In this video, we’re going to talk about the Mercedes-Benz Mango paint. And what? It’s Magno, not Mango. Oh, sorry. I’ll save this for lunch.
In this video, we’re going to be talking about the Mercedes-Benz Magno clear coat matte paint and what makes it unique and also some tips and techniques on how to work on it carefully so you don’t alter its appearance, which sometimes can be the type of damage that simply cannot be undone.
So, what makes the Mercedes-Benz matte paint unique is that it incorporates silicon dioxide or SiO₂ into this top matte clear coat layer of paint. And that does a couple of things. One is it helps to create that texture, that uniform texture which scatters the light and gives it that matte appearance.
Hardness, Durability, and Everyday Handling
But another unique feature that kind of separates it from all the other matte paints on the market is the silicon dioxide actually increases the hardness and that also helps to increase the durability. And what that means in plain words is it’s easier for us to touch our car, wash it, dry it, wipe anything on and off of it without instilling any swirls or scratches or altering the appearance.
So, even though the Magno matte clear coat is more durable and resistant to things like wear and tear, you still got to be really careful. And here’s something that’s really important to understand. If you’ve ever owned a car with glossy paint, you understand that if you get swirls or scratches, water spots, oxidation, you can use a compound or a polish, and you can actually kind of polish those out and restore that factory-fresh finish.
Why You Can’t Polish Matte Paint
But with matte paint, you can’t do that. If you try to mechanically polish this with anything, what you’re going to do is you’re going to create shiny spots and there’s just really no way to undo that type of damage. So, it’s vital to understand that you must treat matte paint a lot differently than glossy paint.
And that means no compounds, no polishes, no cleaner waxes or AIOs, no machine polishing. Everything must be addressed chemically. And when we take this thing outside, I’m going to go ahead and wash it using a pH-balanced car wash soap specifically formulated for matte paint finishes. And that’s important because a lot of car washes contain ingredients that would add gloss. You got to use the right car wash.
Matte Paint Cleanser for Stubborn Contamination
And I’m also going to show how to use our matte paint cleanser in case you come across a really soiled area or some sort of road grime or traffic film that you don’t think the normal car wash will get off. So, I’ll show you how to address that issue.
But when it comes to taking care of these cars, one thing I just want to say is it’s actually a lot easier to take care of a matte paint finish as long as you incorporate some of the things I’m going to share in this video. And the reason why is, well, as I just said, there’s no buffing. Buffing out a car would take four or five hours. With a matte finish, you completely eliminate all that time spent.
Protect Early: Matte Ceramic Coating
The most important thing is to get it clean and then as soon as you buy your matte finished car to get a matte ceramic coating on there as soon as you can. Um, brand new. Get the coating on there. And here’s why. Because at that point, that finish is pristine. There’s nothing on it. There’s no contamination. And that’s the perfect time to put a matte ceramic coating on it. And of course, the purpose of the ceramic coating is just to create a layer of protection and a hydrophobic surface to protect it from everything that’ll ever come into contact with the paint.
So, I’m going to take this car outside. We’re going to go through how to do a proper wash. We’re talking about a very careful wash. Because again, the three things that we usually do to our cars that cause swirls, scratches, and uh other types of defects in the paint is we wash it with our wash mitts. We dry it with drying towels. And then at some point, we usually apply something and wipe it off with our microfiber towels.
Tips, Tools, and a Quick Story
Now, I’m going to be covering a lot of tips and techniques, different types of tools to make it comfortable for you to have confidence to work on your matte finish car, but there’s no need to remember all this stuff. In the description below, you can click on and download a PDF checklist. And at the very end of this video, you want to stick around because I’m going to recap and go over all the dos and all the don’ts for keeping your matte finish looking factory new.
So stay tuned as I go through how to safely and correctly wash a matte finish vehicle. I’m also going to be telling a little story. So the story is about the first time I had to wash and ceramic coat a matte finish car. It was actually a deep blue Mercedes-Benz. And I have to tell you, I was a little bit scared. I was really concerned because it was brand new, I was very concerned about causing some kind of irreparable damage to it. And then after I washed it and dried it and kind of got comfortable with it, it really was no big deal.
The Multiple Wash Mitt Method
So now I feel very comfortable sharing with you how to approach washing a matte finished car. But the thing I want to talk about mostly is you got to be proactive. Okay? And here’s what I mean by that.
Most people are familiar with the one wash mitt method. You have one wash mitt, you wash the car, and then you rinse it out as you work around panel by panel. And that’s a perfectly acceptable way to take care of a matte finished car. But if you want to be proactive, take it to another step, then you use what we call the multiple wash mitt method.
