When a coating fails early, the coating usually gets the blame. In our experience it's almost always the prep. A ceramic coating bonds to whatever is on the surface when you apply it. If that surface has wax, old sealant, polishing oils, or embedded iron on it, the coating bonds to those instead of the clear coat, and it lets go when they do. Here's what we do on every car in the shop before a coating goes on, in order.
1. Wash
A proper two-bucket wash with a foam pre-wash. Use Color Changing Ceramic Soap; its color change shows you where you've missed. Dry the car completely.
2. Decontaminate
Two kinds of contamination, two tools. Iron: mist the whole car with Gel Wheel Cleaner & Iron Remover, let it turn purple, rinse. Bonded grit: glide a Fine Grade Clay Pad over every panel with plenty of lubricant. Graphene Detail Spray doubles as a clay lube and seals as you go. Run your fingertips over the paint inside a plastic sandwich bag: when it feels like glass, you're done.
3. Correct
This is the step people skip, and it's the one that decides how the car looks for the next five years. The coating locks in the finish; it doesn't fix it. Swirls, holograms, and scratches under a coating are there until the coating is polished off.
- Heavier defects: Rubbing Compound on the Scratch Removing Microfiber Pad.
- Light swirls: the same compound, or Final Polish on the Swirl Removing Foam.
- Final gloss: Final Polish on the Final Finishing Foam Pad.
If you don't own a polisher and the paint is in good shape, you can skip to step 4. If the paint is swirled, either learn to polish or bring it to a shop; don't coat over it.
4. Strip
Polishing leaves oils. Waxes and sealants leave residue. Wipe every panel with Prep Spray on a clean microfiber. It removes everything the coating shouldn't bond to and leaves bare, dry clear coat. This is the same product we use before paint protection film and vinyl for the same reason.
5. Coat
Now, and only now, open the coating. Work out of direct sun in a garage or shade, one panel at a time, and follow the instructions on the bottle for application and flash time. Keep the car dry and away from washing while it cures; the label will tell you how long.
The shortcut
Our Complete Ceramic Protection System packages the prep, the coating, the boost, and the soap together. It's the same set of bottles we'd hand you if you walked into the shop and asked what you need. For the full picture on which coating to choose, read this guide.
