Ceramic Coating 101: How to Safely Wash Your Car

Part 1 of Our DIY Ceramic Coating Series

“How you do anything is how you do everything”, the saying goes. If our clients have taught us anything, it’s that if you’re committed and methodical enough, there’s no reason why you can’t ceramic coat your own car. Join us as we explore step 1 in our 4-part D.I.Y ceramic coating series.

Whether it’s your first attempt at ceramic coating or your hundredth, safe-washing your vehicle should always be your starting point. And to get off on the right foot, we recommend choosing the right tools and products. After all, the last thing you want – if ceramic coating is your end-goal – is to leave scratches and contaminants sealed under that precious layer of coating.

Of course, safe-washing your car isn’t always necessarily a stepping stone to ceramic coating; it could also be a step that precedes other interventions, like paint correction or just simply part of your car maintenance routine.

Either way, the below is a list of the items you will need:

• Snow Foam
• pH-Neutral Car Shampoo
• Foam lance and pressure washer or foam sprayer
• Wash mitt
• Wheel mitt
• Rim Brush
• x2-3 Buckets
• Grit guards
• Drying towel

Did you say ‘Bucket’ or ‘Buckets’?

Before we move on to washing your car, it’s worth taking a moment to sing the praises of having more than one bucket in your detailing arsenal. And we don’t just mean any old buckets. We mean detailing buckets, equipped with a filtration system to keep heavy, abrasive elements (such as brake dust and other contaminants) at the bottom, and as far away from your wash mitt and paint lacquer as possible. Having two detailing buckets is key to our recommended approach.

Here, one bucket holds your shampoo and water solution, whereas the second bucket is used to rinse your wash mitt in between passes on your car’s paintwork. That way there is very little to no transference of contaminants from your wash mitt back to other areas of your car.

But is there room for a third bucket? We would say, yes, a dedicated bucket for your wheels and rims is essential. After all, don’t forget that your wheels come into contact with some of the most abrasive elements while you’re on the road – we’re talking brake dust, tar and all kinds of grime. Getting them into contact with your paintwork via your wash mitt is the last thing you want to do. In fact…

Rims First

We always recommend going with your rims first when safe-washing your car. Doing your rims first means that if there is any transference from your rims to your car’s body, such contaminants will be cleaned during the body-wash process. Investing in a good quality rim cleaning chemical along with a rim brush, and a third bucket for rinsing off any tools used in the process is key to this approach.

If, on the other hand, you are dealing with something more stubborn – like baked-on brake dust – you can use a stronger acid-based wheel cleaner. Either way, agitate the rims thoroughly using the brush and a wheel mitt, wait the recommended time, then rinse off the solution.

Most important of all, make sure you keep your paintwork and rim cleaning tools separate from your washing toold to avoid transferring contaminants from one to the other.

Spray, Don’t Touch

Before laying a finger (or wash mitt) on your car’s body, the first order of duty should be to use snow foam. Administered with a lance, snow foam dissolves stubborn and / or abrasive particles from your car’s paint lacquer by being left to linger on your car’s surface for a specific amount of time.

If you don’t already own a lance, we strongly recommend using one as it is a tool that easily attaches to your pressure washer thanks to a handy adapter. Using a lance makes distributing the snow foam solution over your vehicle evenly much easier.

Ensure to lay on a thick, even layer of foam and wait the allocated amount of time. Finally, rinse off the solution to complete this stage off the pre-wash.

Getting Down to Business

Washing your car also means choosing the right shampoo, and by ‘right’, we mean a pH neutral solution; one that is easy on your paintwork and won’t do any damage to pre-existing coats or wax layers. In effect, your shampoo’s job is to safely lift off any residue from the surface of your vehicle, including what was acted on by the snow foam solution mentioned in the previous section.

Let’s note something important at this stage: you’ll want to use a wash mitt and not a sponge. This is because with a quality mitt, dirt, grime and other potentially abrasive elements, like brake dust and sea salt, have less of a chance of leaving scratches and swirl marks on your car.

Gliding easily off your car’s paintwork, wash mitts are great for trapping foreign elements in their folds and lifting them away from the surface of your car.

Lastly, and to further minimize the chances of scratching your car, always work your way with your wash mitt from the top of your car to the bottom, starting from the roof. This is because brake dust and other coarse elements are typically found near the lower part of your vehicle.

Home and Dry

The next step is, of course, drying your vehicle. For this purpose, we recommend using a quality drying towel along with – if your budget a dedicated blower like the BigBoi BLOWR Mini. The short of it is, you don’t only want to thoroughly dry the car; you also want to dislodge any leftover water from areas like wing mirrors and door handles; water which might dribble out later and give you a headache in the process.

Now that your car is dry, it’s time to pat yourself on the back, the safe-wash is complete. In the next post, we will move on to the next step in the ceramic coating process: decontamination.