Foe those that have a ceramic coating

[Diesel S5]

What do you use as far as a dry wash or a detailer spray for in between bucket washes...?

Something that I can run over the car with in 10-20 minutes and not cause damage to the coating, but still get a decent looking appearance out of...

Link to decent microfiber towels that can be washed and reused as well...?

Thanks

[Diokhan]

I don't use detail spray in between washes because of the risk of marring. If I get a bird bomb or similar isolated spot, I'll use a waterless wash and a long pile microfiber to carefully address the spot. Waterless wash has more lubricity than detail spray.

For something for in between washes, use a rinseless wash. I use ONR (Optimum No Rinse) and the McKee's Big Yellow Sponge. There's also P&S and McKee's 37. The sponge is not the kind will mar your paint, it's made just for rinseless washing. I can get around the whole car in under 20 minutes. You can also use a chenille wash mitt or microfiber towels if you'd rather.

For decent microfiber, I use ones from The Rag Company. Autofiber is another company to look at too. Make sure you also pick up some microfiber detergent or use a free & clear laundry detergent and wash the microfiber by themselves.

Here's some links to what I use-
https://theragcompany.com/collection...-and-shine-onr
https://theragcompany.com/collection...s/the-liquid8r
https://theragcompany.com/collection...uble-twistress

A rinseless wash kit:
https://theragcompany.com/collection...eless-wash-kit

[09S5]

Thanks for the information.

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

[SHCKR]

I use CarPro ECH2O.

But that's for their coating in the thread below:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app


https://www.carpro-us.com/wash/water...te-500ml-17oz/


And these towels:

https://www.chemicalguys.com/happy-e...ngs-towel.html

[VVG]

I haven't actually done a real water wash on any car in about 10+ years. I pressure rinse any heavier grime, and then have used Griot's Spray-On Car Wash. Even on black cars, this has yielded spectacular results. The key to using these waterless products is to use enough of it, and proper deep pile microfiber towels. I usually pre-soak the wash towel in some warm water and rinse in a bucket between linear passes across the body panels. Then buff dry with another microfiber towel. When you are finished, you also have a beautiful glistening finish. I do use the Spray-On Car Wash over ceramic, and it works really well. About 2-3 times a year, I will maintain with Griot's 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax or Hydrosilex Ceramic recharge. So far, so good.

[LYKUNO]

CarPro Reload is a Sio2 based spray-on, wipe off product that reseals ceramic coated paint (used after thoroughly washing the car first of course). I've used it as well as similar ceramic detailing products from Sonax. One other product that I've used and works very well is Nanolex SiSplash. /Using quality microfiber towels and turning/changing them will help produce a better finish.

[Dave10]

Ok I am a detailer and have applied hundreds of ceramic coatings on cars. With that stated you should never use any Waterless, Rinseless or quick detailer on a ceramic coated car.

The fact is they all scratch the coating no matter what the sales people say. I have seen people do this several times and say “well, people on the Internet said it would not scratch”

If you have a good coating dust will blow off when you drive. If you car is dirty just wash it. A simple rinse or soapy wash will lift off the dirt and rinse it away.

All those other products have you soak and wipe the car down. They do not have any special magic chemical that lifts the dirt away and suspends it before you softly wipe the car down with fresh fluffy clean MF towels. All the marketing hype you see is complete BS just like the trend of Graphene in coatings causes less water spots. All that stuff is simply not true.

People pay a lot for paint correction and ceramic coatings and they return great results for yours with basic washing maintenance. All those other products add additional cheap chemicals and polymers on top of a great coating that does not need them and they actually make the paint less reflective and crisp. I never understand why people want to cover a ceramic coated car with low quality products.

Ceramic coating do not need toppers at all. The only exception is if you have to let a client take a car before the coating has fully cured. In that case I only use the product from the same company as it is made for. All of the “toppers” wash off with the next wash and if they doint why did you get a coating to begin with?

[VVG]

Ok I am a detailer and have applied hundreds of ceramic coatings on cars. With that stated you should never use any Waterless, Rinseless or quick detailer on a ceramic coated car.

The fact is they all scratch the coating no matter what the sales people say. I have seen people do this several times and say “well, people on the Internet said it would not scratch”

If you have a good coating dust will blow off when you drive. If you car is dirty just wash it. A simple rinse or soapy wash will lift off the dirt and rinse it away.

