to wrap your car already, you might as well go that extra step and do that first. How much does PPF cost? If you bought a brand new car and have an extra 5000$ to 10000$ lying around and want to preserve the car as it is now before it gets any damage to its paint, then we suggest you take it to your local professional to get your car wrapped. Now you might be saying something like, "But CCE, aren't you all for Ceramic Coatings and stuff? Why are you trying to promote an alternative to the product you are promoting?". Well, that is simple. If you want to be an expert in a certain area, then you have to know your competition. You have to know your strengths and your weaknesses. And simply put - Paint Protection Film is better at protecting your car's paint than Ceramic Coating is. That being said - we still suggest Ceramic Coating, and we will cover why in the final thoughts at the end of this article. PPF Installation You remember how we said that Ceramic Coating varies in cost depending on if you are doing the job yourself or you have a professional do it for you - and then we said that with some research, perhaps even some training and proper preparation, you can confidently coat your car with Ceramic? Well... When it comes to Paint Protection Film, forget that. We do not care who you are or how much research you have done on this topic - there is no way you can do a good job covering your car with car wrap alone or without proper training and experience. This is most certainly at least a two-man job, or even more, and all people involved have to be experienced, or you are accepting the risk of messing up the job at any point, potentially wasting hours of intense labor and ruining the wrap making it useless and having to use the new wrap to try and fix the mistake. If you want to use Paint Protection Film on your car, then research your area and go to the professional that has the best reputation. They will do the job properly, using top-quality materials, because they won't risk ruining their reputation by doing a terrible job. Some of them are cutting corners by using less expensive materials, doing the job with less manpower, or even solo ( we have seen some... ) or by jumping steps to make the job faster, ultimately doing a great job for the untrained eye, but potentially leaving you with visible wrap corners that will accumulate dust and dirt over time and will have a blackish line that will look horrible and will be visible from space or will start yellowing over time leaving your car in a dull, hazy cover that you paid thousands of dollars for. Or even it not being tucked inside all the panels and starting to peel off over time on the edges. We have seen it all. So be extremely careful who you pay and who trusts your car. With the negatives out of the way - if done correctly, the paint protection film is the best thing you can go for if you have unlimited funds. It will absorb the most damage, most scratches, and all the swirl marks you would get from bad car washes and will even protect your car, to some degree, from rock chips. Of course, if you are driving down the highway like a maniac and a rock hits your car, usually in the front part of the hood, there is very little you can do to stop that projectile from piercing that wrap or the paint on your car. PPF Self Healing Paint Protection Film usually has self-healing properties. Now that is not achieved by some wizardry and is not false propaganda to make you buy that product. It actually works. The way it functions is if the wrap gets damaged and you apply heat to the damaged area, the polymer structure will 'melt' into its original position. Kind of how you would stretch a wrinkled piece of nylon, and by applying heat to it, it would straighten up as if new. So by using a heat gun, a hairdryer, or sometimes even while standing in the sun, most damage that the wrap suffered will 'regenerate' so to speak. That usually only works if the wrap hasn't suffered serious damage, but we have seen products that recovered from even that. As long as the paint underneath wasn't damaged, if you are using quality PPF, you are covered from all the damage that we mentioned above. It is highly resistant to the elements and will last you a long, long time. Chemicals, bird droppings, tree pollen, and such, while highly resistant, will still get damaged if left untreated, the same as your car's paint would. So make sure you still wash your car regularly if it gets dirty. So, how should you treat your car if it was wrapped with PPF? Same as you would if it had none. You would just have that extra top sacrificial layer that will deal with those bullies that your car's paint normally couldn't. For all products, we will give a short and clear summary listing all their features and grading them from F ( bad ) to A ( great ) compared to their competition. So to summarize, here are some notes about Paint Protection Film: will last you about 5-10 years ... A major resistance to the elements ... A high resistance to damage ... B premium product, very expensive ... F not suited for DIY projects or solo endeavors... E high resistance to chemicals & degreasers ... A Average grade: C After all this praise and all those massive benefits it provides, it only got a mediocre grade of C. Now that would be due to two key components of the product - its price and its price. When you think of how much paint protection film installation costs at a professional shop, you might think that buying the product online and installing it yourself might seem like an attractive idea. Well, we have said that it is almost impossible for a novice to install car wrap on their own. You might say something like, 'Well, I'll just get one or two of my friends and have them help me." Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Otherwise, all those shops would quickly go out of business. You see, when you go and search online, you can even find sites where you would enter the make and the model of your car, and they would send you premade, precut Protection Film specifically for your car. They won't, of course, tell you how difficult it is actually to do it. Waxing, using Sealants, or even coating your car with Ceramics might be considered children's play compared to film installation. This one truly requires proper experience, finesse, stamina, precision, and a bunch of tools, that go along with the installation process that you have to buy separately. Even using those tools takes practice. How difficult is it to install Paint Protection Film onto your car? Well, take it like this - imagine an empty canvas in front of you. You've got your paintbrush and your acrylics on the side ready to paint. You see the perfect scenery in front of the empty white canvas. You see it clearly in your mind, and you bring the paintbrush closer to the canvas to transfer that thought onto the canvas, imprinting that clear picture from your mind. Well, usually, if you aren't skilled with a painting brush, you will end up with a grotesque 'modern art' depiction of whatever you've earlier imagined instead. That is how the PPF installation will probably go for you if you give it a go without experience and without being intimately familiar with the process. Only practice and time will change that. But if you are willing to go through all of that to cover such a distance, you might as well think of opening up a