Why Multiple Mitts Reduce Risk
And the way that works is you start out at the roof. So you wash the roof with one wash mitt and then after you’ve washed that body panel, you switch and go to a fresh mitt. And every time you change the body panel on the car, you just switch to a fresh, clean mitt. And here’s the benefit to that. That way, any dirt that you gather onto the mitt as you’re washing a body panel, instead of trying to rinse it off somehow so you don’t scratch the next panel with that dirt you just removed, you just throw it in a separate bucket and move on to the next mitt.
So, you’ve completely eliminated the potential to put scratches into the paint from dirt you’ve already removed. So, that’s the benefit of the multiple wash mitt method. And this is also a great way to take care of a glossy paint car because the biggest problem people have with glossy paints is swirls and scratches show up so easily that if I had a nice car with a nice finish and it’s glossy paint, I’m using the multiple wash mitt method. Okay, so I’ll get into that a little bit further.
Use the Right Soap and a Matte Paint Cleanser
But the next thing you want to do is you want to use a car wash soap that’s pH neutral and it’s specifically formulated for matte paint. And the reason why is because some car wash soaps out there, they build glossing agents. They build protection, uh, slickness, water beading, all really cool characteristics for a glossy paint car. But when you’re talking about matte paint, because it’s got that texture that we discussed previously, you don’t want to put anything on there, including something that could be mixed into the car wash soap, that could create gloss or shine. So, uh, this is just a specific wash for matte paint care.
Um, then I also want to talk about this product. This is our matte paint cleanser. Now, this is something that you kind of need to understand is that when you’re dealing with a car that’s got some kind of contamination on it. In the glossy paint world, what we do is we get a compound or a polish and we polish it. We can kind of get that off. Can’t do that with matte paint. So, instead of mechanically addressing the problem, you know, using a polish to remove swirls, with a matte paint finish, you chemically deal with the problem.
What Matte Paint Cleanser Removes
So, this is what this is: this is a cleaner that will remove contamination like bird dropping etchings, tree sap mist, bug splatter, road grime, traffic film, things like that off, but it’s completely safe to the matte paint. But there is a technique for using this and I’ll share that as we get set up and get washing this car.
So, the next thing I want to do is I just want to talk about the number of buckets you need. Now, most people are familiar with the one bucket method, and you just got your car wash soap. But if you want to take it to another step higher, then you want to use the two bucket method. And there’s a couple of tools you can invest in to make washing your matte paint safer.
Buckets, Grit Guards, and Washboards
This is called a grit guard insert. And this is called a grit guard insert with a washboard on it. And let me show you how you use this. First of all, you add your soap and water. I got some water in there. I’ll add the soap and get it all mixed up here. But you want to take and in your wash bucket, you want to take and put a grit guard insert and kind of shove it down there.
And then for your rinse bucket, this is where you put this grit—this is called a washboard. It sits on top of the grit guard. And what you’re going to do is, if you—this is of course if you’re just going to use one wash mitt—but you would take and scrub this across there like this. Maybe flip it to the side and agitate it. So all the dirt that you removed off a body panel falls down and gets trapped below the grit guard, below these veins that hold the grit guard two inches off the bottom of the bucket.
Wheel and Tire Bucket (Keep It Separate)
Anyway, so you put that in your rinse bucket. Got a grit guard in your wash bucket. And then, um, if you’re going to use the multiple wash mitt method, of course, you don’t need the rinse bucket. And that’s where I want to talk about these other two buckets. And this is important.
So this is my wheel and tire bucket. And I’ve got different types of brushes in here. This is a tire brush. Here’s a, um, a wheel face brush. And the reason you want to have a separate bucket for any wheel brushes for cleaning your rims is because anytime you hit the brakes, your brake pads and your rotors naturally emit a fine metallic dust. And if you get that into the wash water and put your wash mitt in there and gather it up, you could be rubbing metallic particles across your paint.
The “Clean Bucket” for Used Mitts
So again, we’re talking about different ways you can be proactive to avoid putting damage into the paint because unlike a glossy paint car, you can’t machine buff it. You have to chemically attack everything. Okay, so I have a separate bucket and that is for my wheel and tire brushes.
And then here is the fourth bucket. And here’s the thing you want to do. Again, going back to the topic of being proactive. So I gather up my soapy wash solution. I wash a panel. Now, I need to get rid of this because I’m going to be switching over to a fresh wash mitt, but I don’t want it to become contaminated. So, in the future when I wash my car, I put a scratch in it because it’s real easy for uh dirt and sticks and dead bugs to embed into the weave.
