Ceramic coating detailing questions

[ironlung]

I recently had my car ceramic coated, new to the detailing game but have a lot of MF's and a lot of products, many probably redundant, could use some advice or recommendations on my routine, especially drying agents and how-to.

Washing (two-bucket)

1. Rinse > Foam Cannon w/ chem guys honeydew snow foam, let dwell > rinse
2. Wheels > one at a time > Carpro reset with wheel woolie, brush for tires, mothers brush for outside of rims and boars head for fine details > rinse > top off with TW seal & shine
3. Wash with Carpro reset > top down > panel with rinsing in grit guards, etc., > rinse
4. Rinse whole car again
5. Dry > Gyeon large silk (spray with ONR or wolfgang uber rinseless or 303 or opti-seal) then spray some on wet car and drag across using no pressure
6. Hit tires with Aero 303

Washing (foam cannon)
This video makes a lot of sense in efficiency and I did have some micro scratching using two bucket w/ grit guards so I'm willing to give this a go:
YouTube

1. Rinse > foam cannon using carpro reset? > do one panel at a time with wash mitt or shine and buff water less towel ( Shine & Buff Waterless Wash Towel )
2. Same as above for rest of steps

I've trying a leave blower but not always ideal with the close neighbors and took me more time.

Some of the product I have:

1. ONR
2. Big Red Sponge
3. Wolfgang uber rinseless
4. Opti-Seal
5. Carpro reset
6. Carpro reload
7. Chem guys honeydew snow foam
8. Turtle wax ice seal n shine hybrid spray wax (TWISS)
9. Double Twistress
10. Gyeon large silk dryer
11. Shine and buff waterless washless towel
12. Mothers detail brush
13. Eagle Edge-less MF
14. Kirkland MF
15. Aero 303
16. 303 touchless sealant

[SWETM]

Personally I like to use the multible wash mitts and mf wash pads when washing the car. Meaning you dunk it in the wash bucket and wash a section with flipping it half way. Put it away and I have an extra bucket for this. Take a fresh wash mitt and do another section. Usually uses 5 wash mitts and mf wash pads for the whole car. Have a couple of extra at hand if needed or you may have a larger or smaller car so the amount of the mitts and pads can be different. I always start with a thorough prewash and clean rinsing it off with the water pressure from the PW. Then wash and depending on the weather I can do the rinse of the car soap solution when switch to a fresh wash mitt or wash pad or do a couple of sections and then rinse mid through. And love Carpro Reset car soap and it's still my highest ranked car soap.

I don't use drying aid as the mf drying towels is of such high quality today that with a proper drying technique you should not be getting any drying marring. And you have great drying IMO. If you want to use a drying aid on a coated car. Get Carpro EcH2O and dilute it to the QD dilution of 1:25 or get McKees 37 N-914 rinseless wash and dilute it to QD dilution. Take away the risk of clogging your coating with a less performance from a product that leaves something behind. But still use no more pressure than you are able to not drop the drying towel. I just hold the drying in it's wider corners and lay it out and 1 pull towards me and the paint is bone dry. This is on the horizontall panels and on the vertical panels I use as little of a pressure as possible and lightly wipe and 1 pass should be enough. If the drying towels leaves water behind it's saturated and I just switch to a fresh one instead of wringing them out which can be a PITA with drying towels that are made for holding up the water LOL. If you want to top up the coating or any other protection I do that afterwards. Depending on the ceramic coating you have can have a difference on which topper I would use. It comes down to the performance for me if the topper degrade the it I would not have applyied it basicly. The freshly applyied coating should have many months before needed to be topping it up. When I would notice a degrade in the behavior and a decon wash don't revive it. Then it's time to get something on the coating that increase the performance on the paint.

Maybe look into another prewash foam if you live in an environment where you car gets dirty before you wash it LOL. Gyeon Foam and Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam and Griots Garage BOSS Foaming Surface Wash is a couple of options from AGO that I would test out. Personally the Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam is interesting.