shop yourself instead. So if that thought made you chuckle inside, and you still want to go with the PPF, stick to the professionals. Our final thoughts on "How to protect the paint on your car?" Having covered all the ways we currently use to protect the paint on our vehicles. We still stand firm in the thought that Ceramic Coating is hands-down the best of the lot. Why? Because you get the best bang for your buck with it. You can check our comparison on Car Wax, Car Sealant, Ceramic Coating, and Paint Protection film to see the difference, what each one offers, and the drawbacks of each type of paint protection method. While Car Waxes and even better Polymer Sealants help protect your paint and are easy and even fun to do on a Sunday afternoon while cleaning your mechanical friend, no one said that Ceramic Coating would be any less fun or any less difficult. Just more intimidating for the reason that you will pay more for the Coating, and you will most likely be afraid more to mess up. Or even the thought that you would do a messy job and potentially ruin the paintwork of your car might cross your mind. You won't. In our experience, if you botch the job when working with Ceramic Coating, mistakes that usually happen are either bad coverage, where you would miss some parts of your vehicle, or even forgetting to coat as per instructions. Or perhaps you would get a flakey or hazy finish when buffing too little or buffing too late. Perhaps even buffing too early or applying too little coating could happen. All those things can be easily and inexpensively corrected. One 50ml bottle ( as they usually come in ) of the Ceramic Coating of your choosing will allow you coverage of a full, standard-size vehicle two times, as suggested. Meaning even if you mess up an area on the first go, you can still correct it on your second run. That way, the job will not be perfect, but you will have more experience once you go for another run at a later date. Working with Paint Protection Film, or PPF as they like to call it, will most likely not go as planned unless you have some serious previous experience installing it onto a car of a similar structure. As you might imagine, covering a Corvette Z1 or covering a Jeep Wrangler in Car Wrap would be two completely different jobs altogether. So your experience working with one might not transfer well when worthing with the other. And, realistically, you will end up having to pay a professional to install it onto your car and paying thousands of dollars for it. And again, realistically - not everyone can afford that or even want to pay such amounts for it, no matter the benefits. Because of all those reasons - we choose Ceramic Coating as it will give you so much for what you end up paying for it and will last you a very long time. And we definitely recommend you do the same! Go through the site and learn more about how to cover your car's paint with Ceramic Coating properly. You will also find many frequently asked questions or FAQs on Ceramic Coating, or you might even go through our Reviews on all the different brands of Ceramic Coatings that are lurking around on the market so you can choose the right one for yourself and your needs. Cheers!

- go back to Part 2 - Polymer Sealant - Continuing from where we left off... again! So far, in Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, we have covered the introduction to 'How to protect car paint?'. We've explained what Carnauba Wax is, what properties wax has, on how to use car wax properly. We have also done the same for Polymer Sealants. In Part 3, we will have lots to cover as we shall focus on Ceramic Coating, what it is, and why you should use it on your car! To see Part 2 of the topic, click here to learn more about the abovementioned things. You can also read in full detail about what Ceramic Coating is in a previous blog article by clicking here. We will cover some basics so that you get a general idea of what you are dealing with. Let's dive into this! What is a Ceramic Coating? Ok, so Ceramic Coating is a SiO2 ( Silicon Dioxide ) based liquid that forms a hard crystallized surface on top of the clear coat of your car's paint, thus protecting it from swirls and light to medium scratches, also giving it superior hydrophobic properties and protection from UV radiation. It is also highly resistant to heat and has some resistance to chemicals. Once it has cured, it will not come off as quickly as Carnauba Wax or Polymer Sealant would. You might even say that it coats your car's paint with a damage-resistant vest keeping the vehicle tucked in nicely for the next two years. Of course, the two years is debatable since different quality Ceramic Coating might alter that number. It would also be affected by how you treated your car and the climate of your region. Once correctly applied and given enough time to fully cure ( about a week ), the coating will have completely bonded with the car's paint and is there to stay. On top of all its protective qualities, it also covers your vehicle in a permanent glossy shine. The car's surface will be so slick that even dust will not stick to the paint and will simply fall off during driving. It is quite literally Polymer Sealant... but on steroids. But Ceramic Coat Expert, if it is that amazing, why isn't everyone using it? Well, for starters, not everyone knows about it or has heard about it but never took the time to educate themselves on the matter. Also, that is where Ceramic Coating significantly differs from Car Wax and Polymer Sealants. Ceramic Coating usually comes in a Kit. A 50ml bottle with a clear liquid inside. A small sponge block. And a small piece of leather-like cloth. The idea is to wrap the piece of cloth around the applicator block, squirt a few droplets of the Ceramic Coating onto the cloth and apply the coating onto the car with the proper technique as per instructions ( we shall get into that ) after waiting a certain time, buff it off completely. After about 1 hour, it is recommended to repeat the process one more time. Once the second coat has been applied, it is left to initially cure for at least 24 hours, meaning no contact with outside elements, especially debris or water. After those initial 24 hours, it will be hardened completely, and you are allowed to use your vehicle. But the curing process usually isn't done at that point yet. The Ceramic Coating will proceed to cure for the next 7 days, at which point it will be wholly hardened and bonded with your car's paint. While testing, we have seen the coating resist mild abrasives though it can be removed with a polisher given enough time. Mud wouldn't stick and easily sprayed off the vehicle with a garden hose with low to medium pressure. Using aggressive detergents such as dish soap or non-pH balanced shampoos didn't diminish the protective or hydrophobic qualities of the Ceramic Coating initially. Even though it would degrade upon multiple repeated attempts to use those high alkaline detergents, upon testing numerous brands, some would give out before others giving sub-par results. In contrast, some would give results that would be dismissed as ridiculous attempts at marketing manipulation. Well, we have seen it all. Ceramic Coating truly has unique properties. Sometimes, if you aren't prepared, it simply leaves you baffled because people usually aren't expecting such behavior. Some Ceramic Coatings along the SiO2 contain TiO2 ( Titanium Oxide ) to give the solution even greater strength once hardened. Today you have dozens of different Ceramic Coatings out on the market, with almost each of them differing in some way from the other. Some ceramic coatings are amazing, and some are just simply scams. Still, we have tested multiple popular products. Some are not so popular. And we will or already have posted test results in our Reviews section of the blog. You can look them up and find the one you like which fits your criteria the most. There are numerous questions that people are asking regarding Ceramic Coating, such as 'Is Ceramic Coat applied to new cars?', 'Is Ceramic Coating better than Wax?', or for instance, 'How much does it cost to get your car Ceramic Coated?', or even 'How long does it take to Ceramic Coat a car?'