What are the Benefits of a Ceramic Coating?
You care about the appearance of your vehicle. You wash it regularly, you avoid parking under trees where possible, and you even give it a wax every now and again to improve the shine. However, despite your best efforts it quickly gets dirty again, rapidly loses its shine, and when it rains the water just sits on it in big puddles.
Fear not, there is a type of coating out there that will keep your vehicle looking cleaner for longer, make it easier to wash, and protect it from the elements.
As you’ve probably guessed from the title, we’re referring to Ceramic Coatings.
Figure 1; Illustration of the beading and sheeting on a ceramic coating.
What is a Ceramic Coating?
A ceramic coating is a semi-permanent protective coating typically applied by hand that chemically bonds to a vehicle’s paintwork. It is optically clear, and, due to its chemical composition, it can provide a shine and brightness that uncoated paintwork cannot match. Ceramic coatings are semi-permanent, and are available in different durability ratings, typically stated in years.
Think of ceramic coating technology as a next-generation wax. It will not wash off, making it much longer lasting than a carnauba based wax, while still offering that wonderful high gloss finish.
Ceramic coatings are also lower-maintenance than both uncoated & waxed vehicles. The slick surface that the ceramic coating offers stays cleaner for longer, and is less prone to contamination. This leads to less washing and fewer headaches!
What Are The Benefits of A Ceramic Coating?
A good quality ceramic coating bonds to, and seals in, your vehicle’s paintwork, providing a layer of both physical and chemical protection to the paint underneath. The coating provides:
Greater resistance to chemical etching from bird droppings & acid rain
UV Resistance & Protection from paint oxidation
An element of ‘self-cleaning’ from the ultra-hydrophobic properties, keeping the coated vehicle cleaner for longer between washes
Attractive water behaviour - beading & sheeting of water
In this image of a customer’s ceramic coated car we can see how the rain droplets are forced into beads on the surface.
It is this hydrophobic beading behaviour of the slick ceramic surface that allows water to roll off, for ‘self-cleaning’ to happen, allowing the vehicle to stay cleaner for longer.
The ceramic coated surface is much easier to clean too. A wash mitt will glide over the coated surface with less friction than a non-coated car, decreasing the likelihood of wash-induced paint marring.
What Our Customers Think
We love to hear customer feedback on ceramic coatings as it reminds us of how effective and durable they can be. The feedback from our customers, where we have installed Gtechniq’s Crystal Serum Light in particular, is overwhelmingly positive.
Customers have reported a high level of surface slickness, making it harder for tar and sap to stick to the paint, increased ease of washing, and not to mention the excellent beading!
As well as the Gtechniq range of ceramic coatings, there are other great alternatives from the likes of Gyeon, Carpro, and Carbon Collective, to name a few. We have experience working with a large number of the coating products on the market and are always happy to discuss the options available.
Don’t forget; there are also ceramic coating products out there for glass, wheels, and brake calipers too, to complement paintwork ceramic coating offerings. Once again, we are happy to help with any queries as we have experience in applying and using these coatings every day.
For those who want a shorter-term coating, modern automotive wax technology has evolved, and we are big fans of Graphene based waxes, as well as modern Carnauba Wax such as Meguiar’s ‘Hi-Tech’ offering.
If you have any queries on any of the above, or would like to discuss how we could help with your vehicle, please reach out to us on 07508 727 484, booking@jr-automotive.co.uk, or on the chat window below. We would love to hear from you.
Until next time - keep it clean and shiny!
Useful Links:
JR’s Ceramic Coating Packages - https://www.jr-automotive.co.uk/paint-ceramic-coating
Paint Correction & Scratch Removal Blog - https://www.jr-automotive.co.uk/blog/how-many-stages
