As many car painters know, ceramic coating is a solid car protection — it’s durable, long-lasting, and can withstand different things, including exposure to UV rays, debris, and acid rain.
While all that sounds good, it doesn’t last forever and is prone to fade and wear.
Since it’s necessary to keep one’s car protected, some owners would like to know if they can polish over their car’s ceramic coating and maintain that shiny look.
Quick Answer
As a general rule, you cannot polish over a ceramic coating, and you shouldn’t because it contains abrasives that will ruin the coating and strip it off your car, leaving a patchy and damaged mess.
Polish and ceramic coating don’t go well together, so you can’t paint the former over the latter unless you intend to remove the layer, which, even if that’s the case, isn’t the best way to go.
If you think polishing over your car’s ceramic coating will protect it or revive its looks, you better think again.
Find out why ceramic coating and polish don’t go together in this article.
Can I Polish Over A Ceramic Coating?
You may think polishing over your car will make it look shinier as it applies to shoes or other stuff you polish.
However, it isn’t quite the same with cars.
You polish your vehicle when you want to prepare the surface for further treatment.
But that may not hit the nail on the answer you’re looking for.
Quick Answer
As a whole, you can’t polish over a ceramic coating because the properties of the polish will break the coating down and strip the car of protection, leaving your car exposed. Generally, polish contains microscopic abrasives that strip and remove coatings off your car’s surface.
On the contrary, polishing doesn’t make your coating shinier.
Polish contains restorative properties that prepare the car’s surface for other treatments.
Therefore, it is fitting to polish your vehicle if you want to remove the wax to ensure that whatever curing you do is effective.
It’s also right to use polish over ceramic coating if you want to remove the layer because it is starting to degrade or wasn’t installed properly.
Otherwise, you should use polish on the car before applying the ceramic coating.
Moreover, it is almost necessary to do that if you intend to coat your car, as this will prepare the surface.
Polishing before a ceramic coating will also remove scratches and swirl marks from the car to prevent imperfect coatings.
How Do You Shine A Ceramic-Coated Car?
Ceramic-coated cars are pretty and well-protected.
Some people assume that ceramic-coated cars have self-cleaning attributes and don’t need to do much to maintain the shine of their cars.
But, on the contrary, they are similar to many other things that require specific actions to remain as good as new.
In total, you can shine a ceramic-coated car through different maintenance measures, including:
Generally, maintenance is vital for keeping your car’s ceramic coating shining.
To maintain your car’s ceramic coating, here are recommended maintenance options:
Car Wash For Ceramic Coating
Let go of the myth that ceramic-coated cars are self-washing. You must wash the car at a car wash or with your hands.
The safest way to clean your ceramic-coated vehicle is by using the two-bucket method of washing cars.
Visiting an automated car wash isn’t in the best interest of your car because the soap can sometimes be harsh with aggressive pH that can ruin your car quickly.
In addition, their washing materials are not soft cleaning.
Appropriate Drying
Drying is critical for your ceramic-coated car to shine.
You should use a microfiber drying towel to wipe the body and not leave it to dry out, so it doesn’t leave water spots.
Apply Maintenance Spray
Applying a maintenance spray on your ceramic-coated car can help it shine.
Use it directly on the car after washing it using an applicator pad.
However, don’t apply the spray under direct sunlight to prevent streaks and high spots.
Apply the spray in your garage in the morning or late afternoon.
Annual Inspection
You should take your car for annual inspections at the auto shop that installed the coating.
They will inspect the car for uneven coverage and low and high spots and apply a topcoat to brighten the coat.
How To Remove Scratches From A Ceramic Coating
Ceramic coatings always make your car look almost as good as new, especially if you just did that.
All that fun, excitement and pride that you have in your shiny and perfect car can be destroyed with blemishes like scratches on your vehicle.
You can’t just ignore it; you need to fix it, and thankfully, it’s something you can do on your own.
As a whole, you can remove scratches from a ceramic coating through the following ways:
Ceramic coating, to an extent, can prevent scratches from cars; however, that doesn’t mean they are entirely scratch-resistant.
Scratches are almost inevitable in vehicles, and layers of ceramic coatings can’t prevent that as well.
But the bright side to it is that you can remove scratches if you:
Use A Boost Spray
A ceramic boost spray is perfect for mild scratches on a ceramic coating.
Apart from the boost spray, you need a microfiber applicator pad or towel.
Before starting, you need to do a bit of micro-polishing to prepare the area.
Use a machine polishing buffing machine or a hand applicator to remove surface blemishes.
Then, decontaminate the area to remove dust by wiping the area with a microfiber cloth. Lastly, apply the boost spray on the scratches to cover them.
Fill And Spray Another Coating
You can fix scratches on a ceramic coating by spraying another coating over it.
This will only work if the scratch is very thin, superficial and nothing deep.
But first, you need to decontaminate the area using a well-blended isopropyl alcohol prep spray to prevent contamination that may affect this curing process.
Then, you wipe the surface clean before applying the coating.
Polish And Paint
Severe scratches call for serious fixing measures. If the scratch has cut through the coating, it needs more than spraying over to fix it.
You need to get an essence polish and massage it into the affected area with a foam finger.
However, you must avoid polishing unaffected areas which can ruin the ceramic coating.
Carefully massage the polish in without damaging the paint in a gentle crosshatch pattern.
This will remove the coating on the scratched area and decontaminate it.
Furthermore, you should apply isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber cloth to wipe the area to decontaminate it.
Then, recoat the area with nano-ceramic coating, and leave it to cure.
Professional Help
You can ditch the DIY ways and ask a professional for help in fixing scratches on a ceramic coating.
Sometimes, you would need to seek a professional’s help depending on the level of the damage.
You should reach out to a repair shop if the scratch reveals bare metal or rust on the car, if there’s flaking or if the scratch is broad and covers a large area.
The professionals know how to restore your car to its old looks.
Conclusion
Ceramic coatings are excellent on cars and are meant to last a long time.
In fact, some auto shops offer a five year or lifetime guarantee after applying ceramic coating on cars.
To maintain the shine, polishing over the ceramic coating isn’t the answer, but appropriate maintenance is.
This includes washing your car with the proper means, drying correctly, applying a maintenance spray, and taking your vehicle for annual inspections.