[The Guz]

I recently had my car ceramic coated, new to the detailing game but have a lot of MF's and a lot of products, many probably redundant, could use some advice or recommendations on my routine, especially drying agents and how-to.

Washing (two-bucket)

1. Rinse > Foam Cannon w/ chem guys honeydew snow foam, let dwell > rinse
2. Wheels > one at a time > Carpro reset with wheel woolie, brush for tires, mothers brush for outside of rims and boars head for fine details > rinse > top off with TW seal & shine
3. Wash with Carpro reset > top down > panel with rinsing in grit guards, etc., > rinse
4. Rinse whole car again
5. Dry > Gyeon large silk (spray with ONR or wolfgang uber rinseless or 303 or opti-seal) then spray some on wet car and drag across using no pressure
6. Hit tires with Aero 303

Washing (foam cannon)
This video makes a lot of sense in efficiency and I did have some micro scratching using two bucket w/ grit guards so I'm willing to give this a go:
YouTube

1. Rinse > foam cannon using carpro reset? > do one panel at a time with wash mitt or shine and buff water less towel ( Shine & Buff Waterless Wash Towel )
2. Same as above for rest of steps

I've trying a leave blower but not always ideal with the close neighbors and took me more time.

Some of the product I have:

1. ONR
2. Big Red Sponge
3. Wolfgang uber rinseless
4. Opti-Seal
5. Carpro reset
6. Carpro reload
7. Chem guys honeydew snow foam
8. Turtle wax ice seal n shine hybrid spray wax (TWISS)
9. Double Twistress
10. Gyeon large silk dryer
11. Shine and buff waterless washless towel
12. Mothers detail brush
13. Eagle Edge-less MF
14. Kirkland MF
15. Aero 303
16. 303 touchless sealant

Have you considered washing the wheels first to make it easier on you and avoid any water spotting. Also to leave the foam on the paint after the initial rinse. This will add more lubrication on the surface as you wash.

You may also want to consider sheet rinsing after your final rinse to remove as much water off the surface as possible. This will make your drying easier and with those Gyeon Towels you won't need a drying aid with the remaining water left behind.

What coating is on the paint?

[ironlung]

Personally I like to use the multible wash mitts and mf wash pads when washing the car. Meaning you dunk it in the wash bucket and wash a section with flipping it half way. Put it away and I have an extra bucket for this. Take a fresh wash mitt and do another section. Usually uses 5 wash mitts and mf wash pads for the whole car. Have a couple of extra at hand if needed or you may have a larger or smaller car so the amount of the mitts and pads can be different. I always start with a thorough prewash and clean rinsing it off with the water pressure from the PW. Then wash and depending on the weather I can do the rinse of the car soap solution when switch to a fresh wash mitt or wash pad or do a couple of sections and then rinse mid through. And love Carpro Reset car soap and it's still my highest ranked car soap.

I don't use drying aid as the mf drying towels is of such high quality today that with a proper drying technique you should not be getting any drying marring. And you have great drying IMO. If you want to use a drying aid on a coated car. Get Carpro EcH2O and dilute it to the QD dilution of 1:25 or get McKees 37 N-914 rinseless wash and dilute it to QD dilution. Take away the risk of clogging your coating with a less performance from a product that leaves something behind. But still use no more pressure than you are able to not drop the drying towel. I just hold the drying in it's wider corners and lay it out and 1 pull towards me and the paint is bone dry. This is on the horizontall panels and on the vertical panels I use as little of a pressure as possible and lightly wipe and 1 pass should be enough. If the drying towels leaves water behind it's saturated and I just switch to a fresh one instead of wringing them out which can be a PITA with drying towels that are made for holding up the water LOL. If you want to top up the coating or any other protection I do that afterwards. Depending on the ceramic coating you have can have a difference on which topper I would use. It comes down to the performance for me if the topper degrade the it I would not have applyied it basicly. The freshly applyied coating should have many months before needed to be topping it up. When I would notice a degrade in the behavior and a decon wash don't revive it. Then it's time to get something on the coating that increase the performance on the paint.

