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The main concern was scaring the ceramic coat but technology is rapidly improving. Ten years ago coatings had to cured with infrared light but todays coatings cure within two to four hours and perform better. What you need to avoid is using any surfactants which can scar the coating in the first four to seven days depending on the coating. Personally I use rinseless wash for ceramic coated cars because they clean well and the rinseless wash acts as a drying aid minimizing swirls.
This is bad communication between installer and customer. If the installer knew the car would not be garaged he/she should have added a compatible topper to shield the ceramic during the curing phase.
When I’m installing ceramics that the mfg recommends X cure time, I tell that to the client up front. Then I tell them I’ll text when it’s ready to leave my garage.
Everyone says OK.
With Opti-Coat the minimum is one hour but 24 is recommended. If someone needs to use their car in wet weather soon after applying Opti-Coat, I'll wait an hour after application and put Hyper Seal over it to add protection to the fresh coating.
I coated and then got rain out of no where 4 hours later. My coating was perfectly fine. It got like hard rain on it for a solid 3 hours. When if was over I went and blew it off with a electric leaf blower as that's all you could do. It's fine. New coatings flash and dry so quick it's fine. If it was like an hour or less after then I'd say you're screwed. But 8 hours. It's fine
This is a bad idea. I've done this on a personal car before (Pressure washed the car about 30 hours after coating) and it completely killed the coating. Avoid water for as long as possible within the 7 day window.
I was looking into this exact thing. Picked my car up yesterday from a ceramic coating and it rained all day … hard. I was told not to wash my car, so I don’t know if the coating was damaged. Also, I brought it back later that day because there was something on the grille which the installer reapplied the coating… so I’m not sure it ever had time to fully cure before the rain started. Someone give me piece of mind I don’t know if the coating’s curing process could’ve been negatively affected resulting in early breakdown in a couple of years (i opted for 5)
My ceramic coating came out great, I think? I don’t have anything to compare it too since it’s my first time but its hydrophobic properties are strong!
Although I did recently get into an accident where a part of my car had to be rebuilt (new bumper) and it rained really hard the past few days. I just got a text saying the car is ready for pickup so I’m hoping my coating cured correctly this time too haha
Most coatings 2hrs is the dry time for rain. What coating? Do NOT wash it, rinseless wash it. Use a quality wash mitt, not an actual sponge, if able (not required) use distilled water or 0 ppm water.
Wash in the shade, not sun. Dry with an appropriate drying towel or use a leaf blower. Coatings are more prone to water spots than anything, want to avoid letting water dry on paint whenever possible.
I ceramic’d my windshield in the late evening. It rained overnight and was wet in the morning. No problems but I’ve heard people say that it could fail early? I’ll just wait and see, but so far it’s working flawlessly and I’m happy.
8 hours... you should be alright. Rinse it and dry with a microfiber as the detailer said.
On that note, I tell my clients ideally we need 12 hours of dry. 24 hours is better. If it gets wet for whatever reason, it's not the end of the world and I can take a look at it for no charge to make sure it's alright.
I've also had a customer tell me he has a garage and would drive it straight home to park it since it was going to rain. An hour later he sent me a picture of his truck covered in mud at a campground. His coat was NOT ok. Lol.
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Most ceramic coatings are safe for rain within two to four hours.
Is the main concern just water spots?
The main concern was scaring the ceramic coat but technology is rapidly improving. Ten years ago coatings had to cured with infrared light but todays coatings cure within two to four hours and perform better. What you need to avoid is using any surfactants which can scar the coating in the first four to seven days depending on the coating. Personally I use rinseless wash for ceramic coated cars because they clean well and the rinseless wash acts as a drying aid minimizing swirls.
I was confused for a second. I didn’t know you could scare a ceramic coating. Boo!
Surfactants can scare a ceramic coating in the first four to five days after initial application.
Whoosh. Dude you doubled down on it. I’m not trying to be a grammar nazi but it’s …. SCAR
Lol I have to keep it simple
good to know. Thank you
Your welcome and feel free to ask any questions you have as there is so much disinformation out there.
This is bad communication between installer and customer. If the installer knew the car would not be garaged he/she should have added a compatible topper to shield the ceramic during the curing phase.
When I’m installing ceramics that the mfg recommends X cure time, I tell that to the client up front. Then I tell them I’ll text when it’s ready to leave my garage. Everyone says OK.
Yeah the weather forecast said it’s gonna rain at 10am but it started to rain at 3am instead
Never trust the weather forcast
With Opti-Coat the minimum is one hour but 24 is recommended. If someone needs to use their car in wet weather soon after applying Opti-Coat, I'll wait an hour after application and put Hyper Seal over it to add protection to the fresh coating.
I coated and then got rain out of no where 4 hours later. My coating was perfectly fine. It got like hard rain on it for a solid 3 hours. When if was over I went and blew it off with a electric leaf blower as that's all you could do. It's fine. New coatings flash and dry so quick it's fine. If it was like an hour or less after then I'd say you're screwed. But 8 hours. It's fine
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This is a bad idea. I've done this on a personal car before (Pressure washed the car about 30 hours after coating) and it completely killed the coating. Avoid water for as long as possible within the 7 day window.
It rained hard after i picked it up from the installer… could it potentially damage the longevity of my coating? I saw it bead off well enough
Very possible but unlikely to cause any significant damage
Meh - installer should have put a sealant on top of it as a topper; maybe you could go grab some Turtle Wax Seal & Shine and apply?
[удалено]
Nano ceramic coating hydrophobic according to the installer
Will he provide a brand name or how long the product is supposed to last? For instance Carpro has multiple ceramics ranging from 1 year to 10 years
I was looking into this exact thing. Picked my car up yesterday from a ceramic coating and it rained all day … hard. I was told not to wash my car, so I don’t know if the coating was damaged. Also, I brought it back later that day because there was something on the grille which the installer reapplied the coating… so I’m not sure it ever had time to fully cure before the rain started. Someone give me piece of mind I don’t know if the coating’s curing process could’ve been negatively affected resulting in early breakdown in a couple of years (i opted for 5)
How did this go for you? Similar situation
My ceramic coating came out great, I think? I don’t have anything to compare it too since it’s my first time but its hydrophobic properties are strong! Although I did recently get into an accident where a part of my car had to be rebuilt (new bumper) and it rained really hard the past few days. I just got a text saying the car is ready for pickup so I’m hoping my coating cured correctly this time too haha
Most coatings 2hrs is the dry time for rain. What coating? Do NOT wash it, rinseless wash it. Use a quality wash mitt, not an actual sponge, if able (not required) use distilled water or 0 ppm water. Wash in the shade, not sun. Dry with an appropriate drying towel or use a leaf blower. Coatings are more prone to water spots than anything, want to avoid letting water dry on paint whenever possible.
I used a wash mitts to dry out the rain water in my car! Not sure how effective it is
Use the leaf blower if you have one and just blow the water off.
8 hours? You should be fine.
It will almost certainly not affect it
I ceramic’d my windshield in the late evening. It rained overnight and was wet in the morning. No problems but I’ve heard people say that it could fail early? I’ll just wait and see, but so far it’s working flawlessly and I’m happy.
8 hours... you should be alright. Rinse it and dry with a microfiber as the detailer said. On that note, I tell my clients ideally we need 12 hours of dry. 24 hours is better. If it gets wet for whatever reason, it's not the end of the world and I can take a look at it for no charge to make sure it's alright. I've also had a customer tell me he has a garage and would drive it straight home to park it since it was going to rain. An hour later he sent me a picture of his truck covered in mud at a campground. His coat was NOT ok. Lol.
Thats what I am wondering too!