Coatings:
Coatings have been becoming extremely popular for their looks and overall durability when protecting your paint. They are a little more labor intensive to apply compared to sealants or waxes, but the overall look and protection can be well worth the extra effort. We recently spoke to some professionals and looked at some of our best sellers to come up with our top 5 consumer level coatings you should reach for during your next detail:
Honorable Mention: The above coatings are fantastic when you are looking to protect your paint and they can even be applied to hard coated plastics (i.e. headlights & taillights), metal (i.e. rims), glass surfaces, etc. However, if you are looking for the best protection possible on other surfaces and areas, check out Trim Coatings, Wheel Coatings, Glass Coatings, Leather Coatings, and Fabric Coatings. These coatings are specially formulated for these unique areas, allowing you to protect in the best way possible.
Below are also some great articles to help guide you through the process of applying and taking care of a coating:
- The Benefits of a Paint Coating
- Coating Application: How To Reduce Marring
- Maintaining Your Paint Coating
- What Coating Should I Buy?
- The Truth Behind Wild Coating Claims
Sealants:
Sealants for years have been compared directly against waxes. Should I use a sealant or a wax? What one is better for my situation? Etc. Then coatings hit the market. Although waxes certainly still have a place in many detailers arsenals, they seem to have been pushed to the side and now we have the argument of a sealant or a coating. We covered coatings above, so now onto sealants! Generally speaking, we have two different types of sealants, traditional paste and spray on. Traditional paste sealants last for 3-4 months and are applied with a wipe on, let cure/haze, wipe off application. Spray on sealants are generally not as durable as the traditional versions, but they are easier to apply. Just spray on, wipe off. No waiting for them to haze and many can be applied directly to trim, glass, metals, etc. Most are also sio2 based, just like popular coatings, just with a much lower concentration than said coatings. This makes them the perfect topper to protect an existing coating layer! Below are some of the most popular sealants being used right now.
Traditional
Spray On
Honorable Mention: Paste and spray on sealants are both awesome, but what if you want to save even more time? Check out some shmapoo sealants, which are essentially sio2 based shampoos, meaning you can wash and seal in one step! Some popular ones include the CarPro HydrO2 Foam, Hydrosilex Silica Soap, and the Gyeon Bathe+.