How To Remove Ceramic Spray Coating

Ceramic coatings are the best style to protect your vehicle's paint from UV rays, acrid rain, bird droppings, bug splatter, and a host of other contaminants. They produce a physical layer on top of the paint, repelling rain and water and preventing dirt and grime from sticking to the surface, producing a sort of self-cleaning effect.

1 of the major benefits of ceramic coatings is they terminal a long time - usually a minimum of 12 months for the cheapest and lowest class products.

Only what if you want to remove a ceramic coating? Well, you lot're in for a workout. Ceramic coatings are an absolute chore to remove.

In this article, we'll walk you through the unlike methods of removing a ceramic coating from your vehicle.

Let'southward become started and remove that old ceramic coating!

Torque Detail Decontamination Kit

Ceramic Blanket Removal Kit

This kit provides all you need to remove most ceramic coatings equally well as harmful contaminants that sit on your paint's surface. *For tough ceramic coatings, further piece of work may be needed as described after in this guide*

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Why Would You Want To Remove A Ceramic Blanket?

So you might exist asking yourself: if ceramic coatings are so good, why would I want to take mine off?

In a perfect earth, y'all'd drive your car to a detailing shop and social club a full detailing service and a professional-grade ceramic coating. Such a service is definitely available - all the same, it costs several thousands of dollars, and unless yous bulldoze a very expensive vehicle it may not be in your budget.

If yous bulldoze a regular automobile similar the rest of us, you're probably winging your ceramic coating yourself - and that where the problems start.

Do Y'all Always Have To Remove The Ceramic Coating Completely?

No, non always.

Maybe there'southward merely 1 spot where hazing occurs or just a couple of scratches you lot want to shine off.

If the surface of the body panels is perfectly articulate with keen finish and shine, AND if the ceramic blanket nevertheless exhibits all of its qualities, you don't demand to strip it downwards completely.

Instead, y'all can just remove it on the spots y'all want to the address and and then reapply.

Conversely, there may be no paint bug to correct and the car all the same looks like a million bucks - information technology'due south just that the blanket is no longer working as information technology in one case was. It's lost its hydrophobic backdrop, and you find the machine is getting a lot dirtier a lot quicker than it used to.

In this example, you can just apply a new glaze of ceramic later on thoroughly washing and decontaminating the vehicle. Ceramic coatings can exist applied on top of each other. The layers are extremely thin and easily bail to one some other, provided the vehicle is carefully prepped.

There'southward a caveat, however: information technology's simply brash to apply a ceramic blanket on an existing layer if they are the verbal aforementioned product. Different formulations might not bail properly to each other, which will reduce the longevity of your coating, and you'll then have to exercise it all over once again sooner than normal.

Preparing The Machine For Ceramic Coating Removal

Now then, if you lot definitely take to remove the ceramic coating, you need to start with a thorough cleaning and preparation session.

No matter how new, make clean, or protected your auto is, meticulous cleaning is always required. Y'all'll be surprised how much dust, clay, airborne pollutants, and contamination there is on your car.

In club to properly remove a ceramic coating and subsequently apply a new layer, you demand a surgically-clean vehicle.

Phase i: Rinse The Vehicle

Rinse the car first to wash away all loose clay and droppings. Use light force per unit area to forbid propelling hard mud and debris at high speed toward the surface of your paint.

Phase 2: Decontamination

After rinsing, even if information technology looks like the auto is perfectly make clean, in that location's going to exist a number of particles all the same lodged in the surfaces and pores of the paint. Nosotros're talking about mineral deposits, salts, iron grit, leftover grease and grime, tar, etc. There'southward all kinds of contamination picked up from the surrounding environment.

Reminder: Every production y'all need to complete this step is bundled in our Ultimate Decon Kit.

Decon Soap is an all-in-one product that not only acts as a car shampoo, only also a contaminate remover. It'll remove everything from your wax layer, all the style up to restriction dust, crud, bug guts, atomic number 26, and more. If you did not apply Decon Soap in the previous step, you'll have to look for individual decontamination products. It might even exist enough to get your ceramic coating off if it has degraded enough.

