Ceramic paint coatings and road salt

[Touring]

Is there anyone with a ceramic coating on their Civic that can comment on how well it repels the sticky salt water that comes off the road and plasters itself all over your paint in the winter?

I'm considering having one put on my car, but if it's still going to be covered in salt stains, I'll just stick to regular waxing.

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[Redhothatch253]

I'm in Washington seattle area..we have very little salt use on roads..but I have CERAMIC PRO 9h on all my cars..YouTube it.youwont regret.

 

[Touring]

I'm in Washington seattle area..we have very little salt use on roads..but I have CERAMIC PRO 9h on all my cars..YouTube it.youwont regret.

I've seen some of the videos of it but I'm a bit skeptical because the videos are made by the company. Not saying they're fake but I feel like they could be exaggerated by putting 9 or 10 coats of the stuff on their test vehicles, which wouldn't be affordable for me. When you do deal with salt, do you find it still stains your panels? Or does the water just come off as you're driving?

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I don't have the salt problem per se where I live but as far as ceramic coatings go, I applied Dr Beasley's Nanoresin couple of months ago and its excellent. One of the easiest coatings to apply DIY and has 2-3 years life. I applied NanoResin, waited for a week and applied Dr Beasley's Plasmacoat on top of it. The results are fantastic.

You could use a sacrificial layer sprays like CarPro Reload or Gyeon Cure periodically(every few months) and that would be an effective solution against salt deposits. Its easy to wash a car with a ceramic coating.

It is my understanding that salt corrosion affects the undercarriage predominantly and no ceramic coating can protect that area. But if it is your paint, try one of them, preferably an easy to apply coating like NanoResin.

 

[Touring]

I don't have the salt problem per se where I live but as far as ceramic coatings go, I applied Dr Beasley's Nanoresin couple of months ago and its excellent. One of the easiest coatings to apply DIY and has 2-3 years life. I applied NanoResin, waited for a week and applied Dr Beasley's Plasmacoat on top of it. The results are fantastic.

You could use a sacrificial layer sprays like CarPro Reload or Gyeon Cure periodically(every few months) and that would be an effective solution against salt deposits. Its easy to wash a car with a ceramic coating.

It is my understanding that salt corrosion affects the undercarriage predominantly and no ceramic coating can protect that area. But if it is your paint, try one of them, preferably an easy to apply coating like NanoResin.

Thanks for the info. I did see the Nano Resin from Dr Beasley's at a pretty good price at on online detailing site. Would you say it's as easy to apply as regular wax? Or is it a bit more tricky?

Im not too concerned about rust. I'm more interested in making my black paint a lot more easier to keep clean. Regular wax is pretty good at keeping regular rain and water off the paint but when it comes to the sticky salt water and wet road grime, it doesn't help much. That crap always finds a way to stick to the paint surface, even after just waxing the car.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Thanks for the info. I did see the Nano Resin from Dr Beasley's at a pretty good price at on online detailing site. Would you say it's as easy to apply as regular wax? Or is it a bit more tricky?

Im not too concerned about rust. I'm more interested in making my black paint a lot more easier to keep clean. Regular wax is pretty good at keeping regular rain and water off the paint but when it comes to the sticky salt water and wet road grime, it doesn't help much. That crap always finds a way to stick to the paint surface, even after just waxing the car.

Nano resin is pretty easy to apply if you prep your surface right.

Assuming your paint is in good shape (minor hairline scratches here and there are ok), use a Paint Prep like P21s or Ultima paint prep and this step will cleanse your surface and bring out the richness of your paint color.

After that, use Gyeon Prep or similar and remove all the wax residues.

A ceramic coating basically locks in the paint surface with a layer of SiO2 so it is imperative you prep your paint surface to the best condition possible before you do this.

I personally like Nano Resin because it is VOC free and does not have solvents (most of them do including CQuartz and Optigloss, two popular paint coatings) so you won't feel like you are breathing Jet Fuel while applying it. Price is also great at $50. You need one of those foam block applicators and 10 pack of MF suede cloths.

Nano Resin is easy to apply and each application will take approx an hr to hr and half (depending on your working speed). They recommend 2 coats so by the time you get done your first coat and come back to the spot, it is ready for 2nd coat (they recommend 1 hr gap). So once you are done, make sure you don't get your car wet for a few hrs (I'd leave it overnight in a garage or covered space). Don't wash your car for 7 days. Rain falling on the car is ok as long as it is not the initial few hrs after application.

You can use something like Reload or Gyeon Cure after a few hrs which acts as a sacrificial layer.

I actually waited a week and washed my car and put on 2 coats of Dr Beasley's Plasmacoat which makes the paint surface great.

Here are some pics of my car (this is 2 months after application. Also the car was washed few days ago and I live in a very dusty place where dust gets deposited fast)

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I'll probably post better pics next time I wash the car and spray on Reload or Cure. It looks much better and the pictures don't do full justice to the results you can get from the NanoResin/Plasmacoat combination.

