Should I use pH neutral car wash for ceramic coatings?

Yes and no. Mostly yes. 

What you should really use is any car shampoo, which is made by a reputable manufacturer specifically to be safe on cars. It may or may not be pH neutral.

"pH neutral" has become something of a shorthand for "safe for cars", and so some brands might put this on the bottle.

Why is pH neutral important? It isn't. In fact, there are many good reasons to use car shampoos that aren't. Citrus-based cleaners are very good at removing things like oil and tree sap because they are acidic. Many soaps have bite because they lean towards caustic, and that is fine too, as long as you don't over do it. 

Every week we see cars with damage to plastic trim, window rubbers and chrome, in the form of staining and burns. This is because people have taken their cars to those fellas by-the-side of the road, who wash your car, by hand, for £10. One of the many (and more legal) reasons they can do this so cheaply is that they can clean your car very quickly. They are helped in this by mixing up the soap at double strength or using wheel cleaner.

By making the soap very caustic, you can make it very aggressive. As Barry would say, "Bang, and the dirt is gone!". Now you know why your shower doors have those chemical burns on them.

Hands that do dishes can be soft as your face, but dish soap is quite harsh because it's designed to remove grease, and may also contain a lot of salt as a thickener. Unfortunately, a lot of people will decide that on a sunny day, they can get out with the kids and clean the car as something fun to do. They have a bucket, a sponge, and dish soap will probably do the job, right?

It probably won't do any real harm once or twice, but it is not good for your car long term. A ceramic coating would probably hold up to this pretty well, but it isn't good for rubbers and plastic long term.

Car shampoo is not expensive, and I really don't understand why people use dish soap and floor cleaner to save money. I think it is often a question of convenience - it's what they have lying around, and it saves them a trip to Halford's. However, car shampoos are not rocket surgery to make. And so next time you are in the supermarket, take a wander through the motor accessory isle and pick up a bottle. Even your supermarket's own-brand car shampoo is going to be far superior to Mr Muscle Power Clean.

Supermarket Car Care Products

We took a look at Asda, Tescos, Morissons and Sainsbury's and as far as we can tell, all of them except Sainsbury's stock the four things you need to clean a car with a ceramic coating.

• A Plastic Bucket - This is a handy device for holding water, you can even use two in order to help you avoid wash marks. There are many videos on YouTube showing you how to do this. It's called The Two Bucket Method.
• Car Shampoo - The afore mentioned supermarkets stock Car Plan, Armour All, Triple Wax, Demon, and Simoniz. Any of these is perfectly adequate for the job.
• A Microfibre wash mitt - We want you to use a wash mitt because they are far less likely to cause wash marks than a sponge. Asda sell a wash mitt by Auto-drive. Tesco and Morrison's sell one by Simoniz. 
• Microfibre Towels - Lastly, you should dry your car. Large microfibre towels are easiest. We suggest you have two to do a whole car. All the supermarkets sell purpose made towels. They also sell chamois and synthetic chamois leathers which will also do the job but are not ideal. 

Finally, we recommend you spend about 9 minutes learning good methods on how to clean your car on Youtube. This will not only save you time, save you from wasting money on products you don't need, it will also save your car from scratches and help you to maintain your ceramic coating. If you have access to a self-service car wash, Gary has also done a video showing how he cleans his car.

What this question is really about

People asking this want to know whether pH-neutral shampoo is genuinely necessary for a ceramic-coated car - or whether it’s just marketing language.

The short answer

Yes - for routine maintenance, a pH-neutral car shampoo is the safest and most appropriate choice for a ceramic-coated vehicle.

Why pH-neutral makes sense

• It cleans without aggressively attacking protection layers.
• It avoids gradual reduction in hydrophobic performance.
• It is suitable for frequent use.

What happens with strong cleaners

Highly alkaline or acidic products won’t usually strip a coating in one wash, but repeated use can reduce slickness and water behaviour over time. They are best reserved for specific decontamination tasks, not weekly washing.

When stronger chemistry is justified

• Heavy traffic film build-up*.
• Winter salt contamination.
• Pre-polishing preparation.

Even then, follow up with proper rinsing and sensible maintenance.

*All sorts of nasty things end up on our roads; salt, diesel, engine oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid, rubber residue, brake dust, exhaust fumes and all the other industrial contaminants floating around in the atmosphere eventually lands on the tarmac. When you drive in the rain, this soup gets on your car in the form of road spray. It can then get baked onto your car when the sun comes out. This is what we call "traffic Film". 

The common misunderstanding

Using a pH-neutral shampoo doesn’t make the coating last forever. It simply avoids unnecessary chemical stress. This is more of a problem for plastic, metal and rubber trim than it is for paintwork, especially if it has a ceramic or graphene coating. Washing technique still matters more than the number on the bottle. 

Best-practice checklist

• Pre-rinse thoroughly before contact washing.
• Use a clean mitt and proper lubrication.
• Dry carefully to avoid mineral spotting.
• Only reach for stronger cleaners when genuinely required.

Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 19/02/2026 16:15