How to Wash and Maintain Your Graphene Ceramic Coated Vehicle

Graphene Ceramic Coatings, or any other ceramic coatings, make it much easier to wash your vehicle and keep it cleaner longer, but they are not bulletproof. Despite what some people say, you still need to wash your car safely and regularly after it's coated. Safe washing will reduce the chance of introducing scratches to your coating. Using shampoos like our Graphene Shampoo will remove the layer of dust and dirt on top of your ceramic coating, restoring the hydrophobic water behavior that you expect from your coating.
For more in-depth info on washing any car without scratching, watch our video with Adam here: • How To Wash Your Car W...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:12 Phase 1: Safe Washing
12:43 Phase 2: Decontamination with Clay Mitt
14:01 Phase 3: Iron Removal
16:01 Safe Drying
17:33 Phase 4: Boosting Hydrophobics
For more in depth content and education, subscribe to our channel. Leave a comment or question to engage with one of our Adam's Team Members.
•••Graphene Shampoo™
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•••Graphene Detail Spray™
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•••Adam's Iron Remover
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•••Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating™
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•••Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating™ Advanced
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•••Graphene CS3™
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•••Graphene Ceramic Coating™
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•••Graphene Ceramic Coating™ Advanced
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•••Adam's CS3
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•••Adam's Ultra Plush Drying Towel
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[@Thamac15]

I love how he says that you don’t need to use our products, any high quality product will do. A lot of Adam’s videos are like that and it keeps me as a customer.

[@noobwow2009]

You are so easy being convinced as long as they don’t show self interest

[@martialartswithcolton2904]

I also really like that. I watch mostly ammo nyc videos and he always says use whatever you like even if it’s not his stuff and I really respect that. That’s one of the reasons I primarily use his products.

[@Jeeper1378]

I take 1-2 cheap Kirkland MF towels and run them below the doors, behind rear wheels and rear of car. Toss aside when done. This way my bucket and mitts stays cleaner.

[@randyelo5910]

Great job Joe. Thank you for another great educational video. I've placed 8 orders this winter and have yet to clean my car once. Hopefully the weather warms up soon and I'll be able to use all of the great Adam's products

[@thesamsquatch5224]

Thank you for a great refresher! I always start with a basis like N914 rinseless wash to have lubrication on the surface for just the wash, and with the N914 and iron remover I have used with a clay bar so there's proper lubrication and that's key. I love your products

[@jorgeburgos6640]

Great tutorial video, Thanks!

[@craneman602]

Adams has moved to the top of my favorite detailing products to use. Just coated my car using the advanced graphene ceramic UV kit. The gloss and water sheeting is top notch. Great stuff.

[@pjfan173]

I just bought the advanced graphene and are going to use it on a new Can Am Outlander XT-P 850 Max. Does your car have any black plastic and did the graphene make it shiny or left it natural looking?

[@craneman602]

@@pjfan173 The plastics will have a gloss look upon application, but when the coating is leveled, they look oem honestly. Maybe a hint of gloss was left a day or 2 after application, a week in and you can’t tell there’s a coating on my trim, appearance wise.

[@pjfan173]

@@craneman602 thanks for the reply. I’m looking forward to getting it done

[@adobomix5492]

I don’t wash in the sun and I don’t clay my ceramic. However, I must say that the Graphene wash and Graphene detail spray is CRAZY good! The wash deep cleans the surface, and the detail spray really boosted the shine and depth to my ceramic coating. I used chemical guys ceramic detail spray (Hydrospeed) before this, it doesn’t even come close to the Adams Graphene detail spray. Makes my cars surface like diamond in the sun.

[@sebastiancampos8963]

I use the 20 towel method to wash my truck, a towel for every panel and every window + the 8 bucket method for the wheels

[@AnkerBanker123]

Lmao

[@jasonbarnett1256]

Thank you for using technical terms like lubricity and saying that the active chemical in iron x is thioglycolate or thioglycolic acid. Had to look it up and actually learned something. 👍

[@ChuongNguyen-up9fy]

I'm going to definitely try this method in New York City during winter time...

