Paint sealants make it tempting to neglect your car?

We would hope paint sealants do encourage you to spend less time worrying about your car, you should certainly have to spend less time cleaning your car if you have a ceramic coating.

Because a ceramic coating helps maintain your car in superb condition, it is far easier to see when there are any issues that spoil the effect. We would argue that it is far more tempting to neglect your car when a number of problems quickly start piling up. A ceramic coating helps prevent many of the challenges faced by car paintwork such as bird mess marks, wash marks and staining. 

If you are the kind of person who does neglect your car, ceramic coatings are ideal as they offer self-cleaning and additional protection.

Why a ceramic coating means less maintenance

A ceramic coating is highly hydrophobic, this means when it rains, the water just rolls off and takes the vast majority of the dirt, and other contaminants with it. This is often referred to a "Self Cleaning".

The coating is tough and resistant to wash marks, and as you will probably wash it less often, there is less opportunity to accrue wash marks anyway. 

Ceramic coatings are also inert, which makes them resistant to UV damage and oxidization, which causes paintwork to become hazy and dull. This milky finish gives dirt something to cling to, so your car gets dirtier quicker, and looks dull even when cleaned. Ceramic coatings do away with all that.

They are also resistant to bird droppings, leaf stains, and some coatings also give some degree of anti-static, meaning your car's paintwork is less attractive to rail dust and fallout. 

And when you do clean your car, it's easy. Just a blast off with a jet-washer will remove the vast majority of the dirt.

Does this make you lazy?

This really depends on the person. In our experience, there are two kinds of people, those who have a routine and clean their car on a schedule, and those who clean their car when they notice it has got dirty.

If you are the kind of person who pops down the car wash every Wednesday afternoon on your lunch break, or get out the pressure washer on a Sunday afternoon... then you will probably carry on doing what you are doing, especially if you enjoy it. We would, however, suggest you take advantage of the fact that your car stays cleaner for longer, and wash it less often. After all, wash marks are the primary reason cars look old.

If you are the kind of person that washes your car when you feel it needs it, then you will probably do that, and clean it far less often.

A while ago, a customer returned to us with his car to have some work done on the interior. It had been almost a year since we had put a ceramic coating on his car. We asked him if he had found it easier to wash his car with the coating. He stared at us blankly.

So we asked him how often he had washed his car since he had the coating. He thought for a moment and then laughed, "I haven't washed it since it was coated!"

So you could count that as conclusive proof that it makes some people neglect their cars. However, the car was reasonably clean; we washed it for him, it was easy, and the car looked like new when we were done. No harm, no foul. 

Why would anyone make this claim?

Ceramic coatings are such a remarkable product, that it's hardly surprising that people are sceptical. People are bound to look for downsides and ask, "what's the catch".

...especially people who have got very used to, and enjoy, applying waxes and glazes. This is especially the case for professionals, if they don't have access or the ability to apply ceramic coatings because they are mobile. Little wonder, they might try to talk people out of a ceramic coating. There has also been resistance to ceramic coatings in parts of the world where detailers supply regular maintenance washes. They feel that as cars with ceramic coatings need cleaning less often, they will lose out on business.

What it is

By “paint sealant” we mean a professional ceramic coating – a microns-thin, semi-permanent film on your clear coat. It preserves a corrected finish and makes cleaning simpler, but it isn’t a force field.

How it works

Your installer applies a recognised system that cures into a tight, slick network. It slows how grime sticks and adds chemical and UV resistance. Dirt still lands; it just releases more easily when you wash the car.

Why neglect is tempting – and why you shouldn't

Because the car stays cleaner for longer, it’s easy to push washes back. Leave it too long and road film, minerals and fallout bond to the surface. Hydrophobics fade, water spots can appear, and you’ll need stronger decontamination later to recover performance. You may also find that dirt builds up in recesses, such as around window frames, trim and badges. 

The good news is, that even if you neglect it, it's far easier to recover a car with a ceramic coating than one without. We don't believe ceramic coating necessarily encourage neglect of a car or that would result in a negative outcome.  If you are the kind of person who neglects your, then you probably will neglect your car, regardless of coating. The difference being that a ceramic coating will help!

What could go wrong – and how to avoid it

• Bonded traffic film: Builds a grey veil over time. Keep to a sensible wash cadence, so light dirt never becomes heavy contamination.
• Mineral spotting and bird lime: Can etch if left. Remove promptly when you notice it.
• Industrial Fallout: A ceramic coating may not prevent rail-dust contamination. It will, however, offer some protection against rust particles, but when noticed, steps should be taken to remove them and prevent future contamination. 
• Abrasion from catch-up cleaning: Leaving it for months invites harsher scrubbing later. Gentle, regular washing prevents new wash-marring.

Best-practice checklist

• Decide a simple wash rhythm that suits your mileage and parking, and stick to it.
• Pre-rinse, contact-wash with quality shampoo, and dry – keep it quick and regular.
• Return for periodic inspections and approved maintenance toppers to refresh slickness. There is no obligation to do this, but having a practiced professional clean your car, removing grime and limescale from recesses, (this is what we call a descale), removing water-spots and checking for, and fixing issues such as stone chips and scratches, will mean you get the maximum value out of your car and coating.

Written by Danny Argent. Last updated 04/11/2025 16:04