Maybe look into another prewash foam if you live in an environment where you car gets dirty before you wash it LOL. Gyeon Foam and Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam and Griots Garage BOSS Foaming Surface Wash is a couple of options from AGO that I would test out. Personally the Gtechnic W4 Citrus Foam is interesting.

SWETM, makes sense how you described, I have two wash mitts and the shine and buff waterless wash towels that would probably work well doing it this way. For your prewash, do you use a foam cannon as well? Curious how you wash in colder weather?

So you would dilute Carpro EcH2O or get McKees 37 N-914 rinseless wash to 1:25 for the reason of clogging the coating? Gyeon foam and also bathe shampoo is what was recommended for me to use by the detailer who applied my ceramanic. Thanks for the detailed response, gave me some good tips.

[ironlung]

Have you considered washing the wheels first to make it easier on you and avoid any water spotting. Also to leave the foam on the paint after the initial rinse. This will add more lubrication on the surface as you wash.

You may also want to consider sheet rinsing after your final rinse to remove as much water off the surface as possible. This will make your drying easier and with those Gyeon Towels you won't need a drying aid with the remaining water left behind.

What coating is on the paint?

Good idea with washing the wheels first. Also, leaving the foam on and starting the wash. Would you recommend separate products, one for foam and the other (carpro reset) for washing?

I know this sounds bad, but the detailer that applied my coating didn't give me the name of the product. He said he had a 1 year, 5 year and lifetime package, difference being the number of coats. While this sounded to me like ceramic pro, I asked and he said it wasn't and I didn't push for the actual product. He recommended Gyeon products for soap to use. I am going to call him back and get the product though. He did a nice job with paint correction and it has so far great hydrophobic properties but has only been a month.

[The Guz]

Seeing as you have Reset, you can use it to foam and wash. Gyeon Bathe is ok. Was not my favorite wash. I would skip Reload as it is not that great. I would consider Elixir over Reload for maintenance.

[MarkD51]

Good methods and products it seems you have. But remember, the more you touch it, the faster you'll deplete the coating.

No coating is impervious to washes, soaps and applying any products, no matter how innocent and safe they may seem

[ironlung]

Seeing as you have Reset, you can use it to foam and wash. Gyeon Bathe is ok. Was not my favorite wash. I would skip Reload as it is not that great. I would consider Elixir over Reload for maintenance.

Question, if I did an initial PW rinse, then foam and moved right into a contact wash, wouldn't this potentially rub in some of the residue? Would it make more sense to foam dry, rinse, foam, then contact wash?

If I used a 303 touch less sealant as a drying agent, would this do any harm or be a waste of product given I have it coated?

Aside form reload, or Elixir, and regular washes, is there any other decom or maintenance in maintaining the ceramic coating?

Thanks!

[The Guz]

Question, if I did an initial PW rinse, then foam and moved right into a contact wash, wouldn't this potentially rub in some of the residue? Would it make more sense to foam dry, rinse, foam, then contact wash?

If I used a 303 touch less sealant as a drying agent, would this do any harm or be a waste of product given I have it coated?

Aside form reload, or Elixir, and regular washes, is there any other decom or maintenance in maintaining the ceramic coating?

Thanks!

I will take Reset, Meguiar's Hyper Wash or Mckee'37 SiO2 Autp Wash over Bathe or Bathe Essence.

You can use that 303 product but you will mask the properties of the coating.

A checmical decon a couple times a year is always a good idea with a coating.

[ironlung]

I will take Reset, Meguiar's Hyper Wash or Mckee'37 SiO2 Autp Wash over Bathe or Bathe Essence.

You can use that 303 product but you will mask the properties of the coating.

A checmical decon a couple times a year is always a good idea with a coating.

Thanks for the tips and the education! So like you said a drying agent isn't needed and may mask the properties.

Chemical decon like a Iron-X after fully washed, dryed exec?

One more question on the foam and right to contact wash... wouldn't applying the first pre-wash foam have contaminants in it, then moving right into a contact wash potentially move those over the surface? Would it be better to apply foam dry, let dwell for 10 minutes, rinse, re-foam and then do a contact wash?