Wax and polish after ceramic coating

[KINGFUROOK]

My truck was ceramic coated with/by ECP in 2022. If I clean and clay bar it, am I good to polish and wax it with Griots garage? It is slightly abrasive.

 

[John Kloehr]

No. Clay bar can damage or remove ceramic. In theory, a mild clay bar used gently may be OK but most pros say no. Also no need to coat ceramic (it is the final coating), have it renewed every now and then.

Ceramic needs no additional product, though each ceramic brand does offer a "maintainer" and usually a detailer to be used every now and then. This writeup is very close to my philosophy on ceramic:

How to Maintain a Ceramic Coated Car

My Challenger (garage queen) is in for the annual (been 3 years ) maintenance as I type. i just wash it every now and then with the recommended car wash stuff. Everything comes off so easily. There have been a few times I thought I was going to have to use some of the detailer for a bug splat or something, but they have all washed off.

I am giving some thought to getting ceramic on my Ram. I will not be getting paint correction, it is a truck and a daily. It gets dings. I am considering ceramic as aphids drop sticky crap everywhere and it turns black on cars outdoors. Does not wash off easily. Professional ceramic might be the best solution. Being an outside vehicle, I would then stick to getting it refreshed every year.

 

[RAM REAPER MAN]

My truck was ceramic coated with/by ECP in 2022. If I clean and clay bar it, am I good to polish and wax it with Griots garage? It is slightly abrasive.View attachment 202062

I was under the impression that the spray on stuff was designed to enhance the ceramic coated base.
I'm kind of interested in the opposite situation where you can ceramic coat after polishing?
I have a hard time believing ceramic coat alone can fix all corrections.

 

[HSKR R/T]

My truck was ceramic coated with/by ECP in 2022. If I clean and clay bar it, am I good to polish and wax it with Griots garage? It is slightly abrasive.View attachment 202062

Deoending on the ceramic coating applied, it may be past it's servicelife anyways. I personally wouldn't use that wax though. All-in-one products tend to give sub par results because they are a compromise of each step they are combining.

 

[John Kloehr]

I was under the impression that the spray on stuff was designed to enhance the ceramic coated base.
I'm kind of interested in the opposite situation where you can ceramic coat after polishing?
I have a hard time believing ceramic coat alone can fix all corrections.

Ceramic does not do anything for the underlying paint, and do need to get the car impeccably clean before coating. After that, there are maintainers for specific coatings, recommended car wash soap (ceramic is sensitive to pH, never again go through a commercial car wash), and detailer product as an option for cleaning short of an actual wash.

As to the paint, paint correction before coating is an option. While a quality ceramic job can be DIYed in the garage (and I am not referring to the products at the local parts store), true paint correction is IMO a professional activity. It basically means taking sandpaper to the clear coat and removing orange peel or other defects. A professional activity as they use tools like paint thickness gauges, know when to stop (before going completely through the clear coat), and experience combined with product training.

So at home, yes, get the car clay bar clean, polish within your experience and comfort zone, coat with ceramic (multiple thin coats), and enjoy. But no DIY deep paint correction with sandpaper unless you are very brave.

I am thinking about getting my Ram ceramic coated (no actual correction) professionally. Will be talking to the shop about it next week. Trees where I live get aphids, they excrete a sticky substance, it gets cars black and is a pain to wash off. Going to see if ceramic might make the truck easier to keep looking nice even if it means an annual refresh at the shop.

This is my garage queen, ceramic coat with paint correction (lots of orange peel removed), in the shop now getting refreshed:

 

[John Kloehr]

And just to be clear, the local auto parts store does not sell ceramic coating products, they sell sealants/waxes/top coats (generically waxes) which contain some ceramic. They are not ceramic coatings.

This is the company used by my ceramic shop:

Best Ceramic Coating for Cars | Ceramic Paint Coating

Elevate your car's appearance and protect its paint and finish with our ceramic coating for cars. Shop Gtechniq and experience long lasting shine!

gtechniq.com

There are other true ceramic coatings.

 

[RAM REAPER MAN]

Deoending on the ceramic coating applied, it may be past it's servicelife anyways. I personally wouldn't use that wax though. All-in-one products tend to give sub par results because they are a compromise of each step they are combining.

I agree with you 99.9% of the time and really believe that with tools. You can't force something to do a multi job without one of the two suffering performance in both or one of the jobs. My drill can't be a sander and preform at its best for both job. Only reason I'm not 100% behind you is because this stuff performs better together than my separate normal method of using 2 products. I think its safe to say if I could separate the 2 parts of what I'm using it would come out better. Someone recommended the stuff to me on this site so I figured I've bought dumber stuff than this before so it wont hurt to try.

Ceramic does not do anything for the underlying paint, and do need to get the car impeccably clean before coating. After that, there are maintainers for specific coatings, recommended car wash soap (ceramic is sensitive to pH, never again go through a commercial car wash), and detailer product as an option for cleaning short of an actual wash.

As to the paint, paint correction before coating is an option. While a quality ceramic job can be DIYed in the garage (and I am not referring to the products at the local parts store), true paint correction is IMO a professional activity. It basically means taking sandpaper to the clear coat and removing orange peel or other defects. A professional activity as they use tools like paint thickness gauges, know when to stop (before going completely through the clear coat), and experience combined with product training.

So at home, yes, get the car clay bar clean, polish within your experience and comfort zone, coat with ceramic (multiple thin coats), and enjoy. But no DIY deep paint correction with sandpaper unless you are very brave.

I am thinking about getting my Ram ceramic coated (no actual correction) professionally. Will be talking to the shop about it next week. Trees where I live get aphids, they excrete a sticky substance, it gets cars black and is a pain to wash off. Going to see if ceramic might make the truck easier to keep looking nice even if it means an annual refresh at the shop.

This is my garage queen, ceramic coat with paint correction (lots of orange peel removed), in the shop now getting refreshed:

View attachment 202127

I'd like to think I have some detailing experience. I like doing it myself it's fun and no one will do a better job than I because its mine. I always in the past used Maguire's compound with a wool pad then switch a foam pad (high speed buffer). Then I used a 3m polish with random orbital followed by typically decent wax. The compound I had left over is a totally different product compared to what I bought this time even though its the same. I guess I'm wondering if I compounded it out then used a straight polish is then is it okay to start the ceramic? What surface type is best to apply it to?

 

[John Kloehr]

What surface type is best to apply it to?

An absolutely immaculate surface prepared per the particular ceramic coating product guidelines. The final step usually is a thorough wipe with Isopropyl Alcohol. See instructions for the selected product as to percentage (70% vs 91%).