Ceramic Coating?
Ceramic coating is a revolutionary auto detailing product used to protect interior and exterior surfaces from common blemish causing materials. Primarily composed of silica and titanium dioxide, these two substances together form a covalent bond that is hydrophobic in nature and forms a nano-ceramic shield above the vehicle’s clear coat. This protective shield provides durable protection from common environmental contaminants including insect acids, road salt, bird droppings, oxidation, swirling, minor scratches and helps protect the vehicle from the damaging rays of the sun. It’s these properties, along with the hydrophobicity, that separates ceramic coatings from the archaic waxes or sealants.
Hydrophobicity
Before we get any further, the word “hydrophobic” is defined as “tending to repel or fail to mix with water”. Although primarily used in industrial and automotive sectors, hydrophobic elements exist, and have existed, in the natural world for millennia. If you’ve ever seen a lotus flower floating in a body of water, then you have seen hydrophobic properties in nature. It’s in fact these hydrophobic properties that allow the lotus to float in a body of water without getting bogged down and water logged from it’s surrounding environments. By applying these same hydrophobic principles of the Lotus to industrial and detailing products, people are now able to protect previously permeable surfaces.
Ceramic Coatings are useful across a myriad of different surfaces. From leathers, textiles, steel, wood, paint, marine surfaces, airplanes, helicopters to the interiors and exterior surfaces of cars. Essentially any non-biological surface you can imagine can be coated with ceramic coatings. From hydrophobic protection for designer handbags and high end shoes to brick storefronts, and most anything in between, ceramic coatings help protect both valuable and important surfaces from premature damage and aging. If protecting a surface from water damage swirling, oxidation or premature aging is important to you then ceramic coating can help extend the lives of your important assets while making cleanup a breeze!
The Clean Up
Cleanup to a vehicle that is applied with ceramic coating is far different and less intensive then cleaning up a non-protected surface. With ceramic coatings, cleanup is as simple as spraying down the exterior of a surface with a hose or a bucket of water. The hydrophobicity of the coating allows dirt, mud, snow, grime, bird droppings, insect acids, road salt and other environmental contaminants to easily slide off the protected surface. What does this mean for you? Essentially it means more time enjoying the road and admiring the high gloss hydrophobic finish of the ceramic coating and less time washing your vehicle. With all this extra time on your hands, an owner of a ceramic coated vehicle can now spend more time enjoying the open road than ever before!
What is the Difference Between Wax & Ceramic Coating
An incredibly common question that we hear is “What is the difference between wax and ceramic coating”. Wax is one of the most widely known sources of protection for vehicles but, compared to Ceramic Pro ceramic coatings, wax has a much shorter shelf life and involves far more maintenance. If you’ve ever waxed a car before you’re well aware of the labor that’s involved and constant upkeep required to keep the coat in solid working condition. However, with Ceramic Pro coatings, vehicles have far less upkeep.
Many of the common forms of car waxes are composed of either, bees wax, paraffin wax, mineral wax, synthetic wax or carnauba wax. While these waxes can be picked up at your local automotive parts shop or big block store and applied by the end user, the vast majority of these waxes fail to protect the vehicle the same way a ceramic coating can. Many waxes have a melting point between 180 degrees Fahrenheit and 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Compare this to Ceramic Pro that can withstand temperatures up to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. This gap in heat threshold allows ceramic coating products to be applied to surfaces that get very hot including brake calipers, engine compartments and heavy machinery.
Although waxes tend to be a cheaper than the price of ceramic coatings you generally get what you pay for. In fact, many of these waxes even contribute to scratching and swirling as they are often improperly applied using poor techniques or dirty or damaged equipment. When you take your vehicle into any ceramic pro authorized detailer you’ll rest easy knowing that the vehicle of your dreams gets the proper conditioning and detailing services to brave any road!
In contrast to car waxes lies the flagship product of Ceramic Pro – Ceramic Pro 9H. This industry innovating product has inspired plenty of replication products but none have been able to engineer the same protective qualities of Ceramic Pro 9H. Ceramic Pro 9H stands for a hardness scale of 9 on the pencil hardness scale. The pencil hardness scale is incredibly important in the woodworking and detailing industries as it creates a scale of the hardness for comparison purposes. A common test used to test the strength of coatings, Ceramic Pro 9H checks in with a score of 9. Hence the name of 9H for 9 Hardness. This hardness of Ceramic Pro 9H makes it such a potent deterrent in resisting damage and common blemish causing contaminants that victimize far too many unprotected vehicles on the road.
To validate and guarantee the warranty for Ceramic Pro coatings, vehicles need to have their coated surfaces inspected on at least a yearly basis. To perform this important aspect of ceramic coating maintenance, simply contact the detailing shop that previously coated the vehicle and set up a maintenance appointment with this respective shop. During these maintenance examinations, auto detailing technicians mitigate any damage caused in the coat and generally apply an additional layer of Ceramic Pro coatings to the surface.
Essentially the biggest difference between waxes and ceramic coatings is the amount of protection that one provides over the other. Waxes might look great for a few weeks or months, but they require constant maintenance to obtain the desired results. With Ceramic Pro coatings you’ll need just one annual inspection at an authorized dealer of your choosing. Think of Ceramic Pro as nano-ceramic protective shield between your gel coat and the environmental contaminants that plague the interstates and service roads of North America.
This article originally appeared at : https://ceramicpro.com/what-is-ceramic-coating/