John89

I have a 1 year old RX, it has only been hand washed and been spray waxed with fake ceramic spray from meguiers. Now I have purchased real Ceramic Coating, I plan on washing it with the chemical guys clean slate to take off any wax, then clay it. Now my question comes in regards to after the claying. Do I need to polish it at all prior to applying the ceramic coating? If I do polish it wouldn't I have to again strip it prior to applying the ceramic coating?

LeX2K

General steps are:
wash
clay
wash
paint correction
wash
ceramic coat

You can skip steps if you want but the end result won't be as good. I personally won't ceramic coat without doing paint correction first.

John89

Thanks, the paint isn't that bad at all, I will after the clay take some polish to anything I will see then wash and use decon spray prior to applying ceramic. When I first got it either dealer or the factory had buffed some marks it seems, made round swirls. Which I had polished out and that has stayed for the year. I think It was factory as dealer got the car day prior I picked it up and doubt they would have used buffer. It looked as there was over spray and they factory just spun it out but never buffed it back out, it was exact circle on door and hood.

E46CT

No wash or soap or other detailing chemical for that matter will "strip wax" or other sealants. They can weaken or damage the bonds, but not strip it completely. You'd be layering ceramic coating on top of wax and not optimal.

You absolutely want to perform both a chemical and mechanical decontamination before applying any sealant. Chemical decon includes both water spot remover & iron remover. Mechanical includes clay or clay towel (really synthetic polymer towel) Both of these are absolutely critical for best results. If you have wax or other sealant, you absolutely need to polish for best results for the new coating to bond.

Polishing is not necessary for coating to bond, but clean bare paint is, but you may want to polish for best results appearance wise as well as to truly strip any wax or sealants.

This is master-level guidance. I'm in a high end detailing group and this exact advice is the same advice given & taught in said circles, including by one of the founding fathers of detailing science, if not *the* ff.

It's a myth & a con that you can strip wax or other sealants with soaps or other chemicals. so much misinformation and regurgitated old wives tales out there. you can do it and try it without polishing, but if you want best chemical bonding & cross linking, you'll want to polish.

If you want to get into the extreme nuances of polishing, da vs rotary, we can as well. A TON of misinformation that as well.

i did some thorough testing recently on some of these old wives tales. it's incredible & crazy. put it this way, nothing but a rotary is ever touching my paint, especially for extreme extreme gloss. i'm tossing my DA in the garbage.



i go for pure fact, pure science for detailing stuff.

John89

I appreciate the feedback, here my question. Okay have done all stripping etc, and have done full polishing. Now what do I do about the polish afterwards, do I need to re strip it or just doing decon spray is enough?

LeX2K

Wash the car again then ideally wipe down with 70% IPA. The goal is to have the paint as "virgin" as possible nothing on it. Don't use a higher concentration isopropyl alcohol this can actually damage some types of paint.

Pierregirard

I'd polish the car if it has light scratches or swirl marks, or if the paint looks a bit dull. Polishing can help smooth out imperfections and bring back the shine. But if the paint already looks great, then I wouldn't bother with it.