Product Review: Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer
by Mike CardenasI recently had a chance to visit the team at Sonax USA at their new headquarters in Westfield, Indiana. Brent Kemerly, Senior Sales Manager at Sonax USA was giving me the grand tour and as he showed me around, the topic of ceramic products came up. He suggested I try their latest detailer spray, Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer and gave me a bottle to try. Having been a huge fan of Sonax products for the last 10 years, I was very curious about Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer as given the company’s reputation for not putting out a product until it has been quality engineered and rigorously tested by the meisters at Sonax Germany.
Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer is part of the new series from Sonax containing their Si-Carbon Technology. This technology chemically blends organic and inorganic properties to give a slick feel to paintwork while providing a great beading effect. Having used Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer for many years, I quickly found that this detail spray worked very well on a variety of surfaces. It wipes clean without being streaky which is usually an issue with products containing ceramic something or other. Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer has a pleasant scent which makes it nice to work with.
I recently used it during the final process on a Ferrari F12 TDF project I was working on.
Before using, it is recommended to shake the bottle prior to use. Sonax recommends not to use on hot surfaces, to not allow the product to dry and keep the product from freezing. They also recommend to spray Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer onto a microfiber towel thinly distribute the product on the surface. I tried it spraying it directly onto the cool surface to test how it wipes down otherwise, only to find that it was very easy to wipe down when sprayed on heavy.
The one thing I found to be quite evident was the slickness when working with Sonax Ultra Slick Detailer on paint surfaces. This slickness would certainly be helpful in areas such as front ends where bugs can be a real challenge by utilizing the SI-Carbon Technology to make cleaning easier between washes. Keep in mind that this technology is Si02 based. Making it a spray detailer than gives protection like that of a sealant.
This slickness would also be beneficial in areas such as door jambs to help water repel from those areas, keeping a cleaner surface. Using Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer does provide some level of gloss as well. After an intensive paint correction process, I had coated this Ferrari F12 in 22ple and had used the Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer for a final wipe down. The product did provide some additional gloss to the paintwork.
This product can be safely used on paint, plastics, wheels, glass, trim, ppf, ceramic coated surfaces and more. The hydrophobic effect on non-coated or treated surfaces is noticeable. Having Si02 in the product, I used gloves when working with this product. According to Sonax, the features of Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer include:
- Simple, fast and easy to use
- Refreshes existing ceramic coatings and sealants
- Ensures extreme smoothness and provides mirror-like high gloss
- Light dust and fingerprints can be removed quickly and without streaking
- Leaves a roll-off effect
- Safe for ppf and vinyl surfaces
Sonax recommends following up with Sonax Spray Coating for longer lasting protection. If there is one thing about Sonax Ultra Slick Ceramic Spray Detailer and Sonax Spray Coating I do not like is that the bottles are identical in color, size and the labels are extremely similar. This would make having both of those products a bit difficult to distinguish. I have had to label one of the bottles with a color mark to help me distinguish them.
Overall, the Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer is a good option for those who are looking for a detail spray that is easy to use and offers some layer of protection that you can see and feel.
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Hi Mike, thanks for the info. So which do you prefer over ceramic coatings, the old (Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer) or the new (Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer)? And what is the role of the Sonax Spray Coating you mentioned, is it a topper for freshly cleaned surfaces only, and does it perform better on freshly cleaned surfaces than the aforementioned Sonax detail sprays? (Say, if you were applying a topper after washing the traditional way)?
Each of those products you mentioned are detailer sprays, but not regarded the same. Each has its own characteristics. Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer can be used to give slickness to a coated surface or non coated surface. The durability is not the same as that of Sonax Ceramic Spray, which would be ideal as a topper. I hope this helps answer your question.
What do you mean as paint correction. Also which sonax do before and final step. Thanks
As described in the article, after a paint correction process I then coated the vehicle in 22ple. Then, as a final wipe down after the entire process did I then use Sonax Ultra Slick Ceramic Detailer.
Hi Mike, can the this product be safely used on clear film protected surfaces? Thank you.
Yes Roland. It can be safely used on PPF to provide slickness. Especially useful before doing any long road trips to make bug cleaning even easier.
Would you say this would add more protection than BSD? Its really hard to beat that product so not sure where this would fall into my rotation.
The Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer will provide a more durable for of protection than that of the Brilliant Shine Detailer.
Can this product be applied to a painted surface that was recently professionally ceramic coated?
Eric – The Sonax Ceramic Ultra Slick Detailer is the perfect maintenance product for a vehicle that already has a ceramic coating applied.
Does the vehicle have to be Wet !!!
John – You will want to apply this to a clean, dry surface as shown in the review.
Since Sonax ceramic coating is recommended for matte finish paint. Can I use the slick detailer on matte also?
Most ceramic coatings can be applied to matte surfaces, however, they can add gloss to the area. We always recommend using a matte specific coating to help avoid any unwanted gloss for these areas. With Slick Detailer, the same should be looked at. It will work, but due to the formulation it can add some unwanted gloss.