[@79blustone]

I think Adam's genuinely make one of the best products for you car, I do however think they use their sales pitch and marketing far too heavily. They use too much product to get you to use it more therefore buying more and spending more- you do not need so much soap for a car that's virtually clean. I wouldn't use such a big heavy wash pad either- that looks like its heavy and draggy over the paint, I'd use a noodle wash mit or lots of good quality microfiber (Korean made) clothes depending on the dirt levels. Keep rinsing and swapping you mit or cloth regularly, Use common sense here, think of how you're going to limit the amount of trapped dirt particles in your wash applicator and always light pressure on the paint. Also its been proven NOT to pre-rinse your car- always snowfoam onto dry paint, let it dwel then rinse off, as your just diluting your snowfoam on wet surfaces. Snowfoam and rinse sometimes twice before any contact washing (limit contact = less chance of swirls) Also why on earth would you wash in direct sunlight?? Find or wait for a shaded spot to come over. Or early morning or evening. Its all about the details to get the very best out of Adam's. I hate to critique but, you need less product and to work in a far more logical manner. Work with your environment and not against it. 👍

[@laurapalmerTDGE]

Correct. Too much options. Also Recochem owns Adam's Polishes so ... marketing and sales are boosted. They also own P&S etc. Also too expensive in Belgium, Europe.

[@camandrews1]

Bro I felt exactly the same say just didn't wanna be judgemental. But then again I just wanna wash my car and not over do it and over think it.

[@scottmattern482]

@@laurapalmerTDGE to be more accurate, B&B bottling acquired Adam's, which then acquired Recochem. The ownership and management changed hands, but they operate as independent companies. Adams sells a consumer/pro brand of detailing products. They use their own formulas for their own chemicals, which is all mixed by B&B bottling. B&B bottling is a chemical mixer and bottler. They offer a number of services. Say you want to create your own line of detailing products, you can hire a chemist to create a proprietary blend and have B&B mass produce that formula and bottle it with your label. Or, you could skip hiring your own chemist/lab and have B&B create a proprietary blend and bottle it your specifications. Or, if you dont want to pay to have a blend made to your specifications, they also sell their own house formulas and they will bottle it with your label (white label products). B&B provides one, some, or all of the above services for like 400 detailing product manufacturers. You may know something that I don't about Adam's acquiring P&S. However, I don't believe its fair, or accurate, to say Adam's Polishes owns P&S just because B&B bottling (a subsidiary of the parent company of Adam's) provides chemical manufacturing or bottling services to P&S, assuming that is the case for argument sake. Hypothetically, you and a chemist came up with a great new blend of some product that every detailer loves. Are you really going to spend the money to build a chemical refinery and bottling plant large enough to keep up with the current demand of your amazing product? Or, would you go to an established chemical manufacturer and have them make large quantities of your recipe, bottle it and ship you pallets of ready to sell product? As you can see, B&B has nothing to do with ownership, just manufacturing (except Adam's Polishes, which happens to be owned by the same parent).

[@3_Gold_Coins]

I like to pre rinse so I can see the problem spots and spray them off before I use my foam canon.

[@VossenWheels]

Okay, but can we get a video on those bronze shoes? 👀 Great video guys!

[@NO_OPEC_NO_PROBLEM]

Although you don’t see a boat load of foam, there’s a reason for that. The ceramic coating is chemically resisting the foam. It’s impressive to watch once your car(s) are coating with this good stuff.

[@bhegg]

These how-to videos are great. I prefer Pan the Organizer's recommendation of never using plain water and a pressure washer to blast the dirt. Seems like using the surfactants of the foam to lubricate the surface and dirt particles is a safer method against scratches. Foam > Rinse > Foam > Wash > Rinse

[@b2bb]

claying a ceramic coated vehicle... that sounds like trying to substitute a wash-mitt with sandpaper...