Keep Mitts Uncontaminated
So, I put it in my clean bucket. In fact, it’s incredibly clean. It’s completely clean. Make sure it’s clean. No sticks, dead bugs, rocks, things like that in there. And all that does is it keeps my mitts from getting contaminated over time. And that’s one of the biggest problems. And that’s why, like if you look at this mitt, it has embedded sticks and leaves and things in there and they just get stuck down into the weave of the fibers and a lot of times you can’t see them. And then you take and you rub that across the paint and that’s where all the swirls and scratches come from. So be proactive and keep your wash mitts clean.
Drying Tools: Towels and Air
Now besides your wash mitts, when you get ready to dry that car, you’re going to need something to dry the car. And there’s a lot of these on the market. This is just a plush microfiber drying towel. And um, and just like keeping your wash mitts clean, you need to keep the nap of the drying towel clean and uncontaminated. And you could easily place it into your clean bucket for dirty wash mitts either way.
And then another way to dry that car off would be, of course, compressed air. My favorite is the cordless leaf blower. And the benefit to drying off a matte finish car with compressed air is then nothing’s actually touching the paint at all. Okay.
Foam Gun vs. Foam Cannon
So, and then one more option. I’m going to show just a normal hand wash on here, but another option is to use a foam gun or a foam cannon. So, if you’re not sure what the difference is, what a foam gun is is it attaches to a garden hose. So, just like this. So, there would be a container kind of like this with a nozzle that attaches to a garden hose. Now, a foam cannon attaches to a pressure washer.
And the purpose of both these tools is they create a lot of lubricity by slathering down a thick shaving-cream layer of car wash soap. And of course, you got your cleaning agents dwelling longer. So they’re loosening up traffic film, pollen, and dust to make it safer to rinse off or to wash off.
Mixing Soap and Pre-Rinsing
And the other benefit would be just the mass lubricity. Just the foam creates a very slippery surface and that just helps any dirt that you’re loosening to glide off instead of grind in. So that’s the reason you might want to use a foam gun or foam cannon. And of course to use a foam cannon, you’ve got to have a pressure washer. But most of us have a garden hose. And so you could pick up a foam gun and just use that approach also.
So, uh, the way you dilute this and, you know, you always want to follow the manufacturer’s directions, but I’ve got about four gallons of water in there. So it’s four capfuls. So just real quickly, there’s one. It’s time to buy another bottle. It’s coming out kind of slow. There’s two. And I rinse it out as I do it. That gets it all out for an accurate measurement. Some people say I’m a little OCD when it comes to detailing cars. I probably agree with that statement. It’s better than not being OCD ’cause your car tends to look cleaner. Okay, so there’s four solid capfuls. And then of course take your water hose and just blast that to create mountains of suds.
Pre-Rinse Removes 50% of Dirt
Okay, so we got my wash water. I got my rinse water, but I’m not going to be using that because we’re going to use the multiple wash mitt method. But the first thing you want to do is the part of carefully and safely washing a matte finish car. You just want to pre-rinse it. And by pre-rinsing the car, you can remove up to 50% of all the loose dirt. And now you don’t have to worry about getting that rubbed all over the paint at all. So the first thing you want to do is just give it a good solid rinse.
Okay, there you go. So, you know, most of any loose dirt, pollen, dust has been blown off the car just with a strong blast of water. But another key aspect that’s taking place right now, another dynamic, is water is a natural solvent. So, any dirt film that’s on there is already becoming looser and breaking up just from the water alone. Okay.
Top-Down Wash Technique
So, the first thing you want to do is start out with your soapy wash bucket. Gather up some soap. You always want to start at the top and work your way down. It’s also important—it’s also important to try to wash your car in the shade. Now, I lived in the Mojave Desert one time and it was sunny every single day and about the only time it was cool enough.
Okay, so I just washed that with one side. Now, let me go to the other side and then this mitt will be done. About the only time you could wash your car—and here’s a technique I forgot to share at the beginning—whenever you’re washing a panel, you want to start in the middle and then just work your way out using a straight-line motion. Just keep it simple. Okay?
Avoid Circles, Use Straight Lines
But the only time you could really wash your car in the Mojave Desert was at like 5 or 6:00 in the morning. And that’s because it was so hot. That was the only time there would be any kind of cool point in the day. And also because of the wind. So here we go. This mitt—I’ve used both sides on the roof. We’re done. And now I’ll rinse.
