How to Wash a Ceramic Coated Car

A coated car is easier to wash, not exempt from washing. Everything below takes about forty minutes and will keep a coating performing the way it did in week one.

Before the First Wash

Leave the car alone for the period you are told at handover. Coatings continue hardening after they are applied, and washing too early is the one genuinely avoidable mistake.

What You Need

• Two buckets with grit guards
• A pH neutral shampoo, not dish soap
• A clean microfibre wash mitt kept only for paint
• Separate wheel tools that never touch the paint
• A large soft drying towel

Step One, Pick the Conditions

Out of direct sun, on a cool panel. Washing a hot car means water and shampoo dry before you rinse them, and that is what leaves water spots on an otherwise perfect finish.

Step Two, Wheels First

Do wheels, tyres and arches before you touch the paint, with tools that never go near a panel. Brake dust is metallic, and dragging it across coated paint is exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Step Three, Pre Rinse

Rinse the whole car thoroughly before anything makes contact. On a coated car a good pre rinse takes off far more than it would on uncoated paint, which is the coating doing its job.

Step Four, Contact Wash

1. 01Load the mitt from the shampoo bucket
2. 02Wash one panel at a time, straight lines, no circles
3. 03Rinse the mitt in the clean bucket after every panel
4. 04Work top down, and leave sills and the rear bar until last

Step Five, Rinse and Dry

Rinse thoroughly, then dry with a soft towel rather than letting the car air dry. Water left to evaporate leaves the minerals behind, and those marks are the most common thing mistaken for coating failure.

How Often

Every one to two weeks for a car in regular use. Less often is fine for a garaged car that barely moves, but do not let contamination sit for months.

What Weak Beading Usually Means

Nine times out of ten it means the coating is contaminated rather than gone. Traffic film sits on top of it and masks the surface behaviour. A proper decontamination wash usually brings it straight back.

Habits to Avoid

• Automatic car washes with brushes, without exception
• Dish soap or any household detergent
• Wiping dust off dry paint
• Waterless washes on a heavily soiled car
• Letting bird droppings sit through a hot day

When to Get It Looked At

If the paint feels rough after a proper wash, or the water behaviour has not returned after a decontamination wash, book it in. The maintenance membership on the detailing page covers exactly this, or send an enquiry.