[@1kontrabida]

Nah it’s ok

[@ramynovver4071]

Nice ride.

[@mschumaker1]

when you use the Graphene Boost Spray as upkeep, can you throw the towels in the wash as normal and reuse them? Thanks. Just bought a whole kit, getting ready to do my truck this weekend

[@shelbyGT40]

My leaf blower does the same thing

[@Pittsburgh-412]

Did you say that we can use a clay mitt after the vehicle has been ceramic coated? I didn't know that was plausible

[@jgraham8248]

I just did a proper prep and install of Adam's graphene ceramic on my '21 Tundra....gorgeous. But, I can tell you I'm not getting my pressure washer out every time I wash my truck. I will look around for a simpler method.

[@Empire-fv5oo]

Well Phil….there are definitely shampoos or (pre-) cleaners out there who are capable to strip waxes and sealants from the paint. You might just not have them in your arsenal or even be aware they exist. Especially in Europe the detailing scene brought up a ton of new products within the last 2 years. Ever heard of “Stjarnagloss” with their “Foerst” pre-cleaner? Or from an Italian company called “Labocosmetica” with their sour shampoo “Purifica”? Just 2 examples of products that can definitely severely hit or remove your wax or sealant. And yes, both products are available in the US as well.

[@AdamsPolishes]

We do offer a very aggressive soap to remove waxes and sealants, our Strip Wash: adamspolishes.com/products/adam-s-strip-wash

[@kobiuliel2718]

If i have new car 2 month on road, the paint looking very good, and i want put graphene coating, What steps do I need to do? First wash, then?

[@JetDriver77]

So, the Graphine Detail Spray will not affect existing ceramic coating on the car even if they are not graphine?

[@JohnGorny]

Title of video should be something like: "How to spend $500 washing your car"

[@fishonkayakadventure]

there's one for sure thing I know about safe washing and it's you never, ever do anything in direct sunlight and you never ever allow soap to dry on your vehicle, so foaming your entire vehicle is a terrible idea as it's nearly impossible to properly clean the vehicle before some of that soap begins to dry.

[@moneyparhar]

Maybe Adam's saw my last comment about maintaining cermaic coated vehicle bcz I use thier graphine ceramic coating.

[@abidfarooqui4899]

I have just done Adam's Advanced Graphene coating on two cars in my house that were fairly new (2 months old). They look great. One of the cars is coming up for a wash and it is a black Honda HRV. I have DI water filter for final rinse. There was/is a lot of pollen in the air here in central Florida. Is it ok to use very little APC like Super Clean with the shampoo in the foam cannon to clean the stuff better? I did the coating on all the surfaces including glass, mirrors and textured plastic black trim (and yes I definitely levelled the coating on the plastic textured trim as well). With DI water rinse as a final rinse do I really need to dry the vehicle? I have ordered your shampoo and clay mitt and iron remover gallon from Amazon but I am getting a little concerned that your clay mitt is "medium" not "fine" grade. Isn't that going to cause scratches and marring in maintenance washes on the coating?

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi Abid, great questions, and sorry for the delayed response! You could add a small amount of APC into your Car Shampoo in the foam cannon, but keep it mind it will make it closer to a Strip Wash then, and may reduce the amount of thick foam a little bit. Also make sure the soap residue doesn't dry in this case in the hot Florida sun, since the APC will change the pH level and it may no longer be pH neutral. With Deionized water, if the TDS reading is below 20ppm, you should be able to rinse without drying. Once the TDS goes about 50ppm or so, you will see some water spotting. The clay mitt is still fairly tame - use very light pressure and rinse it out after each body panel to make sure you do not introduce any marring. Every vehicle clear coat is different, so do a test spot first - clay and dry the area - to see if it is introducing any marring 👍

[@abidfarooqui4899]

@@AdamsPolishes Thanks for the answer. I actually ended up using just straight Graphene shampoo both in the wash bucket as well as foam cannon. I had tons of suds and with just some mild agitation with multiple soft wash mitts, everything came off. I did use the DI rinse as a final step and did gently towel and blow dry the car.

