Car Ceramic Coating
Car Ceramic Coating
What is Car Ceramic Coating?
To understand ceramic coatings, it helps to first look at the most common paint-protection products.
Wax is natural and the cheapest. It comes in many forms, from an old-fashioned paste to a quick-and-easy spray. “Waxing” a car has been a common way to keep it looking shiny and new for decades. Unfortunately, wax doesn’t last very long, so it needs to be applied more than once a year. Some companies say otherwise, but environmental pollutants and even a harsh soap can easily get through that thin wax barrier.
On the other hand, sealants are made of chemicals and are made to last for a few months. They are easy to use, but they don’t usually give the same deep shine as a good wax.
A ceramic coating beats them both. This liquid polymer made of silica is spread by hand and hardens into a protective layer that, if kept in good shape, can last for years.
Ceramic coating has many Benefits
Ceramic coatings are usually chosen over other options because they protect cars for a long time. A ceramic coating is basically a hard shell that keeps water spots, road grime, bird droppings, and other things from getting to the paint and damaging it. With a quick rinse, they will come off easily.
Now we can talk about an interesting word: hydrophobic. Usually, anything that has to do with the word “phobic” is bad, but in this case, it’s all good. A ceramic coating will make a hydrophobic layer that repels water, making it harder for mineral deposits and dirt to damage the paint surface.
Not What Ceramic Coating Will Do
Ceramic coatings are not good for everyone, mostly because they are expensive. Unlike wax, a ceramic coating sticks to and bonds with a car’s paint and can’t just be wiped off and put back on. The process is more like staining a piece of wood, where the stain needs to be applied smoothly and evenly, and for the best results, a professional should do it. If something goes wrong or something touches the surface before it is fully dry, the whole area of the car must be wet sanded and the coating must be reapplied.
Even though ceramic coating kits cost less than $100, this can be an expensive project if you don’t prepare well. Since the coating will bring out any flaws, you must first carefully polish the paint to get rid of any swirls, scratches, or spots. Experts say that’s true even for brand-new cars that just came off the dealer’s lot because they probably have a little damage to the paint from going through an automatic car wash.
With this in mind, you might not be surprised to hear that a professional could charge you $1,000 or more to put a ceramic coating on your car. We don’t recommend that the average person try to fix their own car, no matter how much it’s worth.
Even more important than how much a ceramic coating cost is how some people expect it to work when it doesn’t. Even though ceramic coatings offer the best protection, they won’t make your car impenetrable. Stones will still chip your paint, rogue shopping carts will definitely dent your fender, and tree sap left to bake on the hood will laugh at your $1,000 silica-based polymer.
Also, you need to keep a ceramic coating in good shape by washing it often without a brush (to avoid swirls and scratches) and treating it occasionally with a special spray, which, thankfully, owners can do themselves.
Contact Us
We at Yonkers Window Tint are dedicated to making sure that you and your property are at its best. With us, you can rest assured that all of your paint protection and other property enhancing needs are met in an efficient manner at a competitive price! We look forward to working with you to meet all of your paint protection and property enhancement needs.