Professional Tips for Matte Paint Care

Matte finishes are more popular than ever – but they’re far from easy to care for. As with any car paint, regular care is essential to maintain a slightly satin-gloss, elegant appearance in paintwork and thus value over the long term. Not all car care products are suitable for this, however, so be sure to follow Sonax’s car care and value-retention tips and recommendations, and you’ll be on the safe side.

If you want to maintain the “matte look,” polishes in particular are not suitable. Far from it, in fact: Mechanically applying polishing agents with a polishing pad can damage the appearance of the matte surface so badly that you’ll just end up needing a costly new paint job.

Basically, what you need is a gentle washing at a car wash or by hand with a high-performance car shampoo. Before you start the cleaning, you might want to use special cleaning agents such as an insect remover or tree sap remover so that you won’t have problematic sticky stuff remaining on the paintwork even after washing. Ideally, these should be removed immediately so they won’t cause irreparable damage to the paintwork. Then for washing by hand, the experts at Sonax recommend using a neutral car shampoo such as “Sonax Richfoam Shampoo” in order to preserve the fine matte effect of the paintwork.

For lasting matte paint protection: “Sonax Xtreme Brilliant Wax 1 Hybrid NPT”

Following the washing, you need sealant in order to protect the surface from strongly adhering “paint eaters” such as bird droppings, insects, tree sap, and road dirt, as is the case for any kind of paint. For this purpose Sonax recommends a “classic” in the range, “Sonax Xtreme Brilliant Wax 1 Hybrid NPT”: The product achieves its superior care performance thanks to Hybrid Net Protection Technology, developed by Sonax, which is an innovative combination of active agents made from special organic and inorganic ingredients. This technology causes a noticeable brightening of the colour, a remarkable water beading effect, and a particularly durable seal, even with matte paintwork. And there’s another benefit: The product doesn’t leave stubborn white spots or streaks when accidentally coming into contact with plastic parts.

The application is effortless when you apply the product thinly to partial areas with an application sponge and then immediately wipe it off with the “Sonax Micro­bre Cloth Exterior”. Excess product residue on a matte paint surface should be wiped off with extra precision and thoroughness before it can dry. If you let it dry, then afterwards any streaks from the sealant residue will be very difficult to remove, so wipe off the residue section by section with a dry microfibre cloth to ensure an even surface appearance.

Paint sealing products are generally designed to increase the gloss effect of the car’s paintwork – so that’s something you need to avoid if you want the matte look. This is why Sonax recommends first checking the visual effect of the paint sealant, which can produce a slightly silky-gloss surface appearance, on a less visible area of the vehicle before treating the paintwork of the entire car.

Other Specialists for the Care of Plastics and Rims

In order to preserve the value and immaculate appearance of the vehicle, don’t neglect the cleaning and care of all the other parts. For example, to care for and protect unpainted plastics inside and out, Sonax recommends Xtreme Plastic Detailer, while for radiant, smart-looking wheels you can use “Xtreme Wheel Cleaner Plus”, and for tyres “Xtreme Tyre Gloss Gel”.