Ceramic Coatings are awesome!

[Ron]

I had my new Grand Cherokee ceramic coated along including wheels and glass. Up in the mountains the use of Mag Chloride coats the exterior with a finish eating chemical cocktail. It creates a nasty film on the paint and especially on the windshield. It ate through my lasts jeeps' chrome. Normally, a car wash won't remove the film and coating. I just drove 200 miles (round to trip to LL) through snow covered roads which left the jeep filthy. I took it to the wash and nearly all (99%) of the coating and film was removed including the wheels and with no film on the glass. It was pretty remarkable. Strongly recommend it!

 

[Andy Mink]

Ceramic coating is gaining traction in the RV world. That's a lot of waxing and washing on some of the big units. Definitely go to a well established and reviewed business. Like lots of newer technologies, many are jumping in without the experience and/or expertise to do a good job. Considering trailers are done by the foot they can be well over a grand, maybe two, to coat. I'm considering it for our 36' 5th wheel.

 

[anders_nor]

I've done it to my 4 latest veichles as well, its magic! and you can just up the hydrofopics after a while at home with basic stuff, car mainetnance is about 20x easier.

For my trackcar I haveit on the wheels and its just weird how easy they are to clean now!

 

[GregK]

Have applied ceramic coatings on cars, boats and RVs for over 10 years and it’s definitely been a game changer in the industry. It honestly isn’t much different than applying a wax or sealant but like those products, the surface has to properly be cleaned, polished and prepped before applying.

I charge only a few hundred $ more to apply on a car vs a typical wax as it only costs me about $40 in product to do the average car and a bit more in labour.

Boats, RVs and older cars really benefit from it as they do not have clear coats like modern cars have so the protection of a ceramic coating will be an even stronger benefit.

Detailing an RV or boating is less time consuming that most people think as it’s like painting a big open wall vs painting a tiny bathroom. You can wash, polish and coat the front and sides of a 30’ RV in the same time it takes to detail the inside/outside of an SUV. Just a back and leg breaking day to go up and down ladders all day or be cramped under the trailer of a boat! You are usually be in full sun all day in the middle of Summer so I only do a few boats or RVs a year thank god! Lol

 

[doc]

All of my vehicles are ceramic coated. Game changer.
Problem is what do I do with all the car wax in the basement?

 

[James]

So is this a possible diy thing?

 

[GregK]

So is this a possible diy thing?

Definitely but you should really be getting the surface properly cleaned and polished first to make sure it will adhere as intended and look great. Ceramic coatings do not hide scratches like some filler waxes or glazes so it won’t make a super scratched car look any better. You should be removing scratches with polish and buffers first and then apply the ceramic coating to protect the finish.

If the car is new and in great shape as far as scratches etc go, the application process is very similar to applying wax so you definitely could do it at home. You apply it using droplets of the coating on a microfiber applicator and spread it evenly on the surface and then go back over the area within a few minutes with a microfiber cloth to ensure there aren’t any “high spots”. Do the car in small sections while wiping down with your cloth after.

When coatings first came out, you had to be very quick to go back over your applied sections or it would cure in high spots and worst case had to be polished again to remove those hazed areas. Now, the curing time is much longer in the current versions so it’s much more DIY friendly.

Still not a “fix all” as any car will only look as good as the prep work before applying these coatings so most people are better off getting a pro to apply if there vehicle isn’t in pretty good shape already.

 

[James]

Definitely but you should really be getting the surface properly cleaned and polished first to make sure it will adhere as intended and look great. Ceramic coatings do not hide scratches like some filler waxes or glazes so it won’t make a super scratched car look any better. You should be removing scratches with polish and buffers first and then apply the ceramic coating to protect the finish.

If the car is new and in great shape as far as scratches etc go, the application process is very similar to applying wax so you definitely could do it at home. You apply it using droplets of the coating on a microfiber applicator and spread it evenly on the surface and then go back over the area within a few minutes with a microfiber cloth to ensure there aren’t any “high spots”. Do the car in small sections while wiping down with your cloth after.

When coatings first came out, you had to be very quick to go back over your applied sections or it would cure in high spots and worst case had to be polished again to remove those hazed areas. Now, the curing time is much longer in the current versions so it’s much more DIY friendly.

Still not a “fix all” as any car will only look as good as the prep work before applying these coatings so most people are better off getting a pro to apply if there vehicle isn’t in pretty good shape already.

Thanks. Are the ones like Opti-Coat any better?

 

[Blue Streak]

So is this a possible diy thing?

Absolutely.
Adam's Polishes is an excellent source.

 

[GregK]

Thanks. Are the ones like Opti-Coat any better?

Opti-Coat is the original ceramic coating and still my favorite because of it’s application ease, price and lifespan(2-3 years). Was first called Opti-Coat/Opti Coat Pro, then Opti-Coat 2.0 and now Opti Gloss Coat. The curing time was lengthened and it now has a milky colour so it’s easier see when applying and it has a little bit better look now.