[@abelvela2940]

I don't know what to believe when it comes to claying a coated vehicle. Some detailers do it and some say it can damage the coating...

[@LORD-xg2ks]

I think it really depends on many factors such as: 1. Are you using a clay or a clay mitt/towel? 2. Is your paints clearcoat hard or soft? 3. How much lubrication are you using? All those factors will affect how much you risk scratching paint. Realistically, try a small spot on your car and see what happens, most likely there will be no scratching.

[@Jeeper1378]

I mean i would do the chemical decon first. Next clay with a fine grade mitt.

[@nathanwimsatt9438]

So if you use Adams graphene ceramic coating, then you shouldnt use CS3 as a drying aide? But the detail spray, or use graphene spray to touch up after mostly drying?

[@JuanAdam12]

Adam’s, unfortunately, puts out contradictory or confusing info about their products. In this video he says not to use the graphene detail spray as a drying aid, yet the product info includes, “For Use When Washing as Drying Aid…” It’s frustrating. They need some internal review process to align all their products.

[@darkshadow2393]

Can you decontaminate the piano black plastic door trim with a clay bar when prepping the car for coating or would the clay damage it? Thanks!

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi there! You do want to be more careful with piano black plastic trim on door pillars and other areas of the exterior of the vehicle, but you can clay them. Piano black trim is usually very soft and can scratch very easily, so the clay could introduce some light marring into the finish if you use too much pressure or if you are not using a fresh clean area of the clay. You can machine polish the piano black trim just as you would polish painted areas, but always start with the least aggressive approach with our White Foam Pad and white Polish first, and then move up from there.

[@xaviertan7408]

i cant get this in singapore

[@nexus888]

Why don’t you rinse the car first before foam on it and after to remove larger dirt particles that could scratch the car when you hand wash it?

[@TuRnIp1331]

can you use a pump foam bottle if you live in an apartment and have no storage for a pressure washer for foaming ????

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi Chris, yep, check out the iK Pro Foam 12 Sprayer on our website. It is a larger model than the Pro Foam 2, so you will be able to make larger mixtures to cover more of a vehicle before having to refill the canister. It is fairly tall, so you may have a similar storage problem as you would with the pressure washer. The Pro Foam 2 is much more compact, but you will need to refill it a few times during the wash process. You can find the Pro Foam 12 here: adamspolishes.com/products/adams-ik-pro-foam-12-sprayer

[@hiramaragon1903]

Could you still use strip wash and then proceed to wash with graphene soap ?

[@1kontrabida]

That’s one method i do, so yes it’s ok

[@danlively]

doesn't seem like many washes from that bottle of shampoo 🤷‍♂️

[@jasondiprimio3580]

Wouldent the iron remover degrade the coating ?

[@nickw1861]

Wont even touch it, iron remover is ph neutral

[@ken8516]

should i use the ceramic spray coating advance or graphene boost on top of graphene ceramic coating advanced?

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi Ken, that is your choice, but Graphene Boost would be more preferred if you want to use it more frequently, say every 2-3 months or so. Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating Advanced could be used every 6-12 months for an enhancement and maintenance to the coating, but does require a 4-6 cure time without rain/moisture/dew/etc, whereas with Graphene Boost, it's a spray and wipe that you can drive immediately afterward.

[@sinjb6206]

Is it a must to clay a ceramic coated car ? Wouldn’t that remove some of the ceramic coating ? 😅

[@billnipp2309]

Sorry but I used the graphene shampoo on a car coated with Adams advanced graphene ceramic and I noticed a loss in hydrophobics. I’ll give it another try and see what’s what.

[@OhioBahn440]

Thanks for the tip I just applied the advanced graphene spray coating.