. There are tons of questions like this, and we are more than happy to answer all of them. We will dedicate an entire blog article just for that. Maybe even multiples, depending on the volume of all those questions. We will also go into detail on how to prepare your car for Ceramic Coating, Paint Protection in general, and how to properly apply Ceramic Coating to your vehicle. The whole process, all tricks and small details that might give you the edge so you can perform that task with great success and leave yourself dazzled with the results for years to come. We will give a short and clear summary listing all its features and grading them from F ( bad ) to A ( excellent ) compared to its competition for all products. So to summarize, here are some notes about Ceramic Coating: will last you up to 2 years ... A high resistance to the elements ... A medium resistance to damage ... D doesn't have to be expensive but can be depending on if it is a DIY project or a professional is doing it for you ... C / E straightforward application process but can be intimidating ... B solid resistance to chemicals & degreasers ... C Average grade: B / C We had to give Ceramic Coating two separate grades because of the four paint protection methods (wax, sealant, ceramic coating, and PPF) we covered in this four-part article — ceramic coating is the only pro-grade method that can be done in a DIY fashion with some confidence and little training. This means that while almost anyone without any training or tools can likely apply wax or car sealant, for ceramic coating, there's a lengthy and tedious preparation job that needs to be done beforehand, to ensure maximum adhesion. And while a car detailer working in a detailing shop will be the one to do all that prep work and installation, it is possible for a newbie (with proper education and a bit of training), to apply ceramic coating onto a car DIY-style. And solo. PPF, on the other hand, is at least a two-man job. And the difficulty level is way up there. So yeah, if you do it yourself (you'll still need a garage, all the tools, and the dexterity), ceramic coating your car can be cheaper. If you take it to a detailer, it's going to be more expensive. But, as long as you know what you are doing, the Average Grade stays at a solid B. Still, suppose you find the process intimidating, which, trust us. In that case, you are not alone with that problem. You will find that a professional car shop will drain your wallet in no time for doing the same thing. They will probably, use a high-quality ceramic coating product, and they will most likely do an errorless job. Still, the difference in cost can be astronomical. The main reason the price difference is so high is that the professional shops that are coating a car with Ceramic Coating will go to great lengths in their preparation work to detail the vehicle to its best before applying the coating. Our honest opinion is if you can afford it and you cannot be bothered to do it yourself, sure, pay a professional to do it. But, if you don't want to play a small fortune to get your car properly protected for the foreseeable future, then take some time, follow our guidelines, read a few reviews on which one to pick, and simply do it yourself. At its core, it is not much different than putting on car wax or a car sealant. However, it is much less forgiving of mistakes and requires a controlled environment more than the other two. Once you test it out on another surface to see how to apply the product, buff it off and test if you've done the job correctly, we are sure that you can do this yourself, alone. No help is needed as it is a one-man job. So, the question is - 'Should you use Ceramic Coating on your car, or should you stick to Carnauba Wax or Polymer Sealant?'. Honestly? Go for the Coating. Why? Well, once trained, it is really not difficult to apply it to your car. Some might have a more difficult time because they don't have a garage or a driveway, but as long as you prepare the whole process, preparing the car to be paint-protected will probably take you 5-10 hours if you are a beginner. You are being thorough and not hasty or sloppy. If you keep that in mind and the weather looks balanced as per instructions. There is no strong wind, there is no rain, the temperature outside is not like in an oven, and the car is not in direct sunlight. And most importantly - for the next 24 hours, until the coating completely hardens, it will not rain, or there will be no harsh winds or storms, you are ready to go. I know that even reading that sentence raises your stress level probably. Still, hey, once you accept that that is the procedure that you have to go through to get the desired results, it becomes much more manageable. Also, we remember using Ceramic Coating for the first time, and it really was an intimidating experience. We've had training, consulted colleagues that worked with Ceramic Coating, we've watched hours upon hours of youtube videos, and read everything there is to read about Ceramic Coating on the internet. And still, it was scary. But after the first, initial coat, we realized that it wasn't really that different than applying wax or sealant. You get a completely different perspective once you have actually done it. So our suggestion is, to prepare your knowledge, prepare your car and just dive in. If you mess it up, listen, it is not the end of the world. In the end, you can try it again with new skills under your belt this time. The price of Ceramic Coating is somewhat higher than that of a Polymer Sealant. Still, considering the effect you get and how long you get it, it is definitely worth it! Also, keep in mind how easily you can remove wax or sealants from your car just by washing your car, and you won't have those headaches with Ceramic Coating, which is perhaps even its greatest strength. Because you want your car protected, but you want that protection to stay on your vehicle without you having to babysit your car for the foreseeable future. Regarding its high cost in case a professional does it for you. We advise against it unless you are wealthy and you have a brand-new car, or you have a showroom vehicle. The reason is that the price can be ten folds what you'd pay by just buying the kit and doing the detailing yourself. Of course, not everyone has the tools skills, or knowledge required to perform a perfect job of detailing the paint on your car. Still, there are inexpensive ways to get decent results on a budget while doing it yourself. You do know that it will be protected with the highest quality coating in the business. It will be done properly, but the price difference is so large considering with proper training and preparation, you can do this yourself and, at the end of the day, be proud of your achievement and save even up to a few thousand dollars in the process. As was expected, we will push the last part of 'How to protect your car's paint?', namely Paint Protection Films, and some final thoughts and conclusions on the whole subject into Part 4 of this article, and you can click here to jump there right now. - continue to Part 4 - Paint Protection Film -

