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I admit I am old school. I come from a time when you spent half the day in the garage doing bug/tar removal, polish, and wax - and you did it all by hand.

I am 42 now and I simply cannot do that anymore - I don't have the time to spend. I am trying to come up with a solution where I polish the car and seal it by myself with a product that provides shine and lasts 4-6 months, and I want to have something that is easy on/off, ideally in spray form. I do not want to spend $1,000 on a proper ceramic coating, I am looking for something that is a reasonable alternative that I can do.

I have some products that I am using, but does anyone else have recommendations on a wax-type sealant that is spray on/wipe off? I have tried to do research but it's hard to glean what works and what is a quick detailler type product.

 

[7GIRLS3CUPS]

For easy use over the counter products, Meg's Hybrid Ceramic followed up by Gold Class Carnuba Plus will give a pretty decent result for the roughly $22 investment. You'd probably want to hit it with a mild nanoskin to remove surface contamination. There's all sorts of good products out there, a few more opinions may help make a better decision for you. What climate area are you in, what's the vehicle usage/ exposure and how is it stored?

edit: That's a rare boat you have, how'd you score that?

edit edit: Just saw today on instagram that Meg's is releasing complete ceramic product offerings in 2020, I'll be checking that out for sure.

 

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The car is a daily driver, driven in the Chicagoland area year round (snow, ice, and salt). I don’t drive it much though since I work from home and travel a lot, so it stays in a heated garage (in front of the boat in fact) for upwards of a week on end.

I did do a full session this weekend with products I had on hand. I debugged the car, hit it with Meguires Clay Bar, ran a Porter Cable variable speed buffer over it with a white pad and Meguires Polish, and then I hit it with Chemical Guys V7 hybrid ceramic spray.

I got some crazy shine out of it but my question is more basic: is that enough or do I need to wax it too? I’ve used paste wax and I rarely saw more than 3-4 months out of it. My hope is that these ceramic sprays are longer lasting, better protecting, and just so happen to be easy enough to use that I can apply it on my lunch break.

The boat is my baby. Custom ordered to my exact specifications. To my knowledge it’s the only H210 in the country with a new GenV V8 (GM LS aluminum block) 300 hp hooked to a DuoProp. I’ve seen one with an SX single prop, and that’s it.

Acceleration can charitably be called “intense”.

 

[7GIRLS3CUPS]

Since you're familiar with hand on/ off and looking for longevity, I'd say a coat of Collinite #885 will be what you're looking for. Use it on your boat too, I even use it on glass. It is super durable and will last a very long time.

 

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I have used Fleetwax before, and I do like it, but it's not really what I am looking for again. I really want a spray on/wipe off product.

Oh well. Thank you for the advice!

 

[T~Roc]

For easy use over the counter products, Meg's Hybrid Ceramic followed up by Gold Class Carnuba Plus will give a pretty decent result for the roughly $22 investment. You'd probably want to hit it with a mild nanoskin to remove surface contamination. There's all sorts of good products out there, a few more opinions may help make a better decision for you. What climate area are you in, what's the vehicle usage/ exposure and how is it stored?

edit: That's a rare boat you have, how'd you score that?

edit edit: Just saw today on instagram that Meg's is releasing complete ceramic product offerings in 2020, I'll be checking that out for sure.

Has Meg's released their ceramic products, and have you tried them yet?

 

[T~Roc]

I have used Fleetwax before, and I do like it, but it's not really what I am looking for again. I really want a spray on/wipe off product.

Oh well. Thank you for the advice!

So what have you now settled with?
Interested in your findings.

Thanks

 

[7GIRLS3CUPS]

Has Meg's released their ceramic products, and have you tried them yet?

I use the Meg's hybrid ceramic wax and detailer, both are working pretty good. Seems as I can go a few more days between dust-offs on the dailies. The Gold Glass quik detailer (carnuba), not such a fan of.

 

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So I don't claim to be an expert here....I did some research, bought some stuff, and tried it out.

What I am finding is ceramic coatings are a "and/or" product - they can be used in addition to, OR in place of a wax sealer product like Fleetwax.

So I ordered up a Chemical Guys polishing kit (Porter Cable DA polisher, pads), some MEguires compound, polish, and swirl remover products, and these:

I used Hydra Charge first, and then followed up with the Car Guys Hybrid Wax. I did both the boat and my car. Here are the results on the boat....

And the car?

These pics really don't do it justice, so I tried some detail shots:

All in all, very satisfied with the results.