Caramics - Ceramic Car Shampoo

Yes. While all of our Caramics support products – including Caramics Enhancing Shampoo, Caramics Gloss Enhancer and Caramics Glass Cleaner – have been specifically engineered to prolong to the life and performance of our range of Caramics Protection Kits during routine maintenance, they can install an Si02 (silica) layer of protection on their own. As with all ceramic coatings, this will offer enhanced water behaviour, more gloss (on paintwork, vinyl and gloss plastics) and make your vehicle much easier to clean the next time around. The difference is that, as stand alone products, they will not provide the 12-months of durability offered by our flagship Caramics Protection Kits. Instead they’ve been designed as quick and easy-to-use top up products that are ideal for getting maximum durability, increased gloss and optimal performance on vehicles with a silica-based coating already present. For a full rundown of how all of our Caramics support products can be used to their best, and for some top tips on application, check out our full guide – Maintain And Enhance Your Ceramic Coatings In Under An Hour.    

While you could - and the special surfactants and degreasers in the advanced, pH neutral shampoo formula will certainly take care of the grime - you wouldn’t be getting the most from the protection side of the ceramic coating in this product. To work effectively, installing a hydrophobic barrier to the elements, a ceramic coating must be allowed to chemically bond, essentially making it a part of the surface on a molecular level. Due to the fact that a wax will physically bond (holding on to the surface filling in the tiny pores and recesses to create a separate layer on top), there will already be a barrier between the coating and the surface of the paintwork. This barrier will block the chemical bonding process, so the SiO2 layer won’t be able to take hold and cure to create a hard layer of protection. This is why a car shampoo like that contains SiO2 is chiefly designed to be used on a vehicle with a previously applied ceramic coating, or one with no protection at all. For vehicles with wax protection already applied, we recommend using Lather Car Shampoo for your safe, two-bucket wash. This product is purely used as a cleaning agent and contains no waxes, glossing agents or ceramic coatings designed to install protection or add gloss.      

Yes, as well as installing hydrophobic protection as a stand-alone product, or topping up previously-applied ceramic protection as you wash, this product will certainly make  the parts of your vehicle that are supposed to be glossy even shinier. One of the key attributes of any SiO2-based ceramic coating is that the layer of silicon dioxide that is allowed to bond to clearcoat, plastics, vinyl, glass and all other exterior surfaces is based on glass, so it’s extremely clear and perfectly smooth. Because of this, coatings allow light to pass through to the surface underneath and bounce back to the eye without being obstructed or diffracted in different directions. So, in the case of paintwork, gloss plastics and vinyl, while this doesn’t hide defects, it always gives the illusion of extra depth and gloss. With any coatings, waxes and sealants, we call this levelling the optical finish.   

All silica or quartz-based ceramic coatings (such as those found in our products Ceramic Spray Wax, Aqua Coat Hydrophobic Rinse Aid, Lavish Ceramic Foam, Caramics Gloss Enhancer, Caramics Enhancing Shampoo, Wash 'n' Gloss, and our flagship Caramics Protection Kits), use a layer of chemically bonded silicon dioxide (SiO2) to create a barrier between the surface and the elements that’s impermeable to water and only possible to remove by abrasion. In all their forms, and regardless of their durability, ceramic coatings are intended to add the hardiest protection to surfaces and, although they’re also designed to level the optical finish of paintwork and vinyl (including paint and powdercoat on wheels) - allowing light to bounce back to the eye more uniformly to make the finish appear deeper and glossier - the glass-like layer they install is not intended to hide underlying paint defects. So, when it comes to full paint decontamination and paint correction, the application of coating will still be effective with regards to physical protection, gloss and water beading without carrying out these processes, but you will not correct or obscure any defects already in the paintwork. This is why we always recommend carrying out any swirl mark or other defect removal, along with surface cleansing, prior to application of any protection layer (ceramic, wax or sealant) if you’re not completely happy with the condition of your paintwork. Especially when using a product intended for the most extreme durability such as our Caramics Paintwork Protection Kit, which installs a coating that lasts for up to a year. For maintenance washes, where SiO2 products are used to top up previously applied ceramic protection, we would assume that any paint correction necessary would have been carried out before the initial application of the coating. For preparing the surface for your coating, it's essential to use a product that doesn't contain waxes or fillers that will block the adhesion of the coating, such as our Revitalise System V2 Compounds and One Step All-in-One Compound. For the full rundown on the science of ceramic coatings and how they work see our article – What Difference Does A Ceramic Coating Actually Make.

The great thing about silica-based (SiO2) ceramic coatings is that they’re specifically developed to help your vehicle look better for longer. The hardy protection layer they install is essentially chemically bonded silicon dioxide, which is like glass, so it smooths the surfaces enough to prevent water molecules and grime from bonding. Regardless of application to paint, glass, vinyl or any other exterior surface, this is why they bead to the extreme and offer the longest lasting protection of any product. What’s most important here is that grime will sit on top of the ceramic layer rather than sticking, and this makes cleaning easier. But it’s still important to carry out safe maintenance to stop heavy grit and grime from being rubbed in and abrading the coating and the paintwork, causing the infliction of defects. Using coating-friendly pre-wash products, such as Citrus Power Bug and Grime Remover and Avalanche Snow Foam will also prevent damage to coatings because they don’t contain harsh acidic or alkaline cleaning agents that may etch into the top layer. It’s the same story for the shampoo you use in your two-bucket wash. Lather Car Shampoo is a great choice as it will never damage previously-applied coatings, but alternatively you can use Wash 'N' Gloss Car Shampoo or our Caramics Enhancing Shampoo to actively top-up and prolong the life and performance of your SiO2 coating as you wash paintwork, glass and all other exterior surfaces. Other products that are great for topping up during routine maintenance include Aqua Coat Hydrophobic Rinse Aid, Lavish Ceramic Foam, Caramics Gloss Enhancer, Caramics Glass Cleaner and Ceramic Spray Wax. When it comes to paint correction, all you have to remember is that Si02 coatings have to be allowed to chemically bond to the topcoat or lacquer layer, so it’s crucial to use a compound or a polish that doesn’t contain any waxes or fillers, because these extra layers will block the chemical bonding process. For paint correction, polishing and refinement before adding a coating, we’d recommend using products that only reveal a true finish, such as One Step All-in-One Compound, or our Revitalise System V2 Compounds (which are also available separately). Don’t forget that SiO2 coatings are extremely durable and can only be fully removed through abrasion, this means that polishing your vehicle using any abrasive after applying a ceramic coating will remove the Si02 layer, meaning that reapplication of protection will be required after you polish. For more on how to prepare a car for a ceramic coating, see our guide – Detailing and Ceramic Coating a New Car.