- go back to Part 1 - Carnauba Wax - Continuing from where we left off. In Part 2, we will cover Polymer Sealants and what they are, we will later go into depth on how Ceramic Coating works and what Ceramic Coating really is, and we will finally cover Paint Protection Films, how they work, and why they are used on cars. If you just tuned in, in Part 1 of this topic, we covered the introduction to 'How to protect car paint?' the theme started by explaining why it is important to use exterior auto detailing products, specifically paint protection items, and we have covered what Carnauba Wax is, also known as Car Wax in the automotive industry. To see Part 1 of the topic, click here if you are interested in learning more about Car Wax things. Now, let's jump to car sealant! What is Car Sealant? Unlike Carnauba Wax, Polymer Sealant, also known as Car Sealant or Car Paint Sealant, usually has no natural elements in itself but is instead made out of various synthetic compounds and is composed of polymers, hence its name. It chemically bonds onto the painted surface, namely the clear coat layer of the car's paint. The bond is stronger, and the protective layer itself is stronger than what Car Wax would produce. Straight-up without much explanation needed, a Polymer Sealant is usually just a better Car Wax or Carnauba Wax, whichever term you prefer. That being said, we are using the word 'usually' quite often here. The intention is not to mislead you but to caution you instead. Namely, the exterior auto detailing market is saturated with all kinds of paint protection products and more are popping up left and right each and every day. They all have grandiose and, sometimes, straight-up, plain ridiculous claims, and it is hard for the average car enthusiast to know what product to pick confidently, and no one can blame you. That is how marketing works. Everyone wants a piece of this pie, and some will use dirty tactics to achieve their goals. At least there are people like us that will buy, test, and review those products, so you do not have to share our knowledge from working in the industry to help you close those gaps that you need to care for your vehicle in the most effective and safest way possible. A sealant's job, like its cousin Car Wax, is twofold - to protect the car's paint and to enhance its appearance. Sealants perform excellently in both areas, the protection part being done a tad bit better than wax. As for the appearance, people often say that using quality Car Wax will enhance the color more than using a Polymer Sealant. They claim that Wax will give a deeper glossy glow that a sealant simply cannot achieve. Well, the short answer is - maybe. We've seen both outperform each other depending on the manufacturer, but to be honest. It took a high-quality LED lamp, a keen eye, and the opinion of multiple people to come to such conclusions. The difference might not even be visible to the untrained eye, that is, if you do not know what to look for. We would personally say both do the same job regarding the appearance enhancement effect. The other reason we are using the word 'usually' is because today you will find all types of mixtures such as Ceramic Wax, Ceramic Sealant, Protective Polymer Wax, and similar terms as if someone took all those related words, shuffled them up, and whatever came out would be a new hot product. Well, some might be, but most of it is, in our opinion, marketing, so be cautioned. When working with any type of paint protection, you need two prerequisites - a clean, decontaminated vehicle ( at least on the outside ) and not working in direct sunlight or sometimes even outside, depending on what product you are using. For Car Waxes and Polymer Sealants, it is ok working outside because the application and curing process is reasonably fast, and things like wind, flying particles, leaves, and bird droppings will not ruin the procedure if you are in the middle of it. When working with Ceramic Coating or with Paint Protection Film, that is a different story. Some Polymer Sealant manufacturers claim that their product can be worked with even in sunlight, while the car's paint is relatively high. The boiling point of Polymer Sealant is much higher than that of Car Wax, but I would still advise looking for shade or doing the procedure in a garage. If you are unable to do that for any reason, Polymer Sealant is probably the product you should go for. Polymer Sealants are usually in liquid form while Carnauba Wax usually comes in the form of a paste. The application process, though, is pretty much the same as Car Wax. You can check it in Part 1 of this article for more details on the procedure. For all products, we will give a short and clear summary listing all their features and grading them from F ( bad ) to A ( great ) compared to their competition. So to summarize, here are some notes about Polymer Sealant: will last you about 6-8 months ... C medium resistance to the elements ... B no resistance to damage ... F relatively cheap cost ... B very simple to apply yourself ... A almost no resistance to chemicals & degreasers ... F Average grade: C The average grade is higher than that of Carnauba Wax due to rounding up, but it is very close. The main practical difference between Wax and a Sealant is that the Sealant resists high temperatures much better than wax does, and if properly applied, the Car Sealant will last several months, while Car Wax will last several weeks. The faults are pretty much the same as both of them will wash off easily with regular car shampoos. Sometimes even strong jets of water from a car washer can do the trick, and both Car Wax and Car Sealant offer virtually no resistance against scratching, swirl marks, and similar damage. The average grade, though, reflects the difference between Wax and Sealant. Science and numerous technological breakthroughs allowed us to create something that is cheap to manufacture yet gives better results. Nature has its own way of creating amazing things, but targeted manmade objects usually outrank those. The price is usually a small bit higher than the price of Car Wax, it is simple to work with, you won't need the training to get good results, and ultimately when it comes to your car's paint - there really are not many reasons why you should not use a Polymer Sealant, but there are many reasons why you should. This was a long one again! You would think that this blog post would be quite short since both Car Wax and Polymer Sealants are similar in performance. But hey, I guess there is always something to say about a topic when you are keen on teaching others something you thoroughly enjoy! We will cut it here and continue tomorrow in Part 3 of the article, where we will cover Ceramic Coatings finally, and we will see what its strengths are compared to Carnauba Wax and Polymer Sealants and how they are different. You can click here to go straight to Part 3. See you there! - continue to Part 3 - Ceramic Coating -

