Many car owners prefer to take their vehicle to a professional for ceramic coating. However, there’s a growing number of do-it-yourself individuals who prefer to do this task all by themselves. And this is perfectly okay, provided that you do the job right.

Ceramic coating offers several advantages that can make you consider installing it on your car. Although most people use it to enhance their car’s look and paint depth, this coating also helps protect you from UV rays and protects your car from bird droppings and other sticky substances that could be otherwise difficult to remove.

Now, if you are going to do the installation by yourself, it is important that you prepare first. Doing so allows a solid and neat application. So what are the prep steps to follow to get your vehicle ready for ceramic coating installation? Here they are;

Thoroughly Clean Your Car

The surface has to be very clean for the ceramic coating to bond with the substrate. When done by a professional, they will follow four steps in decontaminating the surface. This helps remove debris, dirt, and other imperfections that may be present on the clear coat. You may have noticed some tiny peaks or valleys on some car’s surfaces. One of the reasons could be that the paint was applied to a dirty surface.

Make sure that you wash your vehicle using your hand. We advise the two bucket car washing method, where one bucket contains soap and the other, clean and fresh water.

Remove Iron Deposits

After cleaning your vehicle, the next thing is to ensure that it is free of iron particles. You don’t have to wait for your car to dry but make sure that you’ve thoroughly rinsed it. Iron deposits are particles trapped between the porous surface and hard clear coat. They are also known as industrial fallout. These microscopic particles of iron or other ferrous-based substances occur when friction is created or when metal burns.

Applying brakes creates fine dust via the pad and rotor application. This dusts floats on air and ultimately lands on vehicles. So, the particles should be removed before applying the ceramic coating.

Paint Correction

This is a bit tricky for many DIY enthusiasts. Note that it requires one to polish the paint to get rid of imperfections like marks on the vehicle. And this can be challenging as you might remove the entire clear coat if you cut too hard.

However, it shouldn’t be that complex. But since most people tend to overthink this process, they mix and match compounds for polishing with different pads. Note that there are more than 40 varying combinations of possible liquids to pads that can be used to remove paint defects.

Wipe the Panel

With a thoroughly washed, clayed, and polished vehicle, you can now proceed to the final prepping step that gets your car ready for ceramic coating. This step requires you to wipe the panel using a specially formulated degreasing agent that helps remove oils, wax, and other greasy substances that might have occurred when you were polishing. Many professionals use Americana Global Stripper, but you can use any other product of your liking.

After these processes, your car is now ready for ceramic coating. If you can’t do these tasks on your own, you can easily call a professional to help you. It’s why we are here. We at Saint Paul Window Tint offer affordable ceramic coating services. If you let us, we will prep your car and install the coating excellently. Please read more about our unmatchable services or you can call us.