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What is Ceramic Coating? What Are Some Benefits of Using Ceramic Coating?
A Ceramic coating is a liquid polymer coating that is applied to the paint of your vehicle. Ceramic Coatings are designed to protect your paint and help your paint repel water, dirt, oil, and other contaminants. Ceramic Coatings when applied bond to the surface of your vehicle making them semi-permanent. Now that you know what ceramic coating is now we can move onto the benefits of using a ceramic coating on your car.
Benefits of Ceramic Coating
Ceramic coatings are applied to the exterior of vehicles to add an extra layer of protection between the surface of the paint and mother nature. Ceramic Coatings are designed to help protect your paint by making the surface of your vehicle hydrophobic enhancing it’s water beading properties.
This benefits your paint and the overall vehicle looks because any water will bead off the surface of your vehicle and will not give enough time for any dirt or contaminants to sit on the surface of the paint long enough for them to set into the paint.
Applying a ceramic coating to your vehicle will also help add more gloss to the look of your paint. This is one of the main benefits of applying a ceramic coating to your vehicle besides the paint protection and hydrophobic properties that it brings along. Who doesn’t want their paint to be as shiny and glossy as possible?
Ceramic coatings can also protect your vehicle from UV damage that can be caused by leaving your vehicle parked outside in direct sunlight. This can be beneficial if you have to park your vehicle outside during the day as it will help protect your paint from UV damage that can be caused by sitting out in the sun over time.
Ceramic coatings are also nice to have in colder climates where you may not be able to wash your car as often. With a ceramic coating on your vehicle, it should stay a bit cleaner in between car washes as most of the dirt and water your vehicle encounters will bead off of the surface of your vehicle.
Now that you know the main benefits of using ceramic coating lets move onto the limitations of ceramic coating.
Limitations of Ceramic Coating
Ceramic coating a vehicle will not protect it from everything. Ceramic coatings are merely designed to help repel dirt and contaminants from the surface of your vehicle. Ceramic coatings do not have the ability to protect the surface of your paint like a clear bra or film protectant.
A film protectant can protect against small rock chips, small scratches, and swirl marks but a ceramic coating does not have those same abilities. If you are looking for protection against rock chips then you would want to look at having a clear film applied to your vehicle as ceramic coatings cannot do that.
How Hard is it to apply Ceramic Coating?
Applying a ceramic coating is not that difficult to do yourself, it’s a lot like applying a car polish or wax. Ceramic coatings are applied using an applicator pad that you would sprinkle droplets of ceramic coating on, you would then go section by section of your vehicle applying the ceramic coating to your vehicle.
Once done you would just want to let that dry for a few hours before taking your vehicle for a drive.
How do you maintain Ceramic Coatings?
Once you have applied a layer of ceramic coating to your vehicle it should last about a couple years without needing to be reapplied.
One thing that you can do to help maintain the coating is to apply silica sealant spray to your vehicle in to help it maintain the ceramic coating for as long as possible.
When applying this product you want to make sure that you clean your car properly before applying and do not apply over a layer of wax. If you currently have a layer of wax on your vehicle you would want to wash it and clay bar the vehicle before applying this spray.
If you are interested in purchasing the CarPro Reload spray on Amazon I’ve included a link here: CarPro Reload Spray Sealant 500 milliliter with Sprayer
What Ceramic Coating do you use?
I chose to go with CQuartz ceramic coating for my car because of some of the videos I had seen online showing the benefits of applying a ceramic coating to your vehicle.
When I first researched which ceramic coating to use for my vehicle another popular product is the Miglior Strata. They should pretty much be the same products as they will both contain silicon dioxide as the main ingredient.
Does ceramic coating prevent scratches?
No, a ceramic coating will not prevent scratches. Ceramic coating can be thought of as more of a permanent car wax that you would apply to your vehicle. If you are looking for something that would help prevent scratches on your car then you would want to look at applying a clear bra or clear wrap to your paint.
Clear bras or clear wraps are an actual plastic film that is applied to the body panels of your car to help protect the paint. With a clear bra or wrap it should help protect the paint against small rock chips and scratches as the plastic will act as a barrier between the rock and your cars paint.
However, if you have a boulder fall onto your car there isn’t much that you can do to help protect your paint even if you do have a clear bra or clear protective wrap. Ceramic coating is not designed to offer the same amount of protection as clear bras.
The purpose of ceramic coating is to help make your car more hydrophobic to help keep it cleaner between car washes.
My Recommendations
Carpro Cquartz Ceramic Quartz Paint Protection 30 Ml
This specific one contains 30 Ml of Cquartz which is enough to apply twice to a standard-sized car. If you had a large truck or large SUV it may only be enough to apply once. To check out the current prices of this Cquartz ceramic coating on Amazon click here.
When I applied it to my Acura TSX a midsize car I still had exactly half left for another use down the line. This bottle of Cquartz also does not come with a spray bottle of their reload product.
If you think that is something you may like you would probably want to go with the Cquartz kit below that includes a bottle of Cquartz Reload for about the same price. This ceramic coating should last at least two years before needing to be reapplied.
CarPro CQuartz UK 30 ml Kit w/ Reload
The one main difference that I see on this Cquartz kit versus the other besides the bottle of Cquartz Reload included is that it says it’s Cquartz UK.