All those other products have you soak and wipe the car down. They do not have any special magic chemical that lifts the dirt away and suspends it before you softly wipe the car down with fresh fluffy clean MF towels. All the marketing hype you see is complete BS just like the trend of Graphene in coatings causes less water spots. All that stuff is simply not true.

People pay a lot for paint correction and ceramic coatings and they return great results for yours with basic washing maintenance. All those other products add additional cheap chemicals and polymers on top of a great coating that does not need them and they actually make the paint less reflective and crisp. I never understand why people want to cover a ceramic coated car with low quality products.

Ceramic coating do not need toppers at all. The only exception is if you have to let a client take a car before the coating has fully cured. In that case I only use the product from the same company as it is made for. All of the “toppers” wash off with the next wash and if they doint why did you get a coating to begin with?

I agree that you don't need to use quick detailer products on ceramic coated cars. However, I do not agree with your recommendation for not using waterless wash products.

Whether you wash waterless or traditional, something has to touch the car to properly remove the dirt and you will incur some degree of micro-scratch every time you wash you car, no matter what the method. If you power rinse your ceramic coated car, most of the dirt will be gone right there. You can just use a heated air dryer after that and be totally touchless, much of the time. When you do need to touch the car to wash it, applying a liberal amount of waterless wash and wiping with not too much applied pressure to your towels will give great results. You definitely do not want to "rub" a coated car, and you never need to.

As far as dust blowing off a ceramic coated car when you drive, that may happen with ordinary air dust, but this certainly won't happen with road spray after driving in the rain. Especially on the sides, and rear of the car, where a vacuum effect actually sucks the dirt to the car.

My 2022 RS5 is my 3rd ceramic coated car. My 2018 Porsche Macan looks spectacular after over 4 years and 62,000 miles using my methods. So does my 2020 Porsche Spyder. That being said, I have only ever used Griot's Spray-on Car Wash, so I do not know how other products compare. I did contact the company when I had my first ceramic coated vehicle and they informed me that the product would work very well on a coated car. They sell a lot of cleaning products so they could have just as well recommended a traditional wash.

I do agree that once clean (however you choose to do it) you don't need any other type of product over the ceramic coating.

Just Saying.

[Lensch09]

My car is fully wrapped in PPF, then coated with 2 coats of Gtechnic Halo (designed for PPF application).

For me, it's either Costco rags or the ones from Adams - I've never had much luck with microfibers from Amazon, they tend to leave fibers behind and are a waste of time.

For toppers/ID, I use Adams Ceramic boost, Blackfire BF-325 (smells horrible but works great on everything but glass), or the Xpel Ceramic boost.

For general ID when I'm not washing, it's either Adams ID (both the original and the graphene ones work great) or P&S/Renny Doyle BeadMaker. If the car is heavily covered in dirt/dust, don't bother, wash it - You'll F it up more over time if you continue to waterless wash or dork around with pushing dirt around over the paint/coating.

-DL

[Dave10]

I agree that you don't need to use quick detailer products on ceramic coated cars. However, I do not agree with your recommendation for not using waterless wash products.

Whether you wash waterless or traditional, something has to touch the car to properly remove the dirt and you will incur some degree of micro-scratch every time you wash you car, no matter what the method. If you power rinse your ceramic coated car, most of the dirt will be gone right there. You can just use a heated air dryer after that and be totally touchless, much of the time. When you do need to touch the car to wash it, applying a liberal amount of waterless wash and wiping with not too much applied pressure to your towels will give great results. You definitely do not want to "rub" a coated car, and you never need to.

As far as dust blowing off a ceramic coated car when you drive, that may happen with ordinary air dust, but this certainly won't happen with road spray after driving in the rain. Especially on the sides, and rear of the car, where a vacuum effect actually sucks the dirt to the car.

My 2022 RS5 is my 3rd ceramic coated car. My 2018 Porsche Macan looks spectacular after over 4 years and 62,000 miles using my methods. So does my 2020 Porsche Spyder. That being said, I have only ever used Griot's Spray-on Car Wash, so I do not know how other products compare. I did contact the company when I had my first ceramic coated vehicle and they informed me that the product would work very well on a coated car. They sell a lot of cleaning products so they could have just as well recommended a traditional wash.

I do agree that once clean (however you choose to do it) you don't need any other type of product over the ceramic coating.

Just Saying.

I use a pressure washer to pre-rinse and then foam gun all cars and power rinse after 10 minutes before the car even gets touched. That removes 99% of what is on the paint and it is all touchless.