 

[martyg]

I've been using Chemical Boy products on my vehicles that I feel compelled to keep clean. First a through cleaning with Wet Mirror Finish. Then one coat with Extreme Top Coat. Let it cure a day, then a second coat. I'll do this just before I put snow tires on.

I frequently drive from Durango to the I70 corridor and / or Denver. On the way home I hit a self car wash place to blast the grime off, and am always amazed with the results. My Audi also never goes in the garage, so it has the added exposure of living outside.

 

[cantunamunch]

Has @Ron DIY coated his fat bike yet? Inquiring minds.

 

[DanoT]

I have been using Meguier's spray on ceramic coating instead of wax with almost every wash for the past couple of years. First application is apply by hand but after that it is wash and rinse car, spray on, wait a minute, hose off.

 

[anders_nor]

thats more a "quick" version vs a proper application, but it does work suprisingly well.

I use spray on stuff for topsheets of my skis, new turtle wax and the meguiars beeing favorites.

 

[DanoT]

I use spray on stuff for topsheets of my skis, new turtle wax and the meguiars beeing favorites.

Head's Kore lineup of skis come with no topsheet and my Kore 93's seem to get more snow stuck on them than other skis. I tried NuFinish polish and it was ok but not great. Next up will be Meguiar's ceramic.
I also have something that I have used to keep snow off a satellite dish called Dupont Snow and Ice Repellant with Teflon fluoropolymer (doesn't sound FIS compliant ). I might start with a small test spot before going whole hog with this stuff.

The base side of my Kore 93s have just had the DPS Phantom Waxless Treatment If it wasn't so expensive I'd probably DPS the topsheets. In Canada Mtn Equipment Co-op sells the DPS diy kit for $120Cdn +tax, a local ski shop did it for $180Cdn plus tax.

 

[GregK]

I have ceramic coated my topsheets as I have my detailing gear right beside my ski bench and think it makes a difference. Most topsheets do have clear coats and I have polished top sheets of friends skis when I tune them to make them look better.
I’m very good at touching up car paint and will touch up topsheets with car touch up if I can find a close color in my supplies.

 

[Tom K.]

I need @GregK to make a house call to NW Montana once the ship of civilization is righted.

FWIW, Glacier NP is in my backyard (almost).

 

[Cameron]

Ceramic coating is gaining traction in the RV world. That's a lot of waxing and washing on some of the big units. Definitely go to a well established and reviewed business. Like lots of newer technologies, many are jumping in without the experience and/or expertise to do a good job. Considering trailers are done by the foot they can be well over a grand, maybe two, to coat. I'm considering it for our 36' 5th wheel.

I recall seeing in an RV group on Facebook several people having it done at a place that I want to say was in Texas or Arizona. The results looked amazing but I think they were paying in the $4-5K range to get it gone. I know locally places wanted $1600-2000 for our Toyota Sienna so that seemed reasonable. I'd consider it for our 43' fifth wheel but it spends about 10.5 months of the year indoors so I wasn't sure it would be worth the expense.

 

[Andy Mink]

I recall seeing in an RV group on Facebook several people having it done at a place that I want to say was in Texas or Arizona. The results looked amazing but I think they were paying in the $4-5K range to get it gone. I know locally places wanted $1600-2000 for our Toyota Sienna so that seemed reasonable. I'd consider it for our 43' fifth wheel but it spends about 10.5 months of the year indoors so I wasn't sure it would be worth the expense.

If you have indoor storage I'd think once a year wax would be sufficient. Mine's outside and we use it in rather dusty conditions all year so it might be worth it. I'd have to get the cost past the Minister of Finance.

 

[GregK]

I recall seeing in an RV group on Facebook several people having it done at a place that I want to say was in Texas or Arizona. The results looked amazing but I think they were paying in the $4-5K range to get it gone. I know locally places wanted $1600-2000 for our Toyota Sienna so that seemed reasonable. I'd consider it for our 43' fifth wheel but it spends about 10.5 months of the year indoors so I wasn't sure it would be worth the expense.

If you have indoor storage I'd think once a year wax would be sufficient. Mine's outside and we use it in rather dusty conditions all year so it might be worth it. I'd have to get the cost past the Minister of Finance.

As I was mentioning above, ceramic coatings aren’t really the mysterious black art that the industry seems to be conveying with their insane pricing. Remember, it cost me about $25-40 in coating and about 45 mins to apply after I prep and polish an average vehicle. Yet pricing everywhere is $1000 at least plus the extra costs of polishing the surface before application.

If it’s living mostly indoors, surface fade and oxidation will take longer to occur so detailing jobs will protect or last longer. I honestly find even using a decent 1 step “cleaner wax/sealant” every few years works wonders for cleaning off that dullness and giving the boat or RV some protection. Lots of products specifically made for this.
You can apply with a random orbital buffer yourself without risk of hurting the finish. It’s just labour and going up and down ladders all day, so nicer if it’s out of the sun. After a mild polish is used to clean off the surface, you could diy apply a ceramic coating