Cquartz UK is designed to be used in lower temperatures than the regular Cquartz ceramic coating. So if you live in the UK or a colder climate you would want to use the Cquartz UK ceramic coating. To check out the current prices of this Cquartz UK ceramic coating on Amazon click here.
Migliore Strata Ceramic Coating
I believe I actually heard about this ceramic coating before Cquartz and after further research, I ended up going with the Cquartz product. The main reason I ended up going with the Cquartz product over the Migliore Strata was the price differences of each product.
After doing my research and finding that ceramic coating products are all going to be made out of the same stuff I decided to go with one at a more reasonable price point. If you are interested in checking out the current prices of this ceramic coating on Amazon click here.
This isn’t to say that the Migliore product is a bad product it just costs a bit more than Cquartz. It has very high reviews online and in forums, so it probably is a very good product.
Nano Bond Ceramic Coating Car Care Kit 30ML
I honestly don’t know that much about this product but it looks to be the exact same product as with Cquartz and Migliore Strata at a cheaper price point. To check out the current prices of this ceramic coating on Amazon click here.
It says that it has all the same benefits as with other ceramic coatings like adding hydrophobic properties, UV protection, and gloss to your paint. This is also the same size container as the Cquartz that I would recommend so you should also be able to get two uses out of this ceramic coating on standard-sized vehicles.
How to apply Ceramic Coating?
Before you apply any ceramic coating to your vehicle you would want to make sure that you fully prep the surface of the vehicle before applying any ceramic coating.
Remember that ceramic coating is semi-permanent so any blemishes or imperfections that you leave on the paint can be bonded to the surface once you’ve applied a ceramic coating to your paint so you definitely want to make sure that you prep your paint as best as you can before you apply any ceramic coating.
To properly prep your vehicle before applying ceramic coating you would want to follow the steps outlined in the video below.
Related Questions
Is ceramic coating good for your car? One of the main benefits of applying ceramic coating to your car is to help keep dust and dirt from sticking to it between car washes. Having a ceramic coating on your car will help make the surface of the car hydrophobic to help repel water.
As water hits the surface of your car it will repel the water and any dirt and debris off of the car as long as you are moving. It will also help water bead off of your car when your car is parked. Ceramic coating is just a coating that goes over the paint surface to help protect it against UV rays and help make the surface slicker.
Ceramic coating can only be bad for your car if it is applied improperly. Remember that ceramic coating is semi-permanent. It can be removed with some effort if applied improperly. You should research how to apply ceramic coating if you plan on applying a ceramic coating yourself to your car.
That way you have a full understanding of all the steps that you need to take to prep the paint surface before applying ceramic coating to your car.
What is the use of ceramic coating? Ceramic coatings main function is to help make the paint surface of your car hydrophobic. Hydrophobic if you don’t know what that means is basically the ability of something to repel water.
Shirts that are able to repel water and stains are technically hydrophobic because any water that is dropped onto them falls off of the shirt instead of sinking into the shirt material. A ceramic coating works in the same sort of way to help protect your paint from dirt and water spots.
Ceramic coating will help repel dirt from sticking to the surface of your paint. Ceramic coating also creates a hydrophobic surface on your paint that then allows any water to drip off of the paint which reduces the amount of dirt on your car and water spots.
Ceramic coatings will not prevent dirt and water spots from building up on your car entirely but will help reduce them.
Is ceramic coating permanent? Most ceramic coatings are semi-permanent. This means that they are somewhat permanent but can be removed with enough elbow grease if needed. With most ceramic coatings they are designed to be re-applied yearly or every other year.
What is nice about this is that you only have to apply it once every two years. If you are bad about applying wax consistently or after every car wash you can apply ceramic coating once a year and it should help you reduce the amount of dirt and debris on your car between car washes without much work.
You can also apply wax on top of the ceramic coating if you want to make your car extra shiny.
Should you wax before ceramic coating? No, you should not wax your car before applying ceramic coating to your car. You want to allow the ceramic coating to be able to bond with the surface of your paint.
If you apply wax before applying ceramic coating this will interfere with the bonding process and will prevent the ceramic coating from attaching to your paint properly. You can, however, apply wax to the ceramic coating after the ceramic coating has been applied and given plenty of time to bond with the paint.
I’d advise not apply wax to your car directly after applying a ceramic coating. It would probably be best to wait at least a day before applying any wax to the ceramic coating to allow it plenty of time to bond with the paint surface.
What is the best ceramic coating for cars 2019? The best ceramic coating for cars in 2019 is Cquartz ceramic coating. It is reasonably priced and allows you to go two years before having to reapply. I was able to use half of the bottle the first time I applied the ceramic coating and still have the other half left.
That means I should be able to get four years of use out of just one bottle of Cquartz ceramic coating. I have noticed that it does a great job of making water bead off the surface of my car, especially when I am driving.
It flings water and dirt off of your car making it look clean once everything dries up. Cquartz is my personal favorite, if you do a bit of research online you will also find plenty of other people that recommend using it as well.
Benefits of Ceramic Coating – Conclusion
Hopefully, this ceramic coating buying guide has been better able to inform you about what ceramic coating is and what benefits it can provide you by applying it to your vehicle.
If you do choose to apply a ceramic coating to your vehicle you can’t go wrong with any of the product recommendations that I’ve made. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of what ceramic coating is and how it can benefit your vehicle by being applied.
If you have scratches on your car and you want to get them fixed before applying ceramic coating then you may be interested in checking out my other article about how to fix scratches on your car.