DIY car wash and ceramic coating recommendations

Rotting Piñata

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I don't think I even used half of the bottle. I thought I was being pretty liberal about how much I was using. I only did one coat on the windows, roof, and rims. I used RainX on the windshield.

Be sure to use a discount code if you get it. Took $25 off.
Thanks!

After I read your previous comment, I went to their webpage and read up on their product. I was pretty convinced and was ready to buy (with the $25 code!). Then I saw the "how many bottles do I need" link and it said 6 (for 2 coats on an SUV). When I added my wife's car, it said 7. When I tried just for her car (2 coats on a small sedan), it said 3. The recommendations were all over the place. I didn't feel comfortable buying 6 bottles without being sure.
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MurphyDog

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How are you guys wiping off dust /pollen between washes? Damp microfiber cloth enough? Or will that just smear it and make it worse?
I do a light spray of water with a small amount of no-rinse car wash in it. Wipe in one direction with a microfiber towel, then wipe again with a clean dry microfiber towel.
 
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KAustin

KAustin

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Thanks!

After I read your previous comment, I went to their webpage and read up on their product. I was pretty convinced and was ready to buy (with the $25 code!). Then I saw the "how many bottles do I need" link and it said 6 (for 2 coats on an SUV). When I added my wife's car, it said 7. When I tried just for her car (2 coats on a small sedan), it said 3. The recommendations were all over the place. I didn't feel comfortable buying 6 bottles without being sure.
What did you end up doing?
 


Brian-e

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Nothing yet. Two weeks ago I used Chemical Bros Butter Wax. It's not ready for ceramic coating - it may be easier to give the wax time to fade instead of trying to scrub it all off.
I almost purchased Avalon King after watching Pan the Organizer and a couple other videos. Then I got sucked into a little back and forth between Pan and someone else about how it’s actually a paid advertisement from AK and not a true test. It was enough to question the purchase.

Scott HD appears to be doing some fully disclosed testing - overtime. He even created this spreadsheet:

It looks like Avalon King is doing really well, but it hasn’t been tested as long as some of the others.

So after evaluating everything, I went with Adams Polishes Ceramic Paint Coating that held up over 910 days in his testing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...or-20&linkId=f8db39c3cc565de0375f316a94803192

(That link appears to be an affiliate link from Scott HD - NOT ME)

At any rate, look at the testing. There are some that clearly didn’t last and a few others that did well! I actually believe Avalon King will hang in there with the others. Scott seems to think it’s doing well. There are about 3 that he calls China coats that are all doing the same. (AK is one of those.)

I receive it tomorrow, so I have not used it yet. I did find another post on here where someone did - and it looks great. https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/what-about-ceramic-coating.1803/page-7#post-108399
 

shadowsjc

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So I used Mothers ceramic cmx spray a couple of weeks ago after my first hand car wash. I didnt think I did a great job (I later found out you're supposed to let it sit at least 10 mins before buffing out...I think I only left it 5 mins).

Anyway since we're at peak pollen season, my car was covered in a thick layer of pollen the other day. I was going to take it to a car wash again but in the interim I just wiped it down with a clean microfiber towel and that was enough to leave it looking almost as good as if I had just washed it. Guess the ceramic spray really works!

It was relatively cheap at around $22 for the bottle. I'll probably reapply later in the summer and let it sit for the full 10 mins this time.

https://mothers.com/collections/cmx
 

Al-E

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Now that people have had their cars for a while, is there any consensus on what you can do to protect the glass roof?

Can it be ceramic coated or will that make it brittle? Can you put PPF on it to protect against rocks? Or what about a film like Bray or Exoshield?
 

DaMeatMan

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Hey Gang,

I have a feeling I am going to want to keep "Smoke" cleaner than any other vehicle I owned. There are a couple of threads regarding going to a car wash, but I'm trying to gauge peoples' preferences for specific products to use on the car myself. Ideas?

Thanks...
Your car will be much happier in the long term if you just stick to touchless washes only, be it a touchless automatic car wash, or you washing it with a power washer.

It really doesn't matter how much you pay for a detailing product, or how it's marketed, the facts are that physics hasn't changed much over the years. If you wipe the car with anything at all, chances are you are going to be putting micro scratches and swirl marks all over the paint, even if you don't immediately notice it. Waxes and similar coatings simply act as a temporary filler that fill in the damage you're doing when you buff and rub the paint. Underneath that stuff however your paint is not happy and eventually it will show when those coatings wear off.

Those swirl marks certainly don't get their by themselves, and they look like swirls for a reason because that's how we rub down our paint. Give that some thought.

No matter how careful you are and how often you change out your "clean rags", eventually your going to get debris on the towel that acts as sand paper creating those swirl marks.

In all my years of owning a vehicle no matter how cheap or expensive that car was, I have never had any visible swirl marks under the light, and that is because I never ever touched the paint period.

In my humble opinion that is the best thing you can do for your paint, everything else is marketing and snake oil designed to empty your wallet.

I see so many people ask the question how can i protect the paint, or how do I protect the glass etc.. but what the biggest thing it needs protection from is THE USER, who is just itching to rub it down with some "feel good" product!
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