Before we dive into this topic, we need to address the big elephant in the room first - why are we talking about how someone can protect the paint on their vehicle? Well, the answer is actually quite simple... We are here to educate and to teach you how to use Ceramic Coating, what it is, what the advantages of Ceramic Coating are, and generally, answer the question - Should you even use Ceramic Coating on your car in the first place? To answer those questions truthfully, we must first tackle other ways of protecting your car's paint or its competition. That way, you can decide for yourself to see whether Ceramic Coating is even something that might interest you, or should you buy Ceramic Coating over some of the alternatives on the market? There are many questions and not many answers yet, so let us fix that! Here we will give you all the commercial methods you can use to protect your car's paint and list all the features and faults of those in an old-fashioned deathmatch type of fight. So all the ways to how can I protect the paint on my car: Car Wax / Carnauba Wax Car Sealant / Polymer Sealant Ceramic Coating Paint Protection Film / PPF Let's tackle each one in a separate article and list their properties, advantages, and disadvantages. What is Car Wax? Car Wax, or Carnauba Wax, is probably the oldest way to protect the paint on your car out of the bunch. You may find it under other names, such as Brazillian Wax and Palm Wax, and it has crept itself into a range of industries, from the Food Industry to the Beauty Industry. Today you can also find many forms of Synthetic Car Waxes out there. In the automotive industry or car detailing business, it is called 'Car Wax' or 'Automotive Car Wax', the most common and cheapest way to protect car paint. You use wax on your car to spread the way onto the surface of your vehicle with an applicator. You wait about 10 minutes, or whatever the manufacturer instructs you, and then buff it off with a microfiber towel. You usually know it is ready to be buffed off by running your finger on it. You are good to go if it leaves no greasy residue on the 'clean' surface. Otherwise, wait a bit more. It might seem a little bit like half-dried wax if it is ready. Once you buff it off your car, it gives the car a magnificent shine and saturates the car's color, enhancing it even more. It does this by forming a layer on top of your car's clear coat, filling small gaps or scratches, and leaving a flat and smooth surface behind. It will not 'hide' or fill deep scratches, so be aware. It will, however, protect the surface from rain, moisture, and water, in general, to prevent rust or mold from forming, so it might not be a bad idea to cover such parts of your car with a car paint protection product until you get them properly corrected. Car Wax, if properly treated, will last you about six to eight weeks and during that time will, with its hydrophobic properties, protect your car's paint from water, will protect your car's paint from UV radiation damage coming from sunlight and will give some protection from extreme temperatures. But be aware that in high heat, especially on black cars, the wax might vaporize from the car's paint. It will also be removed by most car shampoos, especially those that are not pH balanced. Car washes will probably remove them as well, and if you are using any degreaser, even isopropyl alcohol, to remove a stain or tree pollen, or bird droppings, keep in mind that the wax is most likely non-existent in the treated area. The do-it-yourself application process is straightforward and extremely simple for the average Joe. Wax is not expensive, at least it isn't supposed to be, so have your raised eyebrow prepared if you come across an extremely expensive one. Just browse a few to get a general idea of what it might cost. When working with Carnauba Wax, have a hand applicator to apply the wax onto your car's paint and a microfiber towel to buff it off the paint. If you do not have an applicator, use two different microfiber towels for proper results. Be sure to use microfiber towels and not some cloth you've got lying around the house or paper towels, as they both likely have a hard surface texture and will likely scratch the clearcoat of your car. Microfiber towels are designed to deal with such situations, and they, if clean, they will never scratch the paint on your car. If you drop it on the floor (which happens to everybody), clean it before working on your car again. For all products, we will give a short and clear summary listing all their features and grading them from F ( bad ) to A ( great ) compared to their competition. So to summarize, here are some notes about Carnauba Wax: will last you about 6-8 weeks ... E minor resistance to the elements ... D no resistance to damage ... F cheap cost ... A very simple to apply yourself ... A almost no resistance to chemicals & degreasers ... F Average grade: D Now that grade may seem low, but let's be realistic. If you aren't protecting your car's paint, go to the nearest store, buy yourself some car wax, and treat your car to some shine and protection. It is not easy, but it is simple. You'll get a good workout out of it unless you use a mechanical buffer. But it is not costly; in a way, you are protecting not only your car's paint but also your investment. If you decide to sell your car one day, the future buyer will appreciate a car that has been taken care of, and you'll probably get a better deal because of it. It might even be fun. You never know until you try. When you are passionate about something, preparation means very little, and words flow out of you like crazy! Since this came out to be much longer than we initially expected, we will cut it here and continue the list in Part 2, where we will cover Polymer Sealants, Ceramic Coatings, and Paint Protection Films and our final thoughts on the matter of 'How to protect your cars paint?'; - continue to Part 2 - Polymer Sealant -

Hi there! If you are here, chances are you might have been wondering about questions like 'What is Ceramic Coating?', How much does Ceramic Coating cost?' or 'How long does Ceramic Coating last?' or then again, you just wanted to know what the best way is to protect the paint on your metallic friend over there! Contents: But ultimately - Is Ceramic Coating worth it? First and foremost - What is Ceramic Coating? What does 9H mean? How strong is 9H? What is Car Paint? What is Paint Protection? There are a lot of questions that are circulating around ceramic coatings. And they are all important and need to be addressed. That is why we're here! But ultimately - Is Ceramic Coating worth it? We are here to answer all those questions and more. But before that, we will tell you what ceramic coating is and why it has become so popular. We are here to educate you on why you should choose Ceramic Coating over other forms of paint protection. We also will go into all the basics, such as what paint protection is, and even a level deeper into what car paint is at its core and why we need to protect it. We shall provide you with the free service of teaching you how to choose the best Ceramic Coating for you, and we will go into great detail