…And You Thought You Couldn’t Detail a Matte Car

Detailing the Rare Mercedes C63 AMG with Designo Magno Alanite Matte Grey Paint

For owners of matte cars, detailing has always been a problem. Where do you go? Can it be done? What happens if a bird decides he has a taste for matte; then what? Well, for matte owners everywhere the best option, until now, may have been to never drive it. For fear of a scratch or in avoidance of rain, you probably haven’t taken out your matte car as much as you’d hoped when you bought it – am I right? That ends now… A while ago we at Dr. Beasley’s released our custom brand of matte car care products, which meant quick fixes and hand washing could be done at home, no problem. And with the release of the first wax-free matte sealant to matte car owners… protecting matte paint without losing the matte-effect is now not only possible, but easy. You heard me correctly, it is now easier to keep your matte car’s paint in impeccable condition without being afraid to show it off on the road. Earlier in the week, the crew of Chicago’s premier hand car wash and detailing center happened to get a very, very rare Mercedes to detail. Matte care has been done in their shop before using the proper matte car care products, but this time I got the chance to attend and document their session with one of 60 US issued Mercedes C63 AMG with Designo Magno Alanite Grey paint (Mercedes’ signature factory matte paint finish). Needless to say, the experience of just being around the car was surreal, but you aren’t interested in that… you’re interested in what they did:

First the crew prepped the car; buckets (3), new mitts (2), new towels (6), and of course the necessary matte car care products were set up – all of which can be found in a matte paint care kit – and used many, many times. The buckets are extremely important when detailing a matte paint finish because you cannot stress the importance of using clean, untainted water. Using a grit guard in each bucket – one for housing the suds, one for rinsing the mitts, and one for holding the wheel/tire cleaning supplies – dirt from your mitts will settle at the bottom of the bucket, ensuring you don’t put a dirty mitt on your matte car. Personally I always use a grit guard even on my regularly painted car (sounds sad doesn’t it? “regularly painted”). After adding the matte car wash soap and warm water, the crew is ready to start the wash process (read: Proper Hand Car Wash). For heavily soiled areas – behind fenders, lower fascia, etc. – the crew uses matte paint cleanser to soften any caked on dirt or staining that may occur from the road. Once the car is optimally cleaned, which may take another go around with a wash pad just to be safe, it’s time for the protection piece of the detailing puzzle. But first a little backstory on the protection product…

As you probably know, if you protect matte paint with a conventional “wax” product, the carnauba or paste substance will fill in the microscopic indentations that make matte paint, matte paint. Because of this fact, a synthetic polymer sealant was formulated by the Dr. Beasley’s product development team that bonds at the molecular level to give protection without shining, evens the natural sheen of the matte finish, and goes on in less than 10 minutes. The revolutionary aspect lies within the molecular bonding, which requires an interaction with water to adhere to the surface. This means after the crew washes the car, they do not dry it. Rather, they leave it wet just before applying this innovate matte paint sealant. The sealant is applied similarly to how a wax would be – circular or straight-lined motion, panel by panel, removing after a minute with a microfiber towel – but the interesting part is that this sealant can go right over trim and emblems without leaving the residue you would normally see from a paint protection product. Keeps getting better right? Well did I mention that it has the almost triple the durability of a normal carnauba? You get my point.

And so, with the application of matte paint sealant to the Matte C63’s Designo Magno Alanite Grey finish (and I mean everything from the door jambs to under the hood), the matte paint detail is complete. The crew then went on to protect the car’s matte painted wheels with a protectant specifically designed to prevent brake dust at high-heat temperatures from adhering to the susceptible matte finish – simply spraying on the microfiber towel and gently covering the spokes and side walls. At this point I certainly can tell you that the car looked amazing, but I’m sure at this point you want the pictures, huh… With apologies, I must admit that the few I showed you here are just a tease.. I’m editing the rest and you’ll see them in the next few days! Keep an eye out here and on our Flickr!