"Graphene" coatings, just the next marketing scam

Jason Barker • November 10, 2020

How does graphene powder protect your paint? It doesn't.

Graphene coatings for your car's paint are just the latest in a long history of automotive marketing scams, don't buy into it. Much like the "Teflon" (PTFE) paint sealants of the 90's, the current craze of graphene paint coatings are making fantastical claims all over the web, and sadly many of the claims are coming from car detail shops trying to make a quick buck and capitalize on each latest trend. This really bothers me because it sews doubt and confusion in my industry, instead of value and clarity.

Back in the 90's, Teflon paint sealants were all the rage. I mean, if Teflon can protect a frying pan, and keep your burnt breakfast eggs from sticking, surely it's good enough for car's paint, right?! Wrong. The problem is in the marketing... sure, there was Teflon powder in the paint sealant, but it was chemically impossible for the Teflon to bond to your car's paint and provide any useful benefit. Chemists knew this and tried to educate the public, but the marketing budgets of the wax/sealant manufacturers are much too large, and there's a boat-load of profits to be made by making dubious claims and charging exorbitant prices for Teflon-pan-like protection on your paint. In fact, my very first blog post back in the 90's was on this exact topic! Eventually, enough of us legitimate, trustworthy detailing industry professionals railed loud enough to shame the manufacturers and detail installers to stop this deception.

Ah but the lure of huge profits is too much, so now we have the graphene wave.

Don't get me wrong, graphene is a truly AMAZING material that is a honeycomb of carbon atoms that is only one layer thick, and is stronger than steel. The problem is that putting graphene powder in the bottle of paint coating that your car dealer or detail shop is smearing on your paint will not (can not!) have these properties. It's like saying something like, "Kevlar vests can stop a bullet, so I want that on my car!" "Graphene is the world's strongest substance, I want that on my car!" See what's going on here? Marketing.

They've even gone so far as to start saying that graphene coatings are better than ceramic coatings. Again, they claim this in order to deride the current product to make the new product sound better. You'll see all kinds of claims like that graphene coatings keep your paint cooler (they don't), graphene coatings won't cause water spots (spots do not come from your coating regardless of what it's made of), and that graphene coatings provide more clarity and depth of shine than ceramic coatings. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" applies here.

In summary, a coating that claims to have graphene in it probably does, but the graphene is in powder form and is not forming a honeycomb of protection for your paint. The best proven protective coating with over a decade of track record in real-world use on daily-drivers is still silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic coatings like Opti-Coat Pro Plus.

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Matte Paint Ceramic Coating

By Jason Barker • June 8, 2026

Why Ceramic Coating is Mandatory for Matte Satin Paint and Decals There is no denying the dramatic increase in popularity that matte finishes, satin wraps, and bold vinyl graphics have on modern automotive culture. Whether it’s a stealthy aftermarket wrap or an ultra-premium factory finish like Mercedes’ Magno series or BMW’s Frozen paint, a non-glossy surface gives a vehicle a unique and sometimes aggressive look. But buying a matte vehicle usually comes with a massive wave of immediate anxiety for the owner because they're frequently not sure of how to care for this style of paint. Should you use wax, a sealant perhaps, or an off-the-shelf DIY ceramic coating? As a professional detailer who has spent over 31 years in the trenches of preservation-focused detailing, I hear the same questions every single week at my shop in Beaverton: “How do I protect this paint? Can I ceramic coat it? And if I do, is it going to turn my beautiful matte finish into a shiny, glossy, blotchy mess?” If you are asking these questions, you are asking the right things! But there is a lot of misinformation out there. Let’s clear up the confusion once and for all. Not only can you ceramic coat matte paint and decals, but if you want to keep your vehicle looking pristine, a dedicated ceramic coating that is designed specifically for non-glossy finishes is practically mandatory. This blog post is a deep dive into why prevention is your only line of defense, the actual science of how a matte coating bonds to your car, and how we prove it doesn’t add artificial shine.