But the only time you could wash your car was like early in the morning because it was cooler in the day and also because it was, um, there was just less wind. And of course, you know, wind and warm temperatures are never a good thing when washing the car ’cause it tends to want to dry the soap on it before you maybe get it rinsed off. Okay.
Fresh Mitt for Each Panel
So then after that, the next thing: grab a fresh clean mitt. By the way, I inspect these myself visually after they come out of the washer and the dryer. And the next one to do is just the next panel. So we’ll just tackle the hood here.
And again, here’s kind of the technique you want to use—and this is good for glossy paint or for matte paint—but I’m just making a series of straight-line passes overlapping by about 50% as I work to the outer edge of that panel. And that was the yellow side. So now I’m going to walk over here. I’m using the other side of this wash mitt. So again, I’m not going to transfer any dirt that’s on here onto the paint. And then just rewash that panel.
Keep Track of Used Sides
And in most cases, one or two passes like that is more than enough to loosen whatever dirt’s on there using your soap as a lubricant. This goes in the dirty wash bucket—or the dirty mitt bucket—so you can rinse it off.
And the biggest problem most people have washing any type of car, matte or glossy, is they tend to do this. They don’t think. Okay? So they get washing, they’re just having a nice time washing their car, and they make circles over and over and over again. And what happens is if there is dirt there and you do loosen it, now you’re grinding it in and that’s where the swirls and scratches come from.
Where Swirls Come From
And it’s pretty easy to figure this out, too. I always try to share this with people, but let’s just present this scenario where you buy a brand new car, matte finish, there’s no swirls and scratches. You look at it in two or three years, it’s all kinds of swirls and scratches. Where’d they come from? Well, it always comes from how we touch the paint. And we touch it three primary ways. One, wash mitt. Two, drying towel. Three, wiping towels.
Keep those three things clean and uncontaminated. And you can virtually avoid 99.9% of any risk of putting swirls and scratches into your matte finished car.
Continue Panel by Panel
So then after the hood, the next thing I would do is I would just grab another fresh wash mitt. And I’ve got eight wash mitts up here, so I have plenty of wash mitts. And then I just move to the next back panel back here—to the back window. We got the trunk. We got this really nice carbon fiber, carbon fiber spoiler. And then same thing, just a nice gentle motion. Just a fairly small panel.
And then after that, I’m going to go ahead with this clean side of this mitt and I’ll hit all the glass. Then I’ll tackle the vertical panels. I always like to lift up the wiper arms there if you can and remove any dirt that accumulates from the air-blown wind. It’s a chance to clean the wiper blades, too. Okay.
Rinsing and Vertical Panels
So, then I’ll go ahead and rinse that and then it’s just a matter of getting the vertical sides and then we’ll dry the car off. Okay. Used mitt into the bucket dedicated for nothing but dirty wash mitts. Fresh wash mitt. Now we hit the vertical panels.
Usually kind of what I do is watch this. So I take this and I kind of squish it as I walk down the panel. Get kind of a layer of soap going on there and then come back and just start at the top. Work your way down one panel at a time. I’m going to flip the other side. Okay. And at that point, that rear fender is done. That mitt is abused and used. Time to rinse.
Finish the Wash, Then Final Rinse
And of course, I’ll come back and give this a final rinse. And in this video, we’re not really showing wheels and tires ’cause that’s a separate video we’ve already made. So, if you want some tips and techniques for washing your wheels and tires, we’ve got some really uh in-depth videos just on that topic. Okay.
Okay, then I kind of dripped down my car wash solution over that panel as I walk by it. Okay, I used the yellow side. Now I’m just going to do this fender right here. And then this mitt is finished.
Driver Side and Front Clip
Okay, now the driver side. And then again, watch this technique. I just kind of run my mitt down here, squish out some of that soapy water. Start out with the blue side on this particular panel. Straight line motions, just enough to agitate and loosen the grip of any dirt, dust or pollen, road grime. Flipping to the other side for the door. I always like to get in the handle a little bit. Finger oils in there, sweat, perspiration.
Okay, so both sides of this have been used. And before I rinse this, we got some cool temperatures out here. I’m just going to go ahead and grab my next—my last—wash mitt. We’ll hit this fender. All good. Okay. And I’ll go ahead and get the whole front clip.
Why I Like Chenille Microfiber Mitts
By the way, this is called a chenille microfiber. And, um, sometimes I kind of refer to it as either the alien caterpillars or alien worms ’cause they’re kind of fuzzy-looking little caterpillar-looking things. And, um, there’s a reason I like this mitt. It has less to do about the design for washing as it has to do about the design for washing when you’re done. Because when you put this in your washing machine, it’s going to wiggle around. And everything seems to come off these little caterpillar things real easily. And that just helps me to keep my mitts clean and uncontaminated. So, I don’t put scratches in the next time I wash the car.
