When it comes to maintaining a ceramic coating, the processes involved are extensive and expensive. Decontaminant sprays, iron removers, PH-neutral shampoos, ceramic sprays, and ceramic top coats are just a few of the exhausting list of products needed to maintain a ceramic coating. If ceramic coatings are claimed to be the most durable form of paint protection, why do they need so many maintenance products to prevent them from decaying? It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense when they are marketed as lifetime coatings with lifetime warranties.
On the other hand, Permagard maintenance is simple, effective, and affordable. No customer is required to have 5-10 products on hand to maintain their Reactive Polymer coating. The only product required to maintain the Reactive Polymer coating is our Service Treatment. Service Treatments are applied every 12-18 months (some meticulous customers even request them before then!) to clean the deep pores of the Permagard Reactive Polymer coating and fill in any micro-scratches that may have appeared in the coating over time. For washes and stain cleaning, we offer our PH-neutral Shampoo for Painted Surfaces and our Cleaner for Treated Surfaces, respectively. That’s it. It truly is that simple to maintain Permagard.
Ceramic Coatings vs Permagard
Ceramic coatings are thoroughly marketed to consumers as a permanent lifetime solution for their vehicle’s paintwork. You apply it once, pay an expensive price, and then forget it’s there. That’s simply just not the case with any form of paint protection. Even Permagard requires routine maintenance. However, what separates ceramic coatings and Permagard is the measure of durability and the ease of maintenance. Ceramic coatings can be removed by an automatic car wash. Permagard cannot be removed by an automatic car wash. Ceramic coatings can create patchiness and hazy areas due to too much product being applied, which then requires paint correction to buff off the coating and apply it again. You cannot apply too much of Permagard to a painted surface as it creates a strongly linked chain of ionic bonds that immerse themselves into the pores of paint upon application.
Permagard also vivifies painted surfaces and does not dull them or create patchy areas that are unsightly. Every ceramic coating requires at least 5-10 products to maintain it. Permagard requires 1 product to maintain the Reactive Polymer coating and has two optional situational products. Every Reactive Polymer treated surface can also be maintained with simple water washes. No shampoos are required to maintain a Permagard treated surface. Ceramic coatings tend to leave a sticky or tacky finish when they’re applied. Permagard leaves a smooth finish that is pleasing to the touch. Ceramic coatings can take 8-10 hours to apply to a vehicle. Permagard can be applied to the same vehicle in 3-5 hours. The benefits of Permagard maintenance are far better than the headache-inducing maintenance of a ceramic coating.
Why Permagard is Easier to Maintain
In conclusion, ceramic coating maintenance is not convenient for the consumer. It’s expensive, due to the laundry list of maintenance products required to maintain the ceramic coating, and it also does not respect the consumer’s time. A lot of ceramic coating maintenance products are also not what they are advertised as. “Top coat” products, which are used to semi-annually or annually retreated the ceramic coating, are generally watered down versions of the coating that accomplishes nothing for maintaining the coating. Most of these products are liquid waxes or a cheap version of the actual coating. However, Permagard Service Treatment is akin to the Reactive Polymer Treatment. It contains a lower viscosity of polymer to build up on the protection that was already laid down in the initial application. Our Cleaner for Treated Surfaces is also excellent at cleaning stubborn insect impacts or hard water spotting that may appear in the coating over time, due to extreme weather temperatures. The Cleaner for Treated Surfaces is also very effective at cleaning glass!
If you would like to learn more about the differences between maintaining a ceramic coating versus maintaining Permagard, give our Permagard Headquarters office a call today at (305) 662-5070 for more information. It’s time to shine and see yourself in your brand!