All those waterless washes leave polymers on top of your ceramic coating making it look less than it could. To a detailers trained eye we can see all the scratches. It’s ok, people pay me good money to remove them.

[VVG]

I use a pressure washer to pre-rinse and then foam gun all cars and power rinse after 10 minutes before the car even gets touched. That removes 99% of what is on the paint and it is all touchless.

All those waterless washes leave polymers on top of your ceramic coating making it look less than it could. To a detailers trained eye we can see all the scratches. It’s ok, people pay me good money to remove them.

So then is your advice that if coated, you should only wet wash your car? And then do nothing else? What wash soaps do you recommend for ceramic coating?

[Dave10]

So then is your advice that if are coated, you should only wet wash your car? And then do nothing else? What wash soaps do you recommend for ceramic coating?

Yup, only wet wash. I use Gyeon Reset for all coated cars as it leaves nothing behind and removes everything that gets on top of the coating leaving the paint look the same way it looked when it was first applied.

I use DI water system and blow dry all cars. Towels never touch the paint for drying. Hard water leaves spots but soft DI water does not leave any. You can wash directly in the sun without any issues. When you blow dry the car you get all the water from the door jams, mirrors, trim and grill. With a good coating nothing is left behind, all water just falls or is blow off completely dry.

Gyeon reset wash: https://www.esotericcarcare.com/gyeon-q2m-restart-wash/

[humphammer]

Yup, only wet wash. I use Gyeon Reset for all coated cars as it leaves nothing behind and removes everything that gets on top of the coating leaving the paint look the same way it looked when it was first applied.

I use DI water system and blow dry all cars. Towels never touch the paint for drying. Hard water leaves spots but soft DI water does not leave any. You can wash directly in the sun without any issues. When you blow dry the car you get all the water from the door jams, mirrors, trim and grill. With a good coating nothing is left behind, all water just falls or is blow off completely dry.

Gyeon reset wash: https://www.esotericcarcare.com/gyeon-q2m-restart-wash/

I have never used a ceramic coating on anything other than my wheels but am interested in doing so. I have always used Zaino products, and they do work very well, but you still get bug guts that are difficult to remove all over the front of your car. If they as well as bird droppings are not removed quickly, they will etch into the clear coat. How do you get these bug guts and bird droppings off your paint if you use no rubbing? Do they not stick to a ceramic coating? Thanks in advance for your reply. Also being that I am in Tennessee and too far away for you to professionally do this is it something that I can do or should I look for a professional to do this. And your recommendation for the best ceramic coating. BTW I have a 2018 S5 convertible that is in pristine condition.

[Dave10]

I have never used a ceramic coating on anything other than my wheels but am interested in doing so. I have always used Zaino products, and they do work very well, but you still get bug guts that are difficult to remove all over the front of your car. If they as well as bird droppings are not removed quickly, they will etch into the clear coat. How do you get these bug guts and bird droppings off your paint if you use no rubbing? Do they not stick to a ceramic coating? Thanks in advance for your reply. Also being that I am in Tennessee and too far away for you to professionally do this is it something that I can do or should I look for a professional to do this. And your recommendation for the best ceramic coating. BTW I have a 2018 S5 convertible that is in pristine condition.

Yes, a ceramic coating will help from bugs sticking. The bugs will spray right off with a hose or just a little soaking with your pre wash.

As for bird droppings it is always best to spray them with a little water and lightly wipe them off ASAP as soon as you see them since they etch the paint if they sit to long.

I use Gyeon and Kamikaze coatings. Kamikaze is a little expendable for most DIY guys, but the two Gyeon coatings on the market ( PURE EVO & MOHS EVO) are some of the best on the market for consumers and are about 98% as good as the professional only products they sell.

I am down in TN every Spring to run the Dragon for a week with buddies. I know all too well about the crazy bugs you have down there. Haha with a good coating they do not super stuck to your paint / wax and will spray right off. To be honest anyone that can wax a car can apply a ceramic coating. The main coat of a full detail with a coating is the paint correction step. It takes me 2 days sometimes to get a car connected (sand spots, cut and polish) before it is ready to be coated. Most cars only take an hour to ceramic coat after you are done correcting the paint and wiping the entire car down with 70% alcohol to remove all wax , silicone and fillers. Some manufacturers like Gyeon even sell a product called prep to wipe ypur car down with before you coat it. If the wipe down is not done correctly your coating will not adhere to the paint and the coating fail quickly.

