What Soap Used on Ceramic Coated Car

Koch chemie gentle snow foam is nice, but all of the coating manufacturers make their own. I’d ask your installer what they recommend.

 

I always come back to Meguiars Gold Class. I have used Meguiars Gold Class for years on several different coatings and haven't found anything worthy of switching.

 

I’ve been happy with Gyeon.

 

Soap will not remove a ceramic coating. It's tough and needs to be polished off.

However, some car washes are specifically made to enhance (boost) a ceramic coating so they look better longer...

 

As the above says, once fully cured the only way to remove a ceramic coating is by machine polishing / hand polishing, a medium cut polish normally does the trick.
Just use a good quality PH neutral shampoo from a reputable company and you will be fine.
I always recommend people to stay away from " street car washes ", as some of them use very cheap chemicals that may reduce the life of the ceramic or worse, damage the paintwork.
A lot of people dont realise that the ceramic coating is primarily applied for the sole purpose of protection from the elements, and not added gloss or shine.
So dont forget to wax your car at least once a month or more if used as a daily driver.

 

I'm sorry, normally I would disregard comments such as this but I had to step in. This is completely false, there is a ton of misinformation about what a coating can and can not do such as protect from rock chips, scratches, etc. but I have never heard of having to wax a car that has had a ceramic coating applied. A coating is basically a wax on steroids that is meant to last years (if its a proper coating and maintained correctly) and alleviate the need to apply a wax. Should you use a maintenance spray? Maybe, it all depends on the coating so I would ask your installer for any information he/she can give you about maintenance. In most cases a detail spray product is not mandatory but will add a nice glow or some slickness to the paint, it shouldn't be absolutely necessary to keep the coating working. I'll agree that the coatings purpose is not to add gloss or shine and it is debatable if a coating adds any gloss at all, if so, it is minimal and the naked eye would not be able to tell. The gloss and depth comes with the paint correction and jeweling stage in preparation for the coating as the last step product. Once the coating is applied you are theoretically locking in that "just detailed look" for the life span of the coating. This is why it is important to find a detailer that really knows what they're doing.

 

We shall have to disagree i am afraid Jason on this one.
In my opinion, the more protection you can give the ceramic coating the better, and it depends on what type of life the car will have once it has left your hands.
This is especially critical if the car lives outside, is a daily driver or subject to everything the elements can throw at it.
As you are well aware, bird poop, tree sap and tree lime from leaves will test the very best ceramic coatings.
I am not saying you must wax your car after it has been coated, but i think its always best to explain to the customer what is achievable with the coating if cared for correctly.

 

While there are some waxes (generally hybrids) that are coating compatible, using a traditional wax or sealant on top of a coating is considered a step backwards as far as functionality goes. Some thoughts:

 

Correct. Think of a coating as a living, breathing organism. When it's on the car it is working to shed off the dirt and grime and leave a clean surface. Once the car becomes very dirty, you are suffocating and clogging up the pores of the coating and it stops working as well as it should until you wash the car again. This is why we tell people that a coating requires a bit of maintenance with regular washes to work as it should. A wax won't work in the same manner that a coating will or at least not as well. So when you apply a wax onto the surface of a ceramic coated car, you are now just getting the protection from the wax and beading/sheeting characteristics from that wax and not the coating. Stick with one or the other but no need for both.

 

Wax over ceramic? Been detailing my whole life and never heard of such a thing. Wax = 1990 Ceramic = 2024

 

This is the best one to try! We've been using it for years with great results. After mounting the new brake pads and tires from 4Wheelonline on my friend's new Camaro project, we washed it with Meguiars Gold and looks like new.

 

Any quality car soap can be used on ceramic coated cars.

If you are going to contact wash, pH neutral is good. When they shart adjusting pH levels out ofmthe neutral range you have to be more careful, but those soaps cut through grime better.

Right now I am using Jaxwax soaps as they seem to be at the good balance of quality and good price point. If money was no object, I would use Csr Pro products.

On a side note, I wish this forum section was more robust with detailing posts.