Dkhazlett

I applied the ceramic coating (not CSC) to my wife's car a few months ago, and my pickup over the weekend. I know Adams has a full line of ceramic products and I ordered a 64oz bottle of Ceramic Boost today to replace what came with the kit and a mystery box bottle of the original CB I have. Question: did you all replace your shampoo, waterless wash, etc., with the Ceramic line of products? I have nearly full gallon bottles of Wash and Wax and Waterless Wash that I would like to use up and then replace with the Ceramic line. If you happened to discard and replace, did you notice a difference? Thanks!

I just ceramic coated my wife’s car last Saturday after having the kit for a few months. I too read the dire warnings on the forums about the consequences of screwing it up. So, I was a little apprehensive. But, it was just what I have come to expect of Adams products. Very forgiving for a DIY-er, the products behaved as advertised and I am delighted with the results. I uploaded a photo, hope it uploaded properly. A few things: - the rainbow flash thing in the tutorials doesn’t show up as readily on light-colored vehicles - Adam says so himself in one of the ceramic coating videos. So with a light colored car you have to use tackiness to decide when to buff rather than the flash. - the glass bottle is basically opaque, so apart from a shake test it’s hard to tell if I have enough coating left for another vehicle. I will probably bite the bullet and just buy another bottle to make sure before I coat my truck. - to maintain a controlled environment I closed myself in the garage for the job. The lights in there aren’t meant for this work thought so I bought a LED work light on a tripod to illuminate the panels as I went. Worked great. My only regret is that I waited so long to do this. Time will tell on durability but I think the coating is great.

Absolutely. Nine years in Hawaii and they were dog years. Waikiki isn’t real life. We had friends with beachfront, and nothing ferrous lasted more than a few years. It wasn’t as bad at altitude or inland, but you can’t completely avoid the spray. The waterless products should hold you over between full washes. Plenty of room in Texas for you — no state income tax here either!

I use the foam gun, turbo stick for inside rims/barrels, and the long brush, tire brush and wheel brushes too. They are all different stiffness and while subtle, make a difference.

I got a bottle in a MB and started using it when my auto parts store bottle ran out. I use it on irregular surfaces where it is tough to get an applicator onto, like door jambs, under trunk lid/hood, and inside the gas filler. Super easy buff out and since it isn’t exposed to the elements, fallout, UV, etc on those surfaces I think I am getting better than a month out of an application. Yeah its pricey but we are retail customers even with a discount. When I lived in Hawaii one of our corvette club members was a pro detailer and bought all his chemicals in bulk from a wholesaler. You couldn’t walk in the wholesaler’s door without a GET number. I couldn’t imagine him running a business buying at retail, 16 ounces at a time. I don’t remember the brand names on the products he used but he did explain to me that many required dilution and were not that forgiving for a DIY’er who made a mistake. I don’t mind paying extra for a little extra peace of mind. Will I actually pay full price for another bottle of spray wax when this one runs out versus going back to the auto parts store? Hmmm, not sure...

Have you tried the waterless wash? We get a lot of seasonal pollens in central Texas and it does a great job. I remember the salt spray from when we lived in Hawaii. Different stuff but I think the WW would work just as well. I wasn’t an Adam’s customer then so I can’t say from experience.

I change the rinse water between vehicles and wash both out thoroughly after washing both.

Darryl what about a really long extension cord? Not joking, I did this at an apartment complex in Korea where the nearest outlet could only be reached with a 75 foot outdoor cord. In Texas now, I use a big shop vac with the hose on the outlet side and a step down nozzle. Not sure I’m getting the same velocity as the MB but it is filtered and warmed too.

Something else you might consider is checking the water pressure at your hose bib. Mine was super low when I tested it with my neighbors gauge...screwed right onto the bib. I went to the water shutoff valve by the meter and cranked it up a bit. Still well within water utility range but way better results with the foam gun.

Great tip on diluting RW. We get lots of different seasonal pollens in central Texas and after my first bottle of WW I ordered a gallon.

Kyle, a couple of things. One, how about flow charts for the entire wash process, sequentially? Starting with wheels/rims and finishing with interior glass (or whatever you all recommend)? Two, consider hanging these on the web site as .pdfs we can download?

Shane I’m glad you said it. I used APC until I got a bottle of strip wash in a mystery box. I can’t tell the difference between the two based on the results.

Only had one issue with a delivery — product leaked in the box. One call and a replacement arrived quickly with extra goodies thrown in. Very satisfied.

I had the same issue with the bristle type brush. Not enough stiffness to get tar or sticky stuff out. However it did get into the small clearance lug wells of my wife’s Merc. I got a generic 3-loop lug brush that cleaned great but only fit the lug wells of my pickup. I know, first-world problem.

Don’t select the bottle off the detail cart by color alone. Getting ready to clean my wheels, I grabbed the odor neutralizer (blue) instead of the wheel cleaner (also blue). Caught the error before I had the best smelling rim on my block.