Matte Paint Aesthetic (and Relaxing Wash Days)
And if you think about it, the thing we do the most to our cars is we wash them. I don’t really know anybody nowadays that changes the oil or spark plugs, but on a Saturday, you’ve worked hard all week. You know, it’s nice and kind of relaxing to go out and wash your pride and joy, especially a stealthy-looking Mercedes-Benz like this. That’s one of the things that matte paint does. It kind of gives it this, uh, sexy stealthy look. Gives it an attitude. Here we go.
Okay. Then after I rinse this side, of course, give everything just a good final rinse.
Dealing With Contamination: Two Approaches
Okay. So, when it comes to removing some kind of contamination that isn’t going to come off in the wash process, there’s kind of two ways you can do it. You can do it before you wash the car or you could do it after you wash the car. The benefit to doing it after you wash the car, like if I saw some road stain on there someplace, is I’ve got all the loose dirt off so I don’t have to worry about grinding that into the paint.
But here is the technique. This car doesn’t really have any contamination. It’s a garage-kept car. So, but here’s how you would use it. You take your matte paint cleanser, clean microfiber towel. So, first you want to take and dampen one side of a microfiber towel, clean, uncontaminated. And then, this is the technique. Say if I had a stain right here, I want to just come up here and spread that product over the paint.
Let It Dwell—But Don’t Rub
And then I want to let it dwell, but I don’t want to let it dry. And you want to wait for up to about a minute. Then you can come back with the clean side, wipe that section, and then you can neutralize it just by hitting it with your hose and water and a little bit of soap again, and just take care of it. Anyway, that’s how you would do it.
Now, for a worst-case scenario, what you could do is you can wet the surface like I have here and then spray the matte paint cleanser directly onto the paint. Let it dwell up to about 2 minutes, but just don’t let it dry on the paint. That’s why it’s important to always wash in the shade. And then after it dwells, again, come down and just gently wipe.
No Hard Rubbing—Ever
What you cannot do, and I’m not going to do it here, but I’m going to show you: you can’t rub hard. Okay? I can’t take this towel and start rubbing really hard or I’ll have a shiny spot there and you can’t fix it. So that’s why we need to chemically remove any contamination with a product like the matte paint cleanser and then you can come back.
Okay. So then after rinsing off the cleanser, take another clean fresh wash mitt and then just neutralize it using your pH-balanced car wash soap. Quick, fast, simple. And most important thing is it’s not going to alter the appearance of your matte finish.
Drying Without Water Spots
Then after the final rinse, it’s time to remove the water off the car, any standing water. And, you know, my preferred method is just—I love this little cordless blower here.
And of course, you just keep uh working around the car like that. But after I’ve blown off most of the water, I do like to come back with one of these really nice microfiber towels because a lot of times you don’t blow 100% of the water off. And any water drop that stays behind potentially could leave a little water mark. So, it’s a good idea to just go ahead and, after—if you do blow it off—to grab some sort of premium quality microfiber drying towel and give it a gentle wipe to, uh, remove all that standing water and that way avoid any future water spots.
Anyway, I’ll go ahead and finish getting this thing all done. Then, we’re going to pull it inside and we’re going to go over the next topic.
Applying a Matte Ceramic Coating (Indoors)
After you get your car washed and dried, move back into your garage. It’s always important to install ceramic coatings in an enclosed shop environment, um, just to avoid any wind-blown dust. Uh, but the next thing you want to do is you want to go ahead and install the ceramic coating.
Now, as I mentioned before, it’s really important that you do this as soon as you can. So as soon as you buy any car with a matte finish, especially Mercedes-Benz Magno, as soon as you can get your matte protection going onto it. And that’s because at that point the paint is still virgin, clean base paint. You know, the longer you wait, the risk is there that it can be contaminated and then the coating just has a harder time making a bond. So it’s always best to do it as soon as you can.
What’s in the Kit and Why Distilled Water
Anyway, to apply this, it’s actually really simple. And real quickly, you just want to take this. This is our matte paint coating kit. And it comes with these little yellow foam applicator pads. And what you need to do, though, is you need to stop off at the store and just get some normal distilled water.
And the way you apply this is actually really simple. You use water as your base. Then you take and apply your coating. And this coating is specific for matte paint. And this is important because if you use a coating for glossy paint, it’ll actually fill in that texture and create gloss and shine. And there’s virtually no way to get that off. Okay? So, it’s very important that you use the right coating.
