Polish before using the surface prep?

[Mike18]

I am new to ceramic coating and I also have lessons to be learned.  Last weekend, I washed my car, then clayed it followed by using the surface prep and, finally, the ceramic paint coating.  I neither polished between the claying and the applying of the surface prep.  Nor did I use Boost after the ceramic paint coating.  Currently have a lot of smears.  Should I polish before applying the surface prep?  If so, any suggestions on a good polish to use?  The instructions did not indicate to use Boost as part of the "complete" treatment.  Should I use that also?

 

Thoughts on where I should go from here?

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Rich]

The order for ceramic coatings is Wash, Clay, Polish, Prep, and Coat.  Always polish BEFORE you apply the prep.  Used to be you waited 24 hours after applying the ceramic then wipe it down with the boost.  Not sure if that's changed with the Graphene stuff or not. As for the polish, either the regular Polish or the One Step Polish works fine.

[The Guz]

Technically you can coat without polishing.  Boost is also not a requirement but it is 24 hours after the application of the coating.  

 

Those smears sounds like high spots.  You are going to have to polish those off and reapply.  Preferably polishing the entire panel and then reapply.  You may want to try adding a little more product onto the applicator to see if you can level out those high spots first.  If that does not work you will have to polish.  

 

Polishing is recommended after claying as claying will marr (a fancy term for scratch) which is removed by polishing.  Not noticeable if you have a white or silver vehicle.  You would then follow with the surface prep after polishing to remove any polishing oils.  And finally finish it off with the coating.  

 

Take a high spot as a lesson learned.  Easily fixed.  

[falcaineer]

Agreed that the smears sound like high spots, but you may not have to polish them. Here's a video on some steps you can take to try and level them out.

 

 

 

[Mike18]

Thanks for sharing the video.  With the amount of effort involved combined with the need to re-do smeared areas, I'm pretty sure I'm going back to the traditional wax.  I am not that knowledgeable about this stuff.  What do you think?

[Mike18]

18 hours ago, The Guz said:

Technically you can coat without polishing.  Boost is also not a requirement but it is 24 hours after the application of the coating.  

 

Those smears sounds like high spots.  You are going to have to polish those off and reapply.  Preferably polishing the entire panel and then reapply.  You may want to try adding a little more product onto the applicator to see if you can level out those high spots first.  If that does not work you will have to polish.  

 

Polishing is recommended after claying as claying will marr (a fancy term for scratch) which is removed by polishing.  Not noticeable if you have a white or silver vehicle.  You would then follow with the surface prep after polishing to remove any polishing oils.  And finally finish it off with the coating.  

 

Take a high spot as a lesson learned.  Easily fixed.  

 

1 minute ago, Mike18 said:

Thanks to Rich, Guz and the FalcaineerThanks for replying to my reach out.  With the amount of effort involved combined with the need to re-do smeared areas, I'm pretty sure I'm going back to the traditional wax.  I am not that knowledgeable about this stuff.  What do you think?

 

[Rich]

1 hour ago, Mike18 said:

Thanks for sharing the video.  With the amount of effort involved combined with the need to re-do smeared areas, I'm pretty sure I'm going back to the traditional wax.  I am not that knowledgeable about this stuff.  What do you think?

 

I think there's no set rule that you HAVE to do it any one way.  You can still get great results with wax.  Do what you're most comfortable with  doing and enjoy what you're doing.  It should never be a chore.  

[RayS]

@Mike18 All of us had to go through the learning process and fortunately we have this Forum to help each other out.  I have had multiple leaning experiences not only when I transitioned from my old product to the Adam's products and again when I starting using ceramics.  I do consider them learning experiences since each time I did a vehicle I learned more and the results certainly did show it.  

 

I can say the same with using Paint Sealant, Americana, Patriots an the Ceramic Paste Wax - I had to learn to use them before the outcome got to the level that I desired.  From the same point, I do not have all the vehicles I take care of ceramic coated.  There are two white ones that still get HGG, they just look too good with HGG to mess with it.  The Ford Car gets Paste Wax, the Nissan gets Paint Sealant, the wife's Garage queen gets whatever @falcaineer says it should have and most importantly, we all have fun doing them.

 

One thing that I do when a new product comes out of I want to try something different and that is to use a test panel and use it there first.  You can stop by an pick a part and grab something small and cheap to experiment with.  A wrinkled fender can be had for as little as $3 and sometimes free when you tell them what you want to do with it.  If you can find one close to the same color as your vehicle, that makes it even better.

 

Your profile doesn't say where you are located - there are plenty of members on here that can lend a hand.

[Mike18]

Thanks.  I live in the Philly area of Pennsylvania.  I don't remember having this many issues when using a paste wax.  I just purchased polish and a polisher so hope my car looks better based on following the video you provided.  Wish me luck😊.

[Mike18]

50 minutes ago, Rich said:

 

I think there's no set rule that you HAVE to do it any one way.  You can still get great results with wax.  Do what you're most comfortable with  doing and enjoy what you're doing.  It should never be a chore.  

Amen!  Thank You.

[The Guz]

Don't let high spots deter you away from a coating.  They are part of the learning curve with coatings.  

[mattadams]

Hi Mike! Like others have said there is certainly a learning curve to the ceramics, but the results can be impressive. I've gone through various phases over my life with detailing cars and show trucks, etc. but I am now actually getting to the point where I'm doing detailing as a side business/charitable fundraiser thing (I do a lot of fundraisers for events like the New York Marathon, Bike MS etc. that require me to raise a certain amount of money... I often exchange detailing for donations) and certainly have grown a lot in the last year with my knowledge and equipment and the things i'm comfortable with.

Wax is one of those things that has been around forever, tends to be pretty forgiving, and can be applied without having to follow nearly as specific rules, but it also doesn't last near as long. I love the buttery wax but it only lasts a few months, if that... and if you screw it up, it's not too hard to just remove it and redo it, and if you like washing and waxing then it's no probably to do it 2-3 times a year. The ceramic coatings last much longer, but also are much trickier to apply and requires much more specific steps be taken (i.e. you don't HAVE to polish the vehicle first, but if you don't you're just sealing in a cruddy looking finish, so what's the point). Once you get the hang of it, it goes much better and you won't have to overthink things quite as much.

For me, the thing I still struggle with the most is when to even it out after letting it cure. The only vehicles I've done so far didn't really show the rainbow effect very well even after waiting a while, so I kind of had to guess... I went by some of the videos which mentioned removing it when it was tacky, but this is also a bit hit or miss... so I think on the first vehicle I did (a silver F-350) I ended up with some high spots, especially on the glass, that I then had to polish off and figure out. But, I'm sure it'll get better with experience. 

Edited June 24, 2021 by mattadams

[mc2hill]

@mattadams I am similar to you, just doing this as a "hobby" (my wife would disagree!).  I have done some coating work, but without a huge garage to work in, I stick with Americana and Paint Sealant - they are easy to use and no long cure time is needed.