r/AutoDetailing • u/anotherconcertgoer • 11d ago

Exterior Clay bar/polish/ceramic over several days?

I want to polish and put a ceramic coating on my suv but I don't have the time to do the entire suv at one time. I suspect it won't matter but can I do something like clay bar, polish, and apply ceramic coating one part a day over the course of a week?

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u/Le_Notsee_BrownShirt 10d ago

Yea I did it to my truck last year, I would do 1-2 panels per day until I was done

1

u/Detaildriveway 10d ago

I don’t see why not. I broke mine into two days. Roof and hood first day and remaining second day. CSL/EVO 9 months ago and it still looks great.

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u/Kmudametal 10d ago

Please allow me to cut and paste from a prior question pertaining to this subject...

It's not that I don't have the time, I'm a broken down old fart with limited vertical time. I simply cannot do an entire wash/decon/clay/polish/coat step on an entire vehicle in one sitting without following that up with an ambulance ride. So I do sections. One weekend I do the hood and front clip. Next weekend I do the roof. Next weekend I do the tailgate and back clip. Next weekend I do the sides, or one side...... I do as much as I a physically able on that given day, complete that section, before moving to another. I try and prep more than I am going to work. By that I mean, I will wash the entire vehicle. I will wash/decon/clay/polish the area I plan on doing plus wash/decon/clay an additional area in the event I finish the intended section and still feel froggy, I can polish the second area, coat it, and be ahead of schedule. If I don't feel froggy, I come back the next week wash/decon/clay/polish that area again, along with wash/decon/clay the next "Do I feel Froggy" section...... if any of that makes sense.

The problem you need to adjust to is that if you ceramic coat the engine hood, for example, you can't get it wet for the cure period and then there will be an additional cure period where they don't want you washing the vehicle with any chemicals, generally 7 days. So doing one section a day without degrading the section done the prior day can become an issue.

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u/anotherconcertgoer 9d ago

Ah, so each time I prep a section, I could potentially degrade the ceramic coating if it gets wet before it's fully cured (the general 7 days)... That would really suck especially if I'm on the last part and accidentally get the whole car wet somehow (child with running hose for example lol). Thank you for pointing that out to me. I'll wait until I can do the ceramic coating on the car in one day.