Application Technique: Work in Sections
Now, as I’m applying this, I can kind of see the water beading up. That’s a sign of the hydrophobic features of this coating. And I also want you to notice how I started. I didn’t start here and work my way that way. I started in the middle of this panel and I’m working my way out. So you take and you apply this for about 10 to 20 seconds just using an overlapping circular motion just like you see me doing here.
And then you wait about 10 to 20 seconds. And you want to bring a clean microfiber towel. And I always recommend inspecting them both visually and with your sense of touch. Make sure they’re contaminant-free. And then after about 10 to 20 seconds, come down here and level it. Okay? So that means you’re going to be further spreading it out to make sure you have a uniform layer of protection. Flip the towel to a dry side and then give that section a final buff.
Watch for High Spots
And this is important because there’s a term in the industry called high spot. And what a high spot means is it’s an area where you didn’t get 100% of the coating removed and then it cures and hardens. And at that point it’s going to be virtually impossible to get off. So that’s why it’s a good idea to use an inspection light after you’ve applied to a section or good surrounding ambient light and really look at that finish to make sure that you haven’t got any high spots and then you can move on to the next section.
All you have to do after you initially start is just continue around the car. Uh, normally what I would do is I start in the center then I move to the outside then I’ll drop down here. But basically you just want to divide larger panels into smaller sections and then tackle the car section by section.
Massage the Coating Into the Texture
So here we go. Put some coating right onto our applicator pad. And then same idea, just come down here and using an overlapping circular motion, massage this coating into that texture. You want to work it in as well as you can, but always being gentle. And you do this for about 10 to 20 seconds. And it just kind of glides over the paint. It’s actually kind of fun to apply. It’s not like the old days, you know, applying a car wax and fighting to get it off.
Then wait about 10 to 20 seconds. Let it sit there and do its little magic. Come down with the clean microfiber towel. And this first wipe is called leveling. So, we’re just evening out that layer of protection. Flip to the dry side. Soft overlapping motion and remove any excess. And then again, you can just use your overhead lights to really inspect to make sure you’ve got 100% of the coating off or, if you have one handy, just a good inspection light.
Use Plenty of Clean Towels
And the way you use these is you want to hold it about a foot and a half off the car and then angle that light about 45° back to your eyes and then just look over the paint finish and if there’s any kind of excess residue, it’ll kind of jump out at you. You’ll see it. Then just come down and wipe that off. And at that point, it might be a good idea to go ahead and switch to clean microfiber towels. And if you notice, I’ve got a lot of towels set up there. And that’s something that if you don’t have a huge inventory of microfiber towels and you want to, you know, do your own detailing, which is very rewarding, by the way, just make sure you invest in quality towels and then keep them clean and uncontaminated.
Plan Your Sections by Body Lines
So, the next thing I do—so now I’ve done this section and this section. And what I usually do is when I look at a car, I look at the natural breaks. So, the natural divisions in the body lines. So, for this Mercedes-Benz, there’s actually a raised body line running here. That divides the hood into two sections. Then I’ve got this quadrant and this quadrant. Then I’ve got a raised, molded-in body line. Another raised, molded-in body line. And then I’ve got an edge.
So I would look at this like this. Here’s a section. Here’s a section. Here’s a section. Here’s a section. And this long linear panel will be its own section. And then it’s just the same thing. Just apply your distilled water. Put your coating right onto your foam applicator pad. After you’ve done this a few times, then just a few drops—there’s plenty of coating to go around.
Overlap Slightly for Uniform Coverage
Massage using overlapping circular motion with 50% overlap. And really, again, I said this earlier, but because this has a texture, what you’re really trying to do is you’re trying to massage that coating into that texture. That way, it can make a really strong bond.
And then back to just waiting 10–20 seconds. These coatings are designed to bond instantly to the paint. But it’s a good best practice just to give it a few seconds to, as I like to say, do whatever its little magic voodoo dance is down there on the paint and then continually dry. Fold to a clean dry side. Use your ambient light to look for high spots or your handheld light.
No High Spots on Matte (Ever)
And again, vitally important, you cannot leave a high spot on a matte finish because in order to remove it, you’d have to somehow rub on it or abrade it and that would create a shiny spot. So, it’s always a good idea to invest in a good handheld light. Then after that, just keep working around the car.
So, I’ve hit this section, this section, this section. So, now come hit this section. And another good practice is after I’ve done this section and this section, when I tackle another section, you actually want to overlap a little bit into the previous section. And that’s just to make sure you got uniform protection and coverage. So overlap into this section up here.