[@billnipp2309]

@@OhioBahn440 that’s good. You’ll just need to reapply every so often.

[@lavishlex]

Should you do an iron decontamination with every wash?

[@carbonoxx]

iron decontamination is not needed in every wash, depend where you live, maybe like once every 2 months......

[@lisaw7633]

I've been ordering everything I will need to do the spray on graphene. I live in an apartment complex there's no pressure washer. Have I jumped the gun buying all this stuff. Please reply so I can return to Amazon if this isn't a good fit for me being I just bought it couple days ago. Thanks

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi Lisa, you don't need a pressure washer to apply our Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating, so we wouldn't say jumped the gun necessarily. The process that Joe shows in this video is if you were to do a bucket wash with a pressure washer, and Iron Remover, but those cannot be done easily at an apartment complex as you mentioned. If you live in an apartment complex however, you could clean your vehicle with our Waterless Wash and waffle-weave Waterless Wash Towels, then apply the Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating. Make sure it is a nice day with no rain in the forecast - after you wipe away the residue after a few minutes, the spray coating needs about 4 more hours to cure before it can be exposed to rain, moisture, etc. Then once you've applied the coating, you can continue cleaning it with Waterless Wash, CS3, or even a touchless car wash - just make sure the touchless wash does not include any type of wax additive protection steps. When you need to do maintenance, rather than Iron Remover, after you've cleaned the vehicle with Waterless Wash, you could then use Detail Spray and a Clay Mitt to decontaminate the surface, and then you could apply the spray coating again. I like to apply the spray coating about twice per year on my personal vehicle for continual protection. If you have a few minutes, check out our videos on Waterless Wash, CS3, and Hoseless Wash on this channel to see how to safely wash your vehicle without water. If you would still like to return the products, no worries, you can contact our Amazon channel and they can assist no problem! Thanks again for your business and for reaching out to us!

[@chris_amezquita]

I an apartment dweller and i just applied the graphene coating on my vehicle, and i have a ton of adams products. I go to one of the self car washes and bring all my buckets and stuff with me, use their pressure washer and do a wash there. I do have a single car garage so i just polished in there, then applied the coating. (This is very extra and only recommend if you really want that perfection lol)

[@davidmunoz9410]

isnt the clay mitt going to remove the ceramic coating?

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi David, no. Ceramic Coatings need to be removed with heavier abrasion from a machine polisher and a cutting compound. They can eventually be removed hundreds of washes over time as well. The Clay Mitt has the possibility of putting some light marring into the finish if it is not rinsed out often enough during the claying process, but even ceramic coated vehicles develop bonded contamination over time, which can clog and reduce the performance of the coating itself.

[@AntLive29]

Never heard of claying a ceramic coated car! Wow

[@Jeeper1378]

Until a coating company comes out with a coating that resist bonding of contamination… yes you do.

[@AntLive29]

@@Jeeper1378 actually, don’t

[@Jeeper1378]

@@AntLive29 explain?

[@blvzvr]

1/4 container of soap per wash 💀 Each time he says “squeeze”, he holds it for like 3 seconds.

[@nickolashaustein]

So I need to do this every time I wash my car?

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi Nickolas, we always recommend the safe washing techniques demonstrated here like using a Two Bucket Wash Method, but you do not necessarily need to use Graphene Shampoo with every wash - we recommend using it every 3 or 4 washes to deep clean the coating, then the other washes you could use our normal blue Car Shampoo or Mega Foam soap. You don't necessarily need to boost the coating every wash either - every 1-2 months for something like Graphene Detail Spray or CS3 will help maintain the hydrophobics of the coating.

[@sonofagun5305]

Hold on a minute, you guys have a chart that says to rinse, decon, rinse, wash, then clay + polish, and now you're saying something different. does the order really matter?

