Ceramic Maintenance Kit

Congratulations!

Congratulations on your purchase! This guide will run you through the process for the products contained in this kit, for properly washing and maintaining a ceramic coated vehicle, as well as any other modern paint protection. Check out our introductory video below.
 

Wheels

Half fill your Wheels bucket with water, then add one cap of Nanolicious wash and agitate with the pressure washer wand. Spray Wheely Clean evenly over the wheel surface in a sweeping motion and allow it to dwell for 30-40 seconds. Scrub with a suitable wheel brush like our Little Chubby or Nuts and Guts dipped in the Wheels bucket for more stubborn dirt and grime build-up. Rinse thoroughly with your hose or pressure washer.

Spray Wet Dreams evenly over the still wet wheel surface, then immediately rinse off thoroughly to add a protective layer that brake dust won't stick to, making it an easier clean next time around. Continue around the car until all four wheels are completed.

See our complete wheel cleaning guide here for more tips.


 

Snow Foaming

Fill your Snow Blow Cannon bottle with 900mL of water and 100mL of Snow Job, attach it to the cannon and give it a good shake. Attach it to your pressure washer handle where the lance extension disconnects from the gun, turn the knob almost all the way to the "-" side, adjust the fan so you get a good arc, then move to the back of your vehicle. Starting at the bottom, begin foaming the car in a methodical overlapping motion, moving round the car till complete.

Allow the Snow Job to dwell for 3-5 minutes (less if you're in the sun) and then begin thoroughly pressure washing the foam away starting from the roof, and leaving the lower rear sections till last, giving the foam the maximum dwell time so that it can break down and remove as much grime as possible. Use overlapping sweeping motions, breaking the car down into sections (eg one door, one rear section).

More tips for using the Snow Blow Cannon can be found here.

Time To Wash

Get your Wash and Rinse buckets ready and 3/4 fill them with clean water. Add one capful of Nanolicious to your Wash bucket, then froth it up with the pressure washer to get a good head of suds. Thoroughly rinse out your Wash Pillow in the Rinse bucket, then dip it into the Wash bucket to soak up a large amount of suds.

Starting at the top of the car, wash in straight lines, flipping the wash tool as needed, going back to the Rinse bucket after each small section to rinse any dirt from the wash tool. Then go back into your clean Wash water and do the next section until the whole car is done. Do the lower sections of the doors last, and any other sections that are quite dirty.

If you're washing in the sun, we'd recommend washing small sections of the car at a time (one door for example), then rinse that panel off before moving onto the next panel, so that the Nanolicious doesn't dry on the paint. Once you've washed the whole car, take the end off the hose to flood the water off the panels, making it easier and quicker to dry the car.

To see a detailed explanation on this safe wash method, see our guide here.

 

Drying time

Drape The Big Green Sucker over your out stretched arm and spray 6-8 sprays of Boss Gloss into each side of the cloth, then starting at the top of the car and working your way down, begin drying the car. You'll find The Big Green Sucker will dry the whole car without the need to wring the cloth out.

After drying the paint, you can then dry the door jambs, wheels and tyres. Grab a Dirty Deeds cloth folded into quarters, and spray a few sprays of Boss Gloss into one side of the cloth, leaving the other side to dry the tyres with. Dry the door jambs and the wheels with the side of the Dirty Deeds with the Boss Gloss on it, then flip the cloth over and dry the tyres last with the side that has no Boss Gloss on it.

See our full drying guide below.

Boosting the Shine and Protection

Your kit contains three super hydrophobic sealants that are suitable for use on a ceramic coating. These products are designed for use after washing, to boost the coatings' protection, slickness and shine. All coatings will take a bit of a hit in their performance over time due to the environmental conditions they deal with in Australia. The protection these products create mimics that of a ceramic coating, restoring the hydrophobic nature of older coatings as well as keeping newer ones working at their highest possible level. Putting these sacrificial protectants on top of the coating every couple of months is one of the most beneficial things to keep your coating working its best over the long term.
 

Bead Machine

Bead Machine is applied with two Big Softie cloths after your car has been washed and dried.

1. First, prep the surface using our Flash Prep spray to remove any silicones, oils or residues that could prevent it from bonding properly. Flash Prep is safe for use on your ceramic coating.
2. On one section at a time, spray Flash Prep liberally, directly onto the surface, then immediately wipe it into the surface with a folded Big Softie cloth, folded to the low pile side. Once it's been wiped in adequately to remove remaining oil residue, use a separate dry and clean Big Softie cloth to remove any remaining trailing residue.
3. For Bead Machine, spray 4-6 sprays into the low pile side of a folded Big Softie cloth, and apply in a north-south, east-west motion on one section of the car (eg. one quarter of a bonnet, one guard), then immediately buff off with a second dry Big Softie. Add two more sprays to the wet side of your first cloth, and continue around the car till done.

See our full Bead Machine guide here for all the tips and tricks.

Happy Ending

Happy Ending is applied to a wet car after rinsing your wash soap away and is a really quick and easy way to add or top up protection. It's best used in the shade on cool panels, bigger cars may need to be split in half to prevent the product from drying too quickly.

1. Mix 900mL of water with 100mL of Happy Ending in your Happy Ending Cannon Bottle, and attach to your Snow Blow Cannon. 
2. Starting from the back, evenly apply a thin layer of Happy Ending over the entire car, avoiding the windscreen as best as you can.
3. IMMEDIATELY switch to your pressure washer lance and thoroughly rinse off the entire car, beginning from where you started applying it. 

See our full Happy Ending guide here, it's important to follow all the directions with this one.

Wet Dreams

Wet Dreams can be used instead of Happy Ending if you're wanting to quickly top up smaller sections like a lower quarter of a door, rear bumper etc. 

1. Spray Wet Dreams onto a small (wet) section of the car, wipe over with a damp Big Softie cloth. Be gentle with the cloth, you don't need to apply any pressure.
2. Immediately and thoroughly rinse off with your pressure washer or a strong jet of water from the hose.
3. Repeat until car is done, making sure to rinse off surrounding areas as you go.

Our full Wet Dreams guide can be found here.

 

Microfibre Cleaning

Probably the most important and overlooked part of detailing is keeping your cloths clean. We made our own microfibre wash to break down detailing chemicals from the fibres of the cloth and allow the fibres to rinse free, meaning your cloths will continue to work like new for years to come. For any heavier stained cloths or applicators, put a few mL of the Microfibre Wash directly onto the cloth or pad and massage it around with your fingers to help release the product, then give it a good rinse under some warm water before putting it into the wash. You can also put approximately 10-20mL of Microfibre Wash into a bucket with some warm water and let the applicators and cloths soak in there for 30 minutes prior to putting them through the wash.

Put all your cloths and pre soaked dirtier applicators into the washing machine on a normal cycle, on the warm water setting. Put 20mL of Microfibre Wash in the machine (DO NOT USE FABRIC SOFTENERS) and away you go. Once they’re washed, tumble dry the cloths on the cool setting and then store them in an air tight container if possible, ready for their next use.

For a more detailed explanation of this process, please see our dedicated caring for microfibre guide below.

Any Questions?

This gives you a good overview of the products in your new kit, and a step by step guide on how to use them and what order to use them in. 

If you have any questions, please email us info@bowdensown.com.au or call our office on 1800 351 308.

Happy detailing!

Brett Hobbs