Finally, after chemically removing all possible contaminants, it's fourth dimension for a clay bar laissez passer. Our Clay Decon Kit includes all yous demand to complete this step. Instead of a typical clay bar, we include a dirt pad. It'southward a lot easier to apply, more durable, and information technology tin can exist used upwardly to 100 times. A clay bar must be thrown out if you drop it on the footing. A clay pad tin can simply be washed off with the included dirt lube and you're good to go!

No thing how many products yous've used, there's ever going to exist some stubborn stuff that has embedded itself within the actual layers of the paint. The dirt bar will pick the majority of these bonded contaminants and exit the surface as close to perfect equally can practically be achieved.

Call back to use lots of clay bar lubricant to keep the surface wet at all times while claying. Employ light pressure and fold your clay over oft to expose a fresh surface. Using a dirt bar without a dirt bar is like shaving without shaving cream. You need the lubrication to avoid causing impairment.

Here's How To Remove A Ceramic Coating

A high-end nano coating (ceramic coating) really bonds to a vehicle's painted surface. This is completely different than wax. The above decontamination process works all-time if the blanket has already started deteriorating. Otherwise, the below methods will exist required.

Here are some more than heavy duty and constructive methods for removing the coating.

Testing the coating

The first step is to examination the properties of the ceramic coating:

• Does information technology still exhibit hydrophobic properties?
• Is the surface slick and slippery to the affect?
• Are you seeing a change in the reflectivity and shine?

Typically, ceramic coatings cannot be removed through washing and are highly resistant to various chemicals. However, a low-quality or an old and deteriorated ceramic coating will be more susceptible to erosion.

If you went through all the cleaning and preparation steps meticulously, chances are yous've already removed a portion of the ceramic coating and most definitely any wax or pigment sealant that may have been applied. As soft as information technology seems, clay bars are actually abrasive, so in combination with other products, they may be able to strip away the coating.

If the coating is still holding potent, you need to start with the manufacturer'southward literature and cheque if there are whatsoever specific instructions for the blanket's removal procedure. This is important.

Method 1: Chemic removal of ceramic coatings

Nosotros mentioned already that ceramic coatings are very resistant to chemicals. However, that'due south not entirely true in all cases. Ceramic coatings fare extremely well against acids and salts, which are the majority of chemicals the vehicle will encounter out in the surroundings.

However, on the opposite side of the pH calibration, alkaline products such as degreasers will attack the ceramic coating aggressively and break down its bond with the surface, making it easier to remove. Even so, there's a caveat.

WARNING: Your clear glaze is merely as vulnerable to alkaline products (degreasers, brake cleaners, etc.) equally the ceramic blanket is. If yous use too strong a product or allow it dwell on the surface, it tin can eat through the blanket and attack the clear coat and underlying pigment layers. If not used carefully and with utter attention, element of group i products can impairment and compromise your paint irreversibly.

With that in mind, y'all can mix a DIY solution of bicycle and brake cleaner diluted 5:1 with ordinary water. Mix thoroughly in a spray bottle and spray on the body panel.

While it's notwithstanding wet and soapy, pick upward a new piece of dirt and clay the surface, agitating the production. Brand sure to work quickly and use calorie-free pressure. When you're done, rinse thoroughly with a power washer.

In a 5:one solution, the wheel cleaner should be adequately harmless to your pigment. Still, you don't want it on the surface a second longer than it needs to be. It's always a good idea to test in an inconspicuous place get-go.

When you recollect you're washed, test the ceramic coating again to run into how much you've removed. Watch the video below to see how it'south done.

Chemic removal is effective for old and degraded ceramic coatings, likewise as for lower quality products that incorporate a smaller percentage of SiO2 particles. Professional-class products, however, may not give in as easily.

Method ii: Polishing off ceramic coatings

The merely universally accepted method to remove ceramic coatings is mechanical abrasion. Since the ceramic coating is a physical layer, polishing is the merely surefire way to remove it 100% and expose the clear glaze underneath.