 

[LoveToDrive]

I had Opticoat Pro done on my previous Civic and I loved it. It doesn't "repel" salt and dirt because the coating is not slick. But it sure does make it easy to clean!! Some of the harder grimes had to be hand washed, but very lightly with bottle spray wash. If I went to the self-wash twice a month during the winter, it kept the vehicle 90 - 95% clean until spring. My current Civic (LX) doesn't have it and when I go to self-wash to spray the car, it doesn't take the dirt off at all like the Opticoat.

 

[Touring]

I'll probably post better pics next time I wash the car and spray on Reload or Cure. It looks much better and the pictures don't do full justice to the results you can get from the NanoResin/Plasmacoat combination.

Thanks for all that info. Really appreciate it. Just added some of those products to the "notepad" on my phone. If I do it myself, it won't be for a long time. We're just entering winter here in Canada and so far, it looks like it's gonna be a long one. There's a detailing shop nearby that will decontaminate, polish, and apply nano resin to my paint for about 200$ CDN. Think it's a good deal? I like the idea of having a professional doing all the prep work for me.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I had Opticoat Pro done on my previous Civic and I loved it. It doesn't "repel" salt and dirt because the coating is not slick. But it sure does make it easy to clean!! Some of the harder grimes had to be hand washed, but very lightly with bottle spray wash. If I went to the self-wash twice a month during the winter, it kept the vehicle 90 - 95% clean until spring. My current Civic (LX) doesn't have it and when I go to self-wash to spray the car, it doesn't take the dirt off at all like the Opticoat.

If you use a sacrificial layer like Reload on top, it makes it reasonably slick. You can also use a spray on acrylic wax like Ultima Acrylic wax which will make the surface slicker and it works on coatings. But like you mentioned, the coating makes it easier to wash off the salt plus it acts as a barrier on top of your clear coat.

I don't have to worry about salt deposits but the coating looks and protects the paint for a long time leaving you just to wash and dry your car with a pH neutral shampoo every few weeks.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Thanks for all that info. Really appreciate it. Just added some of those products to the "notepad" on my phone. If I do it myself, it won't be for a long time. We're just entering winter here in Canada and so far, it looks like it's gonna be a long one. There's a detailing shop nearby that will decontaminate, polish, and apply nano resin to my paint for about 200$ CDN. Think it's a good deal? I like the idea of having a professional doing all the prep work for me.

Using NanoResin and Plasmacoat will keep your paint in top notch shape.

If someone will polish and apply nano resin for $200 CDN, I say it is a good deal. But depends on your paint condition. You don't need polishing per se (which is a paint correction step and very labor intensive) and that would be the only thing a pro can do better.

If your paint is in good shape, then all you need is a paint prep step with P21s or Ultima.

You can also decontaminate the paint (I did this prior to paint prep) and it is not as complex as it sounds. Use something like Carpro IronX or Gyeon Iron and you can decontaminate the paint. Its a spray on, wait and rinse step.

 

[TabsAZ]

I may be moving to Michigan for school - if it happens, I'm going to put CQuartz UK on mine to protect against all the salt stuff. My dad's got CQuartz Finest on his car and it's great.

 

[Touring]

Using NanoResin and Plasmacoat will keep your paint in top notch shape.

If someone will polish and apply nano resin for $200 CDN, I say it is a good deal. But depends on your paint condition. You don't need polishing per se (which is a paint correction step and very labor intensive) and that would be the only thing a pro can do better.

If your paint is in good shape, then all you need is a paint prep step with P21s or Ultima.

You can also decontaminate the paint (I did this prior to paint prep) and it is not as complex as it sounds. Use something like Carpro IronX or Gyeon Iron and you can decontaminate the paint. Its a spray on, wait and rinse step.

I normally use a good old Meguiars clay bar to decontaminate my paint. Do you recommend these spray on products instead of claying?

Thanks again for the product recommendations.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I normally use a good old Meguiars clay bar to decontaminate my paint. Do you recommend these spray on products instead of claying?

Thanks again for the product recommendations.

Decontamination primarily involves removing ferrous deposits on your paint and is different from claying. Claying won't decontaminate your paint surface free of iron and rust deposits if there is any. And unless you have hard to remove stuff stuck on to your paint, claying is not needed.

Use something like IronX/Gyeon Iron for decontamination and Gyeon Prep/Carpro Eraser as a clean and prep spray before you apply the base coat.

 

[LoveToDrive]

If you use a sacrificial layer like Reload on top, it makes it reasonably slick. You can also use a spray on acrylic wax like Ultima Acrylic wax which will make the surface slicker and it works on coatings. But like you mentioned, the coating makes it easier to wash off the salt plus it acts as a barrier on top of your clear coat.

I don't have to worry about salt deposits but the coating looks and protects the paint for a long time leaving you just to wash and dry your car with a pH neutral shampoo every few weeks.

I thought/read that anything you put on top of these coatings are pretty much useless because they come right off. Acrylic wax, huh? I'll look into it. Yeah, I can really tell the difference now that I don't have the coat in my LX. God forbid, I have to do a real wash now!

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