[@AdamsPolishes]

Great question! There isn't necessarily a right or wrong order when it comes to decontaminating the paint. Some like to do chemical decon with Iron Remover to remove metal contaminants and then do mechanical decon with a Clay Bar or Clay Mitt afterward to remove other types of bonded contamination and to make sure you remove all of the strong Iron Remover chemical. Others like to use clay first, then Iron Remover, and then rinse thoroughly. Either option is fine, however, you DO need to rinse and wash the vehicle first, prior to doing any clay decon, so that your clay is not saturated with dirt and grit. So the order between washing and Iron Remover doesn't matter as much, but you do want to clay after washing, and then machine compound and/or polish after clay 👍

[@alfredop2206]

Love it but dont forget to start from the top of your car

[@MRJBTA]

Wouldn't the air cannon have a chance of blowing dust and dirt onto the paint, then scratching the paint when you're wiping detailer? Spraying detailer on a wet car and drying with a towel would be the better choice, no?

[@panzer5033]

The Adam's air cannons have air filters to prevent that.

[@pjfan173]

Please use the door handle not only to open the door, it to close it

[@carbonoxx]

i though the graphene will not let watermarks on the car....hmm

[@AdamsPolishes]

Hi there, our Graphene Ceramic Coatings are even more resistant to water spots and watermarks on vehicles than our previous ceramic coatings, but they can and do still occur. Rain droplets, water sprinklers, and water hoses still contain minerals and particulates like pollen and dust, so when they dry on a hot surface they can spot. Deionized water will dry spot-free. The benefit of a ceramic coating or graphene ceramic coating is that these water spots are usually much easier to wash away afterward, since they do not etch into the clear coat of the vehicle as easily.

[@joemeyer2726]

No wash in sun

[@detailzautodetailing643]

Claying will degrade the coating . Do not clay

[@Jeeper1378]

😂

[@dcruzer1272]

the ceramic coating is for those who are lazy. Extra protection for the lack of maintenance.

[@jdogi1]

Love the products, but Adams sure seems to think there are a bunch of "absolutely necessary" big ticket items to keep your car in good shape.

[@gunsmokezz]

You clay a coated vehicle using a medium grit ? Then you go and out a chemical iron remover on it. You trying to test the ceramic coating or what ? Personally, if you paid a pro to ceramic coat your vehicle. Which cost thousands , Do not attempt at doing this in the video 😂 This is just as bad as watching Adam and his microfibre towel washing video. He tells you to dry your expensive towels in HIGH heat in the drier. 😂😂

[@camopaint0707]

I'd rather watch Mr. Adam tbh

[@nachomandetailingservices1057]

First off you never use a clay mitt or clay bar on a ceramic coated vehicle. Just so the kids that maybe watching this video don’t get confused.

[@marcg1964]

I was going to say same thing. I thought you're not supposed to do an agitation decon. on ceramic coatings.

[@nachomandetailingservices1057]

@@marcg1964 your correct. You do not rub the Iron remover on your car just let it set it will break down the iron particles and then just rinse it off what he’s doing is completely wrong on so many levels I would recommend you watch pan the organizer. However there is soaps with some iron remover in there which you could do a decon with which is a lot safer when you are going to rub the car however it is not really needed. Just my opinion

[@cebasmb8250]

@@nachomandetailingservices1057 he's doing this so the kids that's watching will do it so they get more products selling 🤔 i don't know you clay coating you will be marring the paint.... I don't know where these detailers came from jessss

[@nachomandetailingservices1057]

@@cebasmb8250 I mean if it truly needs to be Clayed it has to be done. But the chance of marring the surface is great because it’s considered a mechanical Decon. I mean when ever we wash the car we have same chance of marring or scratching the car but I would not be doing that on regular maintenance of a coated car that’s for sure. If the coating is at the end of its life cycle then sure I would do that. Because after that I’m probably gonna polish it

[@cebasmb8250]

@@nachomandetailingservices1057 👌🏽💯

[@Cool12354]

Griots is better

[@airbornetommyjames]

All that's too much. I'll just take my car to the corner carwash and deal with whatever I get.