How to care for and maintain your ceramic coated vehicle!

Hi all and welcome back to the Leading Edge detailing blog!

In one of our earlier blogs we discussed in detail the myths and facts of ceramic paint protection and demonstrated that whilst it does provide considerable amazing benefits it does require care and maintenance. In this blog we will discuss this area in more detail!

Lets get straight into it and always remember that prevention is better (and cheaper) than cure!!!

Wash your car regularly!

Many people (and yes we have had many) wrongly assume that a ceramic coated vehicle does not require washing. This is of course —–> wrong <—– rest assured a product that lets you neglect your car and never wash it does not exist anywhere in the world. Not washing your car regularly will lead to contamination such as rail rust and fallout adhering to the coating reducing its effectiveness and whilst that contamination is not hard to remove, the process of removing it will swirl mark your car and damage your coating.

Always dry your car if rinsed!

Similar to the above point many people find that rinsing your coated car cleans it very well (an amazing benefit of IGL coatings) however as they do not wish to dry the paint (as it is not washed) to avoid swirls they simply let the water sit and dry on the paint. This is one sure way to ruin the looks and performance of your coating! Tap water contains minerals and as the water evaporates it will leave those mineral deposits on your paint creating water spots, dulling the shine and damaging the hydrophobic properties.

Do not use products not designed to be used with coatings!

If you can think of it, we have seen it used on coated cars! Alcohol, brake cleaner, degreaser, thinners, wax and grease removers and the list goes on and on and on…. your car is coated and thus it is easier to clean, you don’t need to use such aggressive methods and chemicals that will strip the coating or even damage your paint! Stick to using high quality products designed for coated cars like IGL Wash.

Do not let bird/bat poo/tree sap/bugs sit on the paintwork for longer than it has to!

You are probably getting the drift of things by this point of the blog, if a bird poops on your beautiful coated car clean it straight away. Yes the coating is designed to protect your paint just like an airbag is supposed to save your life in an accident, but just because you have airbags doesn’t mean you should go crashing head first into everything….. look after your coating and it will look after you!

Do not wax or polish your car!

Polish will remove your coating as it is an abrasive, wax may damage the properties, as simple as that! If your car is coated and you feel like it needs to be polished then you have probably ignored all of what I have typed above in this blog! The car should not need polishing or waxing.

Now that you know what not to do, lets discuss what you can do to increase the lifespan of your coating and enhance its performance!

Use high quality paint sealants!

Products like IGL Premier and IGL Enhancer are designed to top up and protect your ceramic coated car. Use them as directed in conjunction with regular washing and your coating will always perform like the day it was applied! These products will act as a sacrificial layer taking the damage from the sun and elements away from your coating.