Ceramic coating real life swirl/scratch resistance

**fightnews** · 03-20-2018, 05:51 AM

You are going to get light swirls and marring from washing the car no matter how careful you are. It's just a matter of wether you see them or not. Rubbing a mitt on the dirt has to happen.

You couldn't be any more careful then I am when I wash and I always find light marring after a month or too. Mostly on the lower side panels near the tires. I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply driving that caused them. Especially in the rain.

Even fingerprints cause marring/swirls. I've seen it with my own eyes

**antti@561detailing** · 03-24-2018, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Whacky

Wondering what everyone’s experience with swirls, marking, and light scratches on their coated cars?

im asking because I just got my car coated with Gtechniq Serum Ultra followed by two coats of EXO as topcoats.
I thought this professionally only coating would be tops for protection and help prevent light swirls, etc.

However I was doing a little quick detailing of the car with CarPro Ech2o/reload mixture using one eagles edgeless to wipe down, and a second, clean eagle edgeless to do final buff. Nothing crazy there.

I noticed however in one section of the hood I had inadvertently created a very light swirl scratch with the light buff.
I was pretty shocked and kinda upset it had happened.

This detailing was done with pretty new, recently washed towels using recommended towel cleaning methods.
The buff wasn’t done with any significant force. I was genuinely surprised I had just created a light swirl.

I did not expect that my new expensive ceramic coating would be susceptible to such marking done with what I thought was pretty careful procedure.

I wanted to know if other people have experienced similar swirls or light scratchs with their coatings using good technique?

Obviously I am aware that a coating isn’t completely immune to marring, but I wouldn’t have expected it to happen so easily with what I thought was careful technique.

Anything related to the Gtechniq Crystal serum Ultra or EXO?

Thoughts?

Whacky,

I am also Gtchniq accredited and I will try to answer it.
Crystal Serum Ultra is Professional coating. Exo is not...Anybody can install it.
Exo is softer coating, and it is totally possible to put marring marks in it.
It maybe the towel, price and quality have nothing to do with it.
Ultra alone maybe actually more resistant to it than Exo...
But, I have a client who has Crystal Serum and Exo on his car...I saw it few days ago,
it was installed 12/9/16 and it has very light marring.
He uses boars hair brush...and blow dries it.
I am sorry that your installer didn't say that it is not immune to marring.
I have used over 15 different coatings, and they all haev their own problems...
But Exo is sensitive...I am not offering it too often, unless I see that the owner is more OCD than I am.
I did try most coatings on my own cars...some last weeks, some months, I had one with water spots within 48 hours...
So, they are not totally carefree.

**Cruzscarwash** · 03-24-2018, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by antti@561detailing

Whacky,

I am also Gtchniq accredited and I will try to answer it.
Crystal Serum Ultra is Professional coating. Exo is not...Anybody can install it.
Exo is softer coating, and it is totally possible to put marring marks in it.
It maybe the towel, price and quality have nothing to do with it.
Ultra alone maybe actually more resistant to it than Exo...
But, I have a client who has Crystal Serum and Exo on his car...I saw it few days ago,
it was installed 12/9/16 and it has very light marring.
He uses boars hair brush...and blow dries it.
I am sorry that your installer didn't say that it is not immune to marring.
I have used over 15 different coatings, and they all haev their own problems...
But Exo is sensitive...I am not offering it too often, unless I see that the owner is more OCD than I am.
I did try most coatings on my own cars...some last weeks, some months, I had one with water spots within 48 hours...
So, they are not totally carefree.

My issue with coatings is the waterspots, they spot much differently then sealants and sealants seem to be easier to clean up spots then coatings in my area.

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**antti@561detailing** · 03-24-2018, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by Cruzscarwash

My issue with coatings is the waterspots, they spot much differently then sealants and sealants seem to be easier to clean up spots then coatings in my area.

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What coatings you are talking about?

**minerigger** · 03-25-2018, 10:00 PM

How is CSL with waterspots? I'm thinking about putting it on my truck that sits outside 24/7 and gets little maintance. Only gets drove maybe 1 time a month

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**BudgetPlan1** · 03-26-2018, 04:38 AM

When I used CSL (2 layers w c2v3 on top) it was among the worst at self cleaning/water spotting of all the various coatings I've tried.

Oddly, about 3 months in it started keeping itself cleaner but lacking EXO as a Topcoat, water behavior was subpar in my experience.

Originally Posted by minerigger

How is CSL with waterspots? I'm thinking about putting it on my truck that sits outside 24/7 and gets little maintance. Only gets drove maybe 1 time a month

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**RippyD** · 03-27-2018, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Nicholas@Autowerx

I never recommend to wipe down the vehicle with a quick detail product unless you fully pressure wash the vehicle before hand. If you've driven the vehicle at all it will have picked up debris and contamination from the road such as particles of sand, brake dust, dirt, pollen, etc. that WILL scratch the vehicle if rubbed across the surface.

Why would this be any different for clear coat?

Originally Posted by Nicholas@Autowerx

all you're doing is polishing off the old ceramic layers and maybe biting into the paint to remove about a micron or less of clear coat. Most of the damage (unavoidable light wash marring that accumulates over the course of 12-36 months) is absorbed by the coating. You will significantly prolong the life of your vehicle's paint system with this care routine because you are not simply polishing down the clear coat every time you correct the finish...

This seems like conjecture. I've asked a few times here how to know when a coating has been removed by a polish and haven't gotten a clear answer. It seems equally likely that people are removing more clear coat in their efforts to ensure that the coating has been removed. Without an unambiguous way to know when a coating has been removed or without using a good paint gauge, there's no way to know how much cc you're removing when you remove a coating. Another reason I tend to lean more toward sealants.

Originally Posted by Cruzscarwash

My issue with coatings is the waterspots, they spot much differently then sealants and sealants seem to be easier to clean up spots then coatings in my area.

Generally terrible spotting for me. Coatings seem to spot more readily than sealants and are harder to remove. I typically couldn't find a non-destructive way to remove them.

I'm heading into season where we get rain and sun throughout the day. I may try a spotting test on coatings vs. sealants.

**Cruzscarwash** · 03-27-2018, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by RippyD

Why would this be any different for clear coat?

This seems like conjecture. I've asked a few times here how to know when a coating has been removed by a polish and haven't gotten a clear answer. It seems equally likely that people are removing more clear coat in their efforts to ensure that the coating has been removed. Without an unambiguous way to know when a coating has been removed or without using a good paint gauge, there's no way to know how much cc you're removing when you remove a coating. Another reason I tend to lean more toward sealants.

Generally terrible spotting for me. Coatings seem to spot more readily than sealants and are harder to remove. I typically couldn't find a non-destructive way to remove them.

I'm heading into season where we get rain and sun throughout the day. I may try a spotting test on coatings vs. sealants.

Yeah, the removal is killing me on coatings, like you said it's much easier to remove/wipe off with sealants. Glad I'm not the only one

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**Whacky** · 03-27-2018, 09:58 PM

So what would be the recommended touch-up process for someone who has light swirls, marring, and scrathes to their ceramic coated car??

I presume this is why a product like Carpro Essense plus exists?

Any other solutions?

**FrankS** · 03-27-2018, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by Whacky

So what would be the recommended touch-up process for someone who has light swirls, marring, and scrathes to their ceramic coated car??

I presume this is why a product like Carpro Essense plus exists?

Any other solutions?

Carpro Essence Plus would be your best bet since it doesn't have any abrasives and that's what it was intended for.

There may be some other similar products out there that I'm not aware of.