when explaining the best techniques on how to use Ceramic Coating in a DIY fashion in your own garage and how to use it effectively to bring out the best results Ceramic Coatings offer. But let us not go too wide here because, especially if you are new to exterior automotive detailing, all this information might be a tad bit overwhelming and might come out a little confusing. We know all of this was a bit confusing for us when we were getting into all of this all those years ago. We will take baby steps here and try to paint a clear picture so that at the end of the day, you know everything you need about the Ceramic Coating industry and will come out of this with more answers than questions. Let us dive into the basics... First and foremost - What is Ceramic Coating? Short answer - it is a long-term form of paint protection that will likely outperform any wax or sealant out there. It is a chemical solution based on Silicon Dioxide that bonds onto the clear coat of your car's paint, hardens to a glass-like finish with usually a 9H toughness rating, and serves as a sacrificial layer that protects your car's paint from the elements, offers resistance to mild damage such as scratches and in some cases, even rock chips. They have superior hydrophobic qualities and can be applied with minor training, even in a DIY fashion. And on top of all that, if treated as per instructions, it can last you several years. What does 9H mean? 9H is a toughness rating based on graphite pencil hardness. Toughness is resistance to scratches and cutting, while hardness is resistance to stress and indentations. It is a measurement technique to determine if the surface will suffer scratching damage before the pencil suffers chipping damage. The pencil hardness test scale goes from 10B ( softest ) all the way to 10H ( hardest ) pencil strength. It is being measured by attempting to scratch the Ceramic Coated surface by dragging a graphite pencil under a 45-degree angle. If the coated surface suffers no damage, it will get the rating of the pencil used. Some Ceramic Coatings claim to have a 10H toughness rating. You can read about 9H in more detail here. How strong is 9H? It is strong enough to give the paint an impressive scratch resistance depending on the hardness rating of the material cutting the surface. But usually, if the Ceramic Coating does have a 9H or 10H rating, the protective layer will prevent scratches or swirl marks that the paint would normally suffer without the Ceramic Coating. Long answer - oh boy! Where do we start? First and foremost, read the 'short answer' first because this will expand on that. Now let us explain a few basic things about car paint and different forms of paint protection so we have an easier time in the future, and you might learn a thing or two. If you find yourself knowing all there is to know about car paint, you can skip this section. But if you don't, you might even be able to expand our lecture with new information that we might have missed! The idea of this blog is to educate, and educate, we will! What is Car Paint? To put it into simple terms, car paint is this as follows - you have the bare metal that gives the car its structure. But now you have to protect that metal somehow from corrosion, outside elements, scratches, and more. To protect the metal, a primer coat is sprayed onto the metal, which will serve as the bonding agent between the metal and the color. Primer is usually light grey in color, but it can differ. You won't see it as it is below the next two layers being sprayed on top of it. After it has been picked and when the primer has dried, the color is sprayed on top of it. And to top the whole process off, a clear coat, the thickest layer of the three, is sprayed on top of the base color to protect the color from the elements such as water, UV radiation from sunlight, minor debris, wind, scratches, etc. So to summarize, from top to bottom, we have: clear coat (gloss transparent) base color (can be any color) primer bare metal Once it all has cured and bonded, you are left with a solid protective structure that will protect the vehicle's body and give it its distinctive appearance and shine. So when people use the term 'car paint', they are referring to those three layers above sitting on top of the metal or plastic body of the car. If someone is trying to point out the color and only the color, they will usually use the term 'base color' to avoid confusion. Just keep in mind that there are different types of car paint and finishes, but that topic is so large that we will leave it for another blog post where we will go into detail about all of it and how it interacts with Ceramic Coating. The car paint, as described above, will be present in 95% of cars out there and almost all cars coming out of the factory. If a different type of color differs from this specific 3-layer structure, it is usually an aftermarket option. After learning all this, you might ask yourself, "Hey, if this is so nice and works in perfect harmony, why would I ever want to mess with it?". Well, we are glad you asked! Like most things in nature, car paint will deteriorate over time due to oxidation, outside damage, the elements, etc. And it doesn't matter how nice your car looks when brand new. At one point, the paint will dull out, the clearcoat will start to flake off, and the damage could go all the way to the car's metal layer, causing it to oxidize and cause corrosion. Since most cars have panels made out of steel or iron sheet metals, the oxidation will cause corrosion in the form of iron oxide to form, also known as rust. Steel is an alloy, but it is just iron infused with some carbon ( about 99% iron, 1% carbon ) for extra strength. It will also rust as easily. If the car is made from Aluminum, corrosion will be found in the form of Aluminum Oxide, which is much less reactive than Iron Oxide. Fun fact: If a car is made out of aluminum, it cannot rust! That means it will form a thin layer of corrosion on top and stay that way - it will not spread further. Plastic will not cause corrosion, but it will dull out over time, getting that whiteish look to it, and will, after prolonged exposure to the sun, it will lose its elasticity and start forming cracks. We must open up the next topic of interest to find an answer to all these problems. What is Paint Protection? Paint protection, as the name implies, sits on top of a car's paint and has one job - protecting that paint from the environment. Now that you know how car paint is formed of layers, you can think of Paint Protection as another layer that will sit on top of the clear coat. That layer will be there to protect the layers below it from harm, but sometimes it also boosts the appearance of the car paint overall, so consider that as a bonus. There are different methods for forming that 4th layer on top of the clear coat. To answer that, we will dive a bit into what types of paint protection there are on the market, and after explaining the differences between those, you might have an easier time choosing the best one for you should you feel so. But we are here, already knowing the answer, to tell you how Ceramic Coating is the unmatched winner out of the bunch and will go to great lengths to explain why! See you in the next post, where we will rumble about all those paint protection methods available to us and which one to use. Cheers!

