Best Ceramic Coatings 2024

What Makes a Good Coating?

Learn about the Testing Methodology

Easy to Apply

An easy to use coating makes all the difference. You want something with a consistent flash time between application and removal. The coating should also wipe up easily and have simple instructions.

Visual Appeal

We all want a glossy, reflective, and pretty car. In testing we look at a red and black test panel and compare the finished product against freshly polished paint. An ideal finish should be deep and wet looking without any ashiness, streaking, or striping.

Wash Durability

No one wants to go through all the trouble of applying a coating just to find out the coating washes away quickly. Through our elcometer based abrasion testing we can verify how many washes a product can resist. Exceptional ceramic coatings can withstand over 1,000 washes.

Slickness

Coatings should improve the slickness of the car's finish. This reduces marring and scratching when washing and dusting your car. We measure the improved coefficient of static friction (μ_s) to score the slickness of coatings.

Specular Reflection

Polished paint can show you amazing reflections at the right angle. Having achieved a highly polished surface you want to preserve it. Most last step products will dull the surface slightly. A good coating should have minimal loss of Gloss Units (GU) or even a slight gain.

Hydrophobicity

We measure the contact angle of de-ionized water droplets on top of ceramic coatings to work out just how hydrophobic they are. The coatings are able to lower surface energy of your painted surfaces which allow water molecules to form nice beads that slide right off. The best coatings can average droplets exceeding 105 degrees of angle at the contact point. Anything over 90 degrees is considered hydrophobic.

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Marketing Myths & Lies

Coatings are heavily marketed by installers and manufacturers. To protect your investment avoid companies making extraordinary claims.

Examples of common myths include:

• Only professionals can install coatings.
• Coatings are as hard as glass or diamonds.
• Coatings must be replenished or boosted.
• Coatings can stop scratches and chips.
• You don't have to wash a coated car.
• Ceramic coatings are maintenance free.
• You have to spend thousands of dollars.
• The prettiest results require a coating.
• A coating will block UV light.
• All other forms of protection are obsolete.

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