Don’t Tackle Too Much At Once
Okay, done with that towel. Grab a fresh towel. Ten, twenty seconds. Then come down and level it. Flip to a dry side and remove any excess. After you remove the excess, inspect for any high spots and you’re good to go on to the new section.
When I’m tackling linear panels like this—and every car is kind of different—but in this situation, um, you’ve got this long linear section of the hood right here, and then it kind of butts right up to the top of the fender. So, I would usually knock out something like that. But, you definitely want to have clearly defined sections that you’re working, and you need to remember what those sections are. So, you also remember to remove all that coating. Okay?
Roof First, Then Down
Okay. So, you don’t want to try to tackle too much at one time. You’ll end up with high spots everywhere. Don’t ask me how I know. See, so we level, flip to the clean, dry side, come back and just polish off any excess, remove any excess, and then again, inspect for any high spots. And after that, just continue working around the car.
So, next thing: normally when I’m going to ceramic coat any car, whether it’s matte finish or glossy paint, I usually start on the roof, the highest points, and then work my way down. And then one of the things that’s unique about the Dr. Beasley’s matte paint coating is while it’s specifically formulated for matte paint, you can also use it on glossy paint, but you can’t use coatings meant for glossy paint on matte ’cause it will alter the appearance and then you cannot get the coating off.
Mind the Cracks and Seams
So, but normally I would start at the highest point and then work my way down and around to the horizontal surfaces followed by the vertical panels. Now, when you go to wipe this off, I’ve got these body seams here. It’s real important that you actually want to take and push your towel down into those seams because you don’t want to leave a little pile of coating in there where it’ll harden up. A lot of times these coatings when they harden up—the good analogy is like crazy glue. I mean, once it dries and sets up, I mean, it’s set up. You’re not going to get it off.
So, that’s why in the professional detailing world, we’re always talking about minding the cracks, you know? So, just make sure you run around all the little cracks and crevices. You don’t leave any excess coating behind in those areas either. And then after I do that, I’m going to give this a clean finishing wipe just to make sure I didn’t rub any in the cracks back onto the big flat panel.
Trim, Emblems, and Mixed Surfaces
Okay. So then just after that continue working around the car. Next thing I would do is get this sail panel and then move my way to the trunk. There’s another unique feature about our matte paint coating and that is, while it’s formulated specifically for a textured surface so it doesn’t add gloss, you can use it on glossy surfaces. So, as you see here on the trunk lid, there’s actually a glossy painted carbon fiber spoiler here, and I can go right from my matte finish right on to that glossy surface.
The difference is you can’t use a coating made for glossy surfaces on matte ’cause that’s when you start to create the gloss. So, you want to avoid that. But, yeah, it’s uh—and plus you can also go over emblems and trim. Like, if you look at this car, it’s got some chrome trim on it, chrome emblems. So you can apply it to any smooth surface on the car.
Cure Time: One Week
So then after you finished applying that ceramic coating to the entire car, working panel by panel, section by section, the next thing—let’s do—let’s talk about the dos and the don’ts. But keep in mind after you’ve coated this car, you want to wait at least one week before you get the car wet. That means introduce it to like a wet environment—it’s raining outside—or until you wash the car. You want to give that coating a chance to completely set up, dry, and harden. So that’s just like a window of time, a one-week window of time.
And here’s another tip. When we were outside washing the car, we talked about how to use the multiple wash mitt method. And that was just a way to reduce the potential to inflict any swirls or scratches because instead of trying to wash the car with one wash mitt, you wash it with multiple wash mitts, changing to a fresh wash mitt every time you go to another panel.
Keep a “Clean Bucket” for Coating Towels
And then when you are done with that wash mitt, you put the dirty wash mitt into a clean bucket. Well, I do the same thing when I’m coating a car, is I have a clean bucket and even though the towel is considered dirty ’cause I wiped some coating off, it’s not dirty like it’s been on the ground getting sticks and rocks embedded into the fibers, but I throw that into that clean bucket and then at the end of the day, I go ahead and wash everything sooner than later.
Let’s talk about the dos and the don’ts for taking care of your freshly ceramic coated matte finish. The first thing you want to do is—we already covered this—but you want to wash regularly and wash carefully. And that starts with keeping anything that’s going to touch the paint clean and uncontaminated. So, wash mitts, drying towels, and your wiping towels.
Remove Contamination Immediately
The next thing you want to do is you want to remove any fresh stains as fast as possible, as soon as possible. So, if you walk out to your car and you see a bird dropping, you see a bug splatter, maybe you see some tree sap, as soon as you can get that off, you’re going to have the best chance of removing it without any damage being left behind. So, remove contamination immediately, at least as soon as it’s been discovered.