Get your CQ.UK 3.0 Ceramic Coating Kit on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2ZXUgfF Just to clarify - we are not sponsored by CarPro or any other manufacturer of Paint Protection products, and we will test and review the product as it is in real-world conditions. We will follow the manufacturer's instructions during the application process, and we will prepare the surface to ensure the best finish and best adhesion possible. We are leaving an affiliate link to all our review products, but in case the product turns out to be of low quality or not as all as advertised, we leave a warning to all our readers, and the quality of the product will always be reflected in the grade we assign to it at the end of every review. So if you do not want to sit through all of this text, you can scroll down to the Average Grade and read our Final Thoughts to get a general idea of what the product is all about. If you haven't heard of the CarPro CQuartz products yet, you are in luck! In the automotive exterior detailing industry, Ceramic Coatings are in high demand and labeled as premium products, which they indeed are. And CarPro ceramic coating they deliver is one of the best out there on the market. Now, it is costly! But is CarPro Ceramic Coating worth it? Every cent! It, of course, depends on the product you buy since you could get a cheap knock-off on eBay, but that is why you have people like us. We do the research and the testing and find the best product offered and also the most affordable to get the most bang for your buck. The CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0 Kit /w Reload includes: 1x 50ml bottle of CQuartz UK 3.0 1x 100ml bottle of CarPro Reload Silica Spray 1x 16" Microfiber Suede Towel 1x CarPro Foam Applicator Block 4x 4" MF Suede applicators The 50ml bottle of CQuartz UK 3.0 will last you roughly 6 uses on average-sized cars. It is recommended, and we do as well, that you use 2 coats per car. After applying the first coat, wait an hour and then apply the second coat for the best results. Once properly applied, the coating should last up to 2 years. It all depends on the climate and weather conditions in the region where you live and the methods and products you use to wash the car. For more information, you can check the Education tab to learn how to treat your vehicle best before and after using Ceramic Coatings. The 100ml bottle of CarPro Reload Silica Spray included in the Kit is a step forward in the Ceramic Coating Technology as it was developed to prolong the quality of the Ceramic Coating applied and keep the toughness and all its hydrophobic qualities high for as long as possible. With it, you can much more easily reach those desired 2 years regardless if you live in an area with harsh weather conditions such as constant high-temperature sun, subzero temperatures with snow and lots of salt on the roads, etc. When to apply Ceramic Coating? Prepare the surface first! The ideal conditions to apply the coating would be in a closed garage heated between 60 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit ( or 15.6 and 37.8 degrees Celsius for our metric friends ). The area should be well-ventilated to avoid dust or small particles floating in the air that could stick to the prepared paint or the coating while curing. The whole car should be thoroughly washed to remove all large contaminants from the vehicle's body. Ideally, use car shampoo with a pH value as close to 7 after it has been mixed with water as per the manufacturer's instructions, as this is considered balanced and will not damage the car paint or the ceramic coating in future washes. If you would like to learn more about why the pH value of a car shampoo is important and what pH-neutral car shampoos are, you can read the linked article. Strong car shampoos, mainly cheap ones, are more acidic and will eat up the coating little by little. The effect can be balanced out by using the 100ml bottle of CarPro Reload Silica Spray to "heal it", so to speak. Cheap car shampoos usually use Hydrofluoric Acid as one of their components as it is very aggressive in removing dirt and is cheap. So even if you might fight pH-neutral car Shampoos as more expensive long-term, you will find them as a great and ultimately cheaper way to keep your car clean and protected for a long time. After you have washed your car, it is time to clay bar it! Why clay bar? Well, with time, through different ways, contaminants tend to lodge into your clearcoat, and just a simple wash will not get rid of them. Think of a thorn in your skin - you have to pluck it out. A wash will simply not do the job. A clay bar does just that. On how to use a clay bar effectively, visit the Education section and learn the best way to use the clay bar to minimize clay bar wear and avoid damaging your car paint while maximizing its effectiveness in clearing all those small to microparticles from the clear coat. After the clay bar has been used, it is a good idea to give the car another wash, and after it has been dried, you should degrease the car with isopropyl alcohol diluted with some distilled water in a 1:1 ratio. Distilled water is amazing here as it will leave no smudge marks or particles when dried. As for isopropyl alcohol, it evaporates quickly and also leaves no residue or marks on the car paint. Alcohol also decreases the area from any oils, waxes, and such that may have been left on the car. We are doing all this to prepare the car for paint correction, polishing, and finally, coating the car with the CarPro CQuartz Ceramic Coating product at hand. If you have any scratches or paint chips on your car, now is the time to correct them because the ceramic coating will 'eternalize' the car's condition as it is for the next year or two. If you have any damage and don't want to look at it, you will have to remove them now, as you will not be able to do so without removing the ceramic coat from the damaged area in the future. Also, after the paint correction has been