I have clients with cars with a 2-3 year coating still looking great after 5 years. Yes, they have small scratches in the finish, but the coating is still going strong and beading and sheeting water after every wash.


Coating is like paint work. It’s 98% prep and 2% actual coating.

[Lethalsouls]

I have feynlab self heal

I did handwash for awhile, it's more trouble than it's worth due to hard water. I used a leaf blower to dry, but ultimately never is spotless.

I run the car through a touchless car wash now. I know it's not the best for the coating, but it does a good job and I haven't seen any issues.

[humphammer]

Yes, a ceramic coating will help from bugs sticking. The bugs will spray right off with a hose or just a little soaking with your pre wash.

As for bird droppings it is always best to spray them with a little water and lightly wipe them off ASAP as soon as you see them since they etch the paint if they sit to long.

I use Gyeon and Kamikaze coatings. Kamikaze is a little expendable for most DIY guys, but the two Gyeon coatings on the market ( PURE EVO & MOHS EVO) are some of the best on the market for consumers and are about 98% as good as the professional only products they sell.

I am down in TN every Spring to run the Dragon for a week with buddies. I know all too well about the crazy bugs you have down there. Haha with a good coating they do not super stuck to your paint / wax and will spray right off. To be honest anyone that can wax a car can apply a ceramic coating. The main coat of a full detail with a coating is the paint correction step. It takes me 2 days sometimes to get a car connected (sand spots, cut and polish) before it is ready to be coated. Most cars only take an hour to ceramic coat after you are done correcting the paint and wiping the entire car down with 70% alcohol to remove all wax , silicone and fillers. Some manufacturers like Gyeon even sell a product called prep to wipe ypur car down with before you coat it. If the wipe down is not done correctly your coating will not adhere to the paint and the coating fail quickly.

I have clients with cars with a 2-3 year coating still looking great after 5 years. Yes, they have small scratches in the finish, but the coating is still going strong and beading and sheeting water after every wash.


Coating is like paint work. It’s 98% prep and 2% actual coating.

I agree that prep is the biggest part of any good paint protection. For an almost 5-year-old car mine is about as flawless as they come. Of course, since it's not a daily driver and has always been garaged it's lived an easy life. The biggest part of prep for me would be removing the 4-5 coats of Zaino I have on it.

Although I live about 40 miles from the dragon, I've only driven it once, my first and last. I thought it would be fun to take my wife on a trip in our Polaris Slingshot across the Cherohala Skyway and return back through the dragon. Ho-Lee-Cow those people are nuts. We met two small rally type cars coming right at us sideways in a curve.......we had others on bikes passing us in blind curves and I wasn't going slow myself. We were both relieved to make it unscathed and vowed to never take that trek again.

Thanks for the info!

[Dave10]

I have feynlab self heal

I did handwash for awhile, it's more trouble than it's worth due to hard water. I used a leaf blower to dry, but ultimately never is spotless.

I run the car through a touchless car wash now. I know it's not the best for the coating, but it does a good job and I haven't seen any issues.

Feynlab is a great coating!

Use a DI water system to get rid of your hard water. https://www.portablewaterdi.com/shop...SKU=OTG2-DDILS

I have the one above and it is awesome.

[Dave10]

I agree that prep is the biggest part of any good paint protection. For an almost 5-year-old car mine is about as flawless as they come. Of course, since it's not a daily driver and has always been garaged it's lived an easy life. The biggest part of prep for me would be removing the 4-5 coats of Zaino I have on it.

Although I live about 40 miles from the dragon, I've only driven it once, my first and last. I thought it would be fun to take my wife on a trip in our Polaris Slingshot across the Cherohala Skyway and return back through the dragon. Ho-Lee-Cow those people are nuts. We met two small rally type cars coming right at us sideways in a curve.......we had others on bikes passing us in blind curves and I wasn't going slow myself. We were both relieved to make it unscathed and vowed to never take that trek again.

Thanks for the info!

Zaino would come off easy with a polisher and a soft compound. Zaino is just a wax. My buddy used it for for years and had me detail his car and coat it. He tossed out all his Zaino stuff and said he could not believe he waited so long for me to do his car.

You are right the Dragon can get crazy. People tend to drive like it’s a track during the day. On the weekend it is like NYC and traffic is crazy and slow. We do all our runs at night when the police are gone and alll the idiots are sleeping.