“But I washed my car, and it is shiny.” The Short Story.

A car’s shine comes from light reflecting off the paint color – a Captain Obvious statement. Almost all cars shine when clean. That being said, almost all cars don’t shine nearly to their paint’s potential. That’s because your car’s paint is covered with tiny, embedded contaminants – acid rain, industrial fallout, brake dust and more – all items you can’t see or wash out. This causes sunlight to reflect off of the contaminants and not the paint, creating a dull and flat shine. Removing the contaminants allows light to reach your car’s paint and reflect back a much richer shine. This process requires special products and techniques. That’s what we do during the “Prepare” stage and this alone can be a huge improvement in your car’s appearance.

With contaminants removed the surface should be clean and smooth. However, almost every car has, over time, developed very fine micro-scratches in the clearcoat. When captured in the right light, these become visible as thousands of circular swirls. Light bounces off swirls, never reaching the car’s paint color, contributing to a far less than optimal finish. Removing the swirls and light scratches is what we do during the paint correction process and produces a whole new level of gloss and shine.

Once the paint is clean and correct, protection should be applied. Choices include waxes, sealants and coatings. Waxes have been around forever and provide great shine, but little protection and just don’t last long. Sealants are synthetic and provide good shine and can last up to four to six months (if properly cared for), but don’t offer the greatest level of protection. Coatings are the latest in technology, using nano-ceramic particles which bond with the car’s clearcoat, providing a hard, long-lasting layer – think two to three years – and gives maximum protection with shine that rivals some of the best waxes. Coatings should only be applied by trained, certified professionals. This is not a “wipe on-wipe off” exercise.