By now you certainly know that “Ceramic” formulated paint protection and detail supplies are all the latest Hot Deal. And it seems ever car care products company is coming out with a raft of them. The idea behind most is that the molocules in the product form a molecular bond with the paint surface; promising unparalleled shine, water beating, resistance to weardown, long-lasting shine, gloss and protection, and all other sorts of magic.
I have a friend that doesn’t buy a new car without “having the Ceramic applied.” I’ll admit his cars look great after this not-inexpensive process, and I recently rode in his Lucid which was professionally “applied” about five minutes after he took delivery of the car. He has another car, a big, dark colored Jag, few years old sedan that needed a bit of paint correction and a deep polishing, and they did that and applied their longest lasting pro level grade ceramic coating, and the car looked new and still looks great. That cost him close to a grand.
I sampled and tested a few of the first available consumer level ceramic products not long after they came out. Honestly wasn’t impressed. They went on easy enough but never felt like they “dried” so I didn’t know if I was wiping off “still wet” product or if that was how it was supposed to work. And it didn’t seem to last all that long.
Mothers has just come out with a new line of ceramics that will wash/ prep/polish/correct the paint, and then a spray on protection “wax” which they claimed to be newly developed, easy to use, and good for someone wanting to sample and/or “get used to” ceramics.
I first tested out the car wash concentrate, which seemed to work a treat. It lifted away dirt, dust and general schmutz nicely, and didn’t leave odd residue or seem harsh. Smelled great, dried clean.
I don’t have any cars needing paint correction or polishing, so I couldn’t sample this new Mothers product yet. But I will when I find the right friend’s vehicle that needs a deep clean, strip, and protection.
Last up was my pickup which is fairly new with paint in good shape and was still showing some residual beading and protection from a previous detail job with a synthetic liquid wax. One of the benefits of the new Mothers Ceramic Spray wax is that it can be applied over any existing wax or protection — this is in contrast to most ceramic waxes that can only be applied to freshly stripped, clean, wax-free paint. Its uber easy to use; spray on to a small area of any body panel, in around 2’x2′ sections, then spread with a microfiber towel. Then let it dry for a few minutes to a light haze. This haze result is so light you can barely see it on light colors, but its there just enough to know its dry. Then wipe away with a clean dry microfiber towel, and buff to shine.
The resulting shine seemed pretty good, although the surface didn’t yield the super smooth, glasslike slickness that I was expecting or maybe just hoping for. Now about three months later, it still beads well, and appears to be protecting well, and lasting too. I’m going to deepl clean the car again and reapply the Ceramic Spray Wax product again just to see how it does, and then guage the result.
So right now I’d say TBD. I like the car wash and plan to continue to use it. The Paint Correction polish product is also pending, as is another crack at the Spray Wax. I’m thinking “like not love,” pending further use — and if you are anxious to test the Ceramic protection waters, this is an easy, low risk, affordable way to do so. You might just love, or not, but it’ll give you a metric from which to say you’ve tried it.
