An automobile is one of the most critical assets an individual owns. Said holding not only expedites a motorist’s travels from one location to another but plays a significant role in helping them conduct many simple errands and might even prove critical to carrying out their professional duties.
For these reasons, vehicle owners often place a strict emphasis on ensuring their cars remain in optimal working condition. One specific issue capable of shortening a vehicle’s aesthetic value and possible longevity is its exterior appearance. Automobiles with peeling paint or external damage like rust look terrible. Moreover, such circumstances could precipitate and exacerbate other problems capable of limiting their operating abilities.
Fortunately, motorists can institute numerous safeguards to prevent these untoward and unfortunate events from occurring or worsening. One such action is the application of a material known as a ceramic coating. Vehicle owners are urged to continue reading to learn what this product is, its materials, how it is applied, its potential benefits, and the issues it cannot protect against.
Overview
The product placed on passenger and commercial vehicles is known as an industrial-grade ceramic coating. This material is scientifically classified as a chemical polymer solution. The specific agents employed to create this substance include silicon dioxide, which is a combination of natural materials like sand and quartz. Certain differentiations of the product also include titanium dioxide. Industry insiders maintain titanium is used to ensure the coating is hard and firm.
The coating was created to augment a vehicle’s painted covering. Typically, everyone can spot a new or newer car. In most instances, said automobiles maintain sleek, shiny, and undisturbed paint jobs. However, over time, this painted exterior can be exposed to numerous potentially detrimental elements such as:
Temperature Extremes
Excessive heat and cold can exert negative influences over paint. Noticeably warm temperatures may cause the paint to expand, which could result in various damages. Coldness and freezing could result in problems like cracking and buckling.
Precipitation
Repeated exposure to water produced during precipitation-inducing weather events often take their toll on a car’s paint job. The end result could be aesthetic issues like fading or more serious concerns such as rusting.
Wind
Whipping winds can loosen paint and yield problems, including cracking, chipping, and fading.
Roadway Particles
When a car traverses down a highway at appreciable speeds, said asset is exposed to roadway particles like sand, dirt, rocks, and other debris capable of circulating through the air. Chronic contact with these materials often adversely impact exterior paint jobs.
Miscellaneous Concerns
In addition to the common preceding paint-damaging issues, numerous other forces could lead to the deterioration of said feature. Such factors include contact with insects, exposure to dirty towels or rags, the accidental spillage of minute amounts of gasoline, and the inadvertent spilling of beverages like soda, coffee, energy drinks, tree sap and bird droppings.
The Application Process
Preparation
The application process occurs over several steps. However, the first step involves ensuring the vehicle in question’s exterior is smooth and clean. Industry insiders seem to be in strong agreement that the most aesthetically-pleasing and long-lasting ceramic applications are the direct result of proper cleaning and prepping.
Automotive professionals suggest that pre-coating washes be performed using powerful soaps like shampoo solutions. Each section of the car’s exterior must be thoroughly washed and dried. Removing existing dirt and other environmental debris enables the subsequent application to shine brighter and not be immediately exposed to potentially harmful elements.
The Coating Process
Professional entities will perform the coating process inside a garage or other enclosed space. Said action prevents the car’s exterior from exposure to direct sunlight or harmful natural elements. When the car is placed in a secure location, applicants first place a coating layer across the entire vehicle. Several minutes after the initial coating process has been completed, a polishing coat is applied.
Potential Benefits
If properly laid down, the coating will bond with the automobile’s paint and afford it an additional protection layer. Said action might yield the following potential benefits:
Safeguarding Against Chemical Contaminants
Ceramic coatings can prevent various chemicals from affixing to a car’s paint. Should substances be particularly acidic, problematic occurrences like etching, scratching, or staining could occur.
Enhancing Visual Appeal
The appropriately applied coating will significantly improve or restore a paint job’s bright and shiny appearance. Greater aesthetic enhancement could result in increased resale value.
Limiting Damages From Direct Sunlight Exposure
When the paint is continually exposed to direct sunlight and the celestial body’s ultraviolet rays, the exterior feature stands at an increased risk of undergoing a scientific process called oxidation. Over time, oxidation causes paint to fade.
Improving Exterior Maintenance
Arguably, ceramic coatings are most noted for their ability to render a vehicle’s exterior maintenance process more manageable. These substances are labelled hydrophobic. This means that they repel water with greater speed and efficiency. In completing said effort, potentially harmful materials like dirt and mud are washed away quicker.
Concerns Ceramic Coatings Do Not Address
As beneficial as such products are, there are still concerns said materials do not address, including:
Limiting Washes
Ceramic coatings might make the cleaning process easier but will not eliminate the need to practice optimal maintenance. The vehicle will still need frequent and thorough washings to keep up a sleek, new appearance.
Eliminating Exterior Damages
Unfortunately, ceramic coatings will not completely eliminate the risk of paint being chipped by roadway particles like rocks.
Reducing The Risk Of Water Spotting
The hydrophobic attributes of ceramic coatings repel water. That said, however, said materials could not prevent the sediments and chemicals contained in certain water concentrations from leaving marks like spots behind.
Professional Versus Do-It-Yourself Applications
Many retail entities sell do-it-yourself kits. That said, an appreciable percentage of automotive professionals strongly recommend that car owners entrust the ceramic coating process to professionals. Proper execution of this task requires the use of specific tools and a strict attention to detail. Poorly executed jobs will not only lessen the vehicle’s aesthetic attraction but could further damage said asset’s exterior.