[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by nh50i

There sure is, thanks!

Sure, just remember, if you have any protection on the car (wax, sealants, coatings) you have you to get it off to get the most out of any coating / sealant. Typically the non-marring non-physical decon steps would be something like:

* If it's really dirty spray off first
* Strip wash with an alkaline shampoo like CP Lift or BH Touchless

Inspect for any bug guts, tar*, etc that's remaining & remove

* Iron remover, then rinse w/ de-i water

Optional:
if you really really wanna be double sure to remove anything remaining

* CP TarX each panel: apply & rinse as you go, ideally with de-i water

* Do a final quick shampoo of the whole car just to ensure you've gotten all the decon chemicals off, and then rinse w/ de-i

* Dry & do a panel wipe with 50/50 IPA & de-i water

That should strip off most protection except multi-year ceramics (but will strip some of them too!)

Your paint should sheet water, looking totally "flat", i.e., no beading or hydrophobicity. Any coating you apply will be its most effective at filling in marring and will adhere its best. It's also your best time to apply a 2nd layer after the 1st cures and/or a hydrophobic topper (e.g., Nova Lustre topped with Nove Jet)

[malvern_man]

* Strip wash with an alkaline shampoo like CP Lift or BH Touchless.

I though Bilt Hamber Touchless was designed not to strip wax, sealants or other LSP products.

[nh50i]

I thought nova lustre was meant to hide swirls in my existing multi-year ceramic? Reading about the product I assumed I was going to give a good wash that would leave ceramic in tact then apply NL. Sounds like I am way off base?

[BobsM3Coupe]

I thought Dawn dishwashing fluid would remove any wax?

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by malvern_man

* Strip wash with an alkaline shampoo like CP Lift or BH Touchless.

I though Bilt Hamber Touchless was designed not to strip wax, sealants or other LSP products.

IME touchless is better at stripping grime and roadfilm and, depending on the (water-based) coating or sealant, will degrade it. I do know people that like auto-foam better for this, but using them side-by-side touchless wins for me. Either way, the goal with that step is to clean the surface of road film with the following steps upping the chemical harsh factor to remove the wax/coating/sealant.

Note that neither of them is going to do anything to a resin-based multi-year ceramic assuming it was properly applied.

Originally Posted by BobsM3Coupe

I thought Dawn dishwashing fluid would remove any wax?

maybe, I haven't tried it in 15 years and I probably wouldn't, but I'm always curious to hear if it'd work better! Have you tried to use it to strip a water-based sealant?

Originally Posted by nh50i

I thought nova lustre was meant to hide swirls in my existing multi-year ceramic? Reading about the product I assumed I was going to give a good wash that would leave ceramic in tact then apply NL. Sounds like I am way off base?

sorry about that, didn't realize you already had a multi-year ceramic!

You can try that, and it'll work, but

/rant
This is where multi-year ceramics make no sense and are a waste of money and kind of a scam IMO. Wheels & exhaust make sense but the rest of the car? not sure why one would do it assuming they understand the details.

multi-year ceramics won't protect against marring so if one gets scratches that they want to buff out, now what? They can always buff out just that spot then re-apply but why have a multi-year ceramic then??

Same with PPF: if it gets dinged up, now what? leave it dinged / dangling? spend the money to replace it? I suppose it's all preferences ... but ... for me, yeah, I don't get it ... though all the damage is annoying, that's for sure.

AANNYYyyywwaaaayyyy...
/rant

If you have a multi-year ceramic, your best bet is to a strip wash (i.e., road film removal, i.e. BH touchless or lift or reset or similar) and then use an APC panel by panel (apply & rinse well & dry) to ensure you've "declogged" it and got it as pristine as you can. Lustre should work to fill in the marring but ...

Now your coating is Lustre, not your multi-year ceramic ... which brings us back to why have a multi-year ceramic in the first place. But, forward focus: it's there & you want to hide marring, so try Lustre.

With that, you have to remember, coating-to-coating bonding is less sure than coating-to-clear-coat and a multi-year ceramic's whole purpose is to resist things bonding to it which means while Lustre will probably work as advertised, you might have to re-apply in, say, half the normal time, and you might have trouble applying it. Just hard to say.

[nh50i]

A previous poster mentioned CarPro Essence Plus. It seems to meet my use case and have great reviews on amazon. Sounds like the process would be a decontamination wash, then potential clay bar?, then apply this either by hand or via a RO polisher? Does anyone have experience with this product or something similar?

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by nh50i

A previous poster mentioned CarPro Essence Plus. It seems to meet my use case and have great reviews on amazon. Sounds like the process would be a decontamination wash, then potential clay bar?, then apply this either by hand or via a RO polisher? Does anyone have experience with this product or something similar?

Can you post pics of the swirls you're trying to hide? Lighting both general and then spot?