The next thing you want to do is you want to make sure your wash mitts, your drying towels, and your wiping towels are all clean and uncontaminated. Um, one of the things that I do is after all my drying tools and my washing tools and my microfiber tools—after they all come out of the dryer—is I’ve got a dedicated table that I keep clean just for folding. And I keep a pair of tweezers handy. And as I’m looking through all my towels, not only will I visually look at everything—this includes the wash mitt, the drying towels, everything—but I’ll take my hands and I will feel it and I’ll make sure that there’s no pokey sharp things in there that my eyes cannot see. Then of course I’ll fold it and I’ll put it into my cupboard and keep it clean by keeping it out of the exposed air.
Use Only Matte-Safe Products
And then the last thing I want to share as far as one of the things you want to do is you only want to use products that are specifically formulated for matte paint. So no car wax, no carnauba wax, no synthetic paint sealants, no ceramic coatings designed for glossy paint, no compounds, no polishes. You really need to spend a little time researching the products that you’re thinking about using and make sure that they actually state they’re specifically formulated for this type of paint.
Now that we covered the dos, let’s go over the don’ts. And please pay attention, you do not want to do any of these things. Okay, first, never use any kind of automatic car wash. Not the swirling brushes, not the soft mops, not even the touchless washes because a lot of times the touchless wash—the way it gets a car clean—is it uses really strong cleaners, real strong detergents. So the best way to take care of your Magno matte finish moving forward is always to carefully hand wash personally yourself.
No Polishes, Waxes, Fillers, or Force
The other thing you want to do is never use any kind of polish or wax. Don’t ever even get the temptation if you see something to come down here and try to rub. You’re going to hate it. You’re going to create a shiny spot that you cannot undo. So, no polish, no wax, definitely a don’t.
Then, never use any products that use wax or fillers. And as mentioned when we were outside, a lot of times companies put different ingredients into just the car wash. In fact, you’ve probably seen products that say “wax as you wash” or “wash as you wax.” And that means it’s leaving behind some type of carnauba or other ingredient to create gloss, shine, and water beading, but it’ll alter the way that your matte finish looks. So never use anything with wax or fillers.
And then never, never rub hard or forcefully. Everything must be done gently. If you come down and start bearing down hard on this, you will leave an impression in the paint that you cannot undo. So those are the don’ts. So the dos and the don’ts. Pretty simple. And actually, kind of as we discussed, this paint—because it’s infused with the silicon dioxide—is pretty stout actually. There’s nothing to be scared of.
Quick Maintenance Products Between Washes
But let me share with you a couple quick products and tips and techniques to maintain it in between your normal wash jobs. So in our matte paint kit, you get a product called Matte Final Finish. This is a spray detailer. And it’s basically for removing three things: light dust, fingerprints, and smudges. So around the door, say you saw a little smudge, you can just mist some on a clean microfiber towel. Come down, gently wipe that off. And that’s just how we’d use the Matte Final Finish. It’s just removing light dust accumulation, fingerprints, and smudges.
Another way to take care of your matte finish is to use a product we call Matte Paint Hero. Now, what this is, it’s a spray-on ceramic coating—just like you’ve got in the tiny little bottle here for the matte coating—only this is a spray-on application, and it restores that hydrophobic surface. And the way you use this is you would just mist a little bit on, switch to a dry towel, clean dry towel. Then you want to take and just spread this around real gently. And then flip to the dry side, wipe it off. And that’s how I would take care of this Magno matte clear coat.
Final Thoughts (and Contact)
When I was outside washing the car, one of the things I shared with you is that the first time I had to work on a Mercedes matte finish, I was a little bit scared. I was really concerned that I might cause some kind of damage I couldn’t undo. But as you can see, just by implementing a few protocols, making sure everything’s clean and uncontaminated that’s going to touch the paint, using products that are specifically formulated for matte paint, and then if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, just follow the tips and techniques shared in this video and you can do it yourself.
If you run into any problems, you can always reach out to us at myteam@drbeasleys.com or give us a call on our customer care hotline. And that’s 773-404-1600. And that’s how you take care of a Magno Mercedes-Benz clear matte finish. Mhm. And two.
As you can see, as long as you put in a few good protocols, like using things that are clean and uncontaminated, there’s nothing to worry about and there’s nothing to fear when working on a matte clear coat finish. I forgot where I was going. I was good though. All up to the point where you forgot where you’re going. Okay. Okay. Okay. All right.
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