Like many people, you probably grew up being told the best way to take care of your car was with polish and wax, but these days you have more options.
Once confined to the realm of car geeks, in the past few years, ceramic coating solutions have become increasingly popular with all kinds of people because of the level of protection they offer your car as well as the superior glossy finish.
Now that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with a waxing treatment.
Polishing then waxing your car will keep it looking good and help protect it from the elements. It’s up to you to decide what’s best for your car.
Ceramic coating however does offer some significant advantages over wax.
One of the big pros with a ceramic coating is it won’t wear off like wax will. When the ceramic coating is applied to your car’s paintwork, the nanoparticles in the solution bond with the paint.
This means, if you take care of your vehicle, the coating can last for the life of the car.
While polishing and waxing your car will certainly make it shine, a high quality ceramic coating, applied by professionals, will take your car to the next level – we are talking high gloss, Hollywoodesque, showroom floor finish.
Ceramic coatings can also provide up to 100 per cent UV protection for your car’s paintwork whereas waxes offer about 25 per cent protection.
While wax will protect your car to a certain extent from minor scratches, a ceramic coating, because it forms a hard ‘skin’, again offers a higher level of protection.
The nano-particles in ceramic coating solutions actually seal up the uneven surface of your car’s paintwork. This makes the paint completely hydrophobic, meaning muddy water will run straight off instead of marking your car.
This is of course a similar (if heightened effect) to what a good wax will have on your car – water will bead off easily, so long as you keep your waxing up to date.
Whatever coating option you choose, you will still need to clean your car, but a ceramic coating makes this super easy because so little debris manages to stick to the surface. Waxing will also help stop dirt and other debris from sticking to your car.
One significant advantage wax has over ceramic coating is a result of its impermanence. You can easily reapply wax to parts of your vehicle that cop a lot of dirt and mud, like the bumpers.
This means you can continually ensure your car is protected most where it needs it and, of course if you get scratches in the paint, they can be polished or painted out.
In contrast, a ceramic coating is a permanent fixture, so scratches that breach the protection layer are not so easy to fix. The only way to remove them is to actually remove the ceramic coating as well.
This can be a time consuming process and will also cost you dollars.
Whatever you decide is best for your car, you only need one product or the other. Apart from the fact that wax won’t readily bond to a ceramic coating, it’s simply not necessary. Ceramic coatings offer complete protection on their own.
We don’t reckon that means wax is going to disappear though, it’s an affordable, natural option (if you opt for carnauba) and waxing and polishing the car is also a great way to teach the kids about car care.