In fact, many of the high-form professional ceramic coatings claim the only way to remove them is through machine polishing.

If you're removing the coating because of bad application, analyze the coating for high spots and abnormal thickness. If such are present, y'all desire to wet sand them by hand before taking out the big gun.

Utilize fine sandpaper and a fair amount of lubricant on the surface. Start with 3000 grit and, if necessary, move down to more aggressive grit until you see the ceramic coating wearing off. But be careful to not eat into the clear glaze.

After all the high spots are addressed, the rest of the process is the aforementioned as polishing an uncoated vehicle.

• Catch your random-orbit machine polisher and equip it with a medium cutting pad and a medium to calorie-free polishing compound.
• Apply an appropriate amount of compound to the pad, following the product's description.
• Dab the surface several times to spread the paste, and commencement the auto on the lowest setting to evenly apply it across the torso panel.
• And so, switch to a higher setting and begin polishing. Motion the motorcar approximately i inch per second. Don't let information technology sit in the same spot to prevent overheating the area and marring the surface.
• Buff out the panel and audit the event. Test the coating to run across if it was completely removed.
• If you don't like the result, you tin can stride down to a more ambitious polishing compound. Nevertheless, yous will most probable demand to perform a 2d pass with a lighter production to remove the scratches left past the previous operation.
• Shine the articulate coat until you're satisfied with the surface quality.

After polishing the vehicle, information technology should exist 100% gratuitous of any ceramic blanket.

Final prep earlier re-applying the new coating

You're almost done.

Polishing can leave fine dust and other particles on the trunk panel. You lot'll become most of this out when buffing the surface, merely the nooks and crannies, particularly on a more edgy car, will retain some corporeality.

Wash the car with regular soap one more than time and dry thoroughly. As a final measure, practise a final wipe-down with IPA - a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and water.

WARNING: Don't use whatever waterless wash products before applying your new ceramic coating! Those tin can contain polymer sealants, synthetic waxes, and fifty-fifty some pct of SiO2. While they work great for maintaining your car on a daily basis, they'll foreclose the ceramic coating from properly adhering to the surface of the clear coat, compromising its longevity and protective properties.

Summary

Okay, permit'due south quickly recap what we've learned.

You need to remove ceramic coatings when they:

• Have deteriorated and no longer exhibit hydrophobic or self-cleaning backdrop
• Were poorly installed and resulted in a bad end
• Were low-quality to brainstorm with and don't perform as expected

Before removing a ceramic blanket, y'all need to properly clean and prep the vehicle, which includes:

• Washing bicycle using regular car soap and the 2-bucket method
• Decontamination cycle using iron, tar, and mineral deposit removers as well as a clay bar

You tin can remove a ceramic coating past:

• Using the chemical method with a diluted alkaline solution and a clay bar - works effectively on lower form or deteriorated coatings
• Using car polishing to abrade the coating abroad - works effectively on all coatings

Alright, that's certainly been a hassle. Removing ceramic coatings is a lot of work - and the better they are, the harder it is to accept them off.

If yous're interested in an easier to use ceramic coating, why not try Ceramic Spray by TorqueDetail ?

This is an easy-to-use spray ceramic coating that you can install in just a few minutes, and which provides a great level of protection against UV and chemicals. The easiest way to ceramic coat your vehicle and protect paintwork. Furthermore, Ceramic Spray gives your paint hydrophobic and self-cleaning backdrop. Finally, yous get to enjoy an amazing shine and beautiful reflections.

And as an added benefit, if you ever want to remove it, it'due south many times easier compared to a traditional ceramic coating.

Here'south to extending the life of our car's paint!

Written by Dan Sweeney

COO of Torque Detail & Certified Car Detailer

I help run the day to day for America's Number #one Car Wax Mirror Shine by Torque Particular. As a Certified Detailer by the International Detailing Association, I use that knowledge to help create products that get professional person grade results with super simple awarding techniques.

Source: https://www.torquedetail.com/blogs/ceramic-coating/how-to-remove-ceramic-coating

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