done, you will want to compound the vehicle and polish it to a glass finish before coating it. Again, if you think that that will not be needed, skip coating it straight away. The result might not be as advertised if you skip those steps though so just keep that in mind. The Ceramic Coating, while it does give some gloss, is not a 'beauty product for cars. It is more of a waterproof, bulletproof vest that has extremely high hydrophobic properties, provides scratch resistance, and protects the car's pain from outside elements. Now if you ceramic coat a potato, you will have a protected potato. Still a potato, but protected. If you take a few extra steps to make that potato look like something, you will have a beautiful potato for the next year or two. Think of those few steps as a type of semi-permanent makeup that will not wash away under harsh weather conditions, outside elements, or by simply washing it. For a full, very comprehensive guide to how to prepare the surface of your car for Ceramic Coating, you can click here. Now that all that has been done, it's finally time to apply the Ceramic Coating. Note that this would also be the time to apply wax if you were to use that. But keep in mind that wax is a sealant, and it does protect the car's paint. The ceramic coating does it better, much longer, and will not wash out that easily. How to apply Car Pro Ceramic Coating the right way? Now that you have a fully prepared surface to work with, we can begin with the final act. Take the 50ml bottle of CQuartz UK 3.0 that came with the kit, the CarPro Foam Applicator Block, and one of the four 4" MF Suede applicators. Wrap the applicator around the block, tighten it, and hold the applicator with your middle finger, index finger on one side of the block, and thumb on the other side of the block. You should be holding the block on its longer side to ensure maximum coverage while working with it. Make sure the applicator is tight so you avoid uneven application. You might feel more confident about adding your ring finger alongside your index and middle fingers to get a firmer hold of the block. Whichever way makes you feel more secure, go for it. Once ready, you have your holding technique mastered, it should not take more than a minute, but hey, you never know. Open the 50ml bottle of CQuartz UK 3.0 and apply the liquid from one end to the other on the longer side of the applicator. It should require only a few to a dozen drops to ensure full-length coverage of the applicator. Now what you should do is pick a panel, or if the panel is huge just section it off into two or four parts and start there. Apply the coat in vertical lines on the full length of the panel you are currently working on, and then the same with horizontal lines. After the specified area has been covered in full, let that ceramic coat cure for about 5 minutes. Once it becomes, a bit oily looking is time to buff it out hard. You want to buff the whole area well to perfect shine using the 16" Microfiber Suede Towel that came with the kit or any dry and clean microfiber towel that you might have. Because if you don't and you let any residue crystalize and harden, you will need to polish that out potentially burning through the coat. Also, keep in mind that all the residue that you collect on the microfiber towel while buffing the ceramic coating will eventually harden and render that particular tower unusable. So keep that in mind before you start not to ruin any favorites you might have. And that was also the reason I mentioned microfiber towels, even though this kit provides ways to buff the coating off. If it takes you a long time to coat the vehicle or it is a particularly large car, you might go for those towels instead of potentially damaging your car's paint. You can also apply this coating on all plastic and glass surfaces of your car. I would tape off all rubber surfaces because the coating might come out looking like a white haze on them once cured. So let's avoid that. Once you have covered the whole exterior of the car, wait for about 1 hour and apply the second coat using the same technique. The applicator or applicators you've used for the 1st coat are now useless and should not be used for the second application. After you have successfully applied the second coat, it is time to wait for a full day for the coat to cure and bond with the car's paint fully. Please avoid using the vehicle during those crucial 24 hours as any debris, rain, bugs, really anything that comes in contact with the car might ruin the affected area. For more detailed information regarding what Ceramic Coating is and how Ceramic Coating affects your car's paint, click the link. That is it! Your car is now happy and protected! Enjoy your happy new vehicle, go splash it with mud, dirty water, and dust, and look in awe at how it falls off, or even if it sticks, how easy it is washed down with a hose and some water. Let us see how we have decided to grade this product: product lifetime when applied: A resistance to elements: A resistance to damage: B resistance to chemicals: A application difficulty: C hydrophobic properties: A gloss / shine: B Average grade: B Cost: 47.33$ / 1 fl oz 1.60$ / 1 ml So, what do we think about CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0? CQ.UK 3.0 Ceramic Coating is one of the best Ceramic Coatings we have ever used. We highly recommend it. The great thing about this kit is that you get the Reload along with it. While the Reload on its own had a mediocre performance, it is still a handy way to strengthen the CQ.UK 3.0 coating from time to time when the car has been washed because of its easy and quick application process. It will definitely refresh the main coating and prolong its maximum lifetime before it has to be reapplied. Great value for the price you pay. You can check our Top Lists section to see how it compares to other coatings in its category. Get your CQ.UK 3.0 Ceramic Coating Kit on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2ZXUgfF