[Hands-On Review] AvalonKing ARMOR SHIELD IX DIY Kit

Recently AvalonKing reached out to me and wanted to know if I would be interested in trying out their Armor Shield IX ceramic coating.

Having never heard of this product before I jumped to their website to check it out.

I have to admit…

I was a little impressed with the presentation of their product on their site and their marketing in general. These folk definitely have that recipe down.

After checking out the site and skimming the reviews (most of which are glowing) I was more than a little excited (and somewhat skeptical) to check this product out.

I reached back out to AvalonKing and they were generous enough to hook me up with their Armor Shield IX DIY Kit in exchange for my honest review.

If you’re short for time, and just want to know if the kit is worth it so you can move on with your day, the answer is yes. If you want to know why, read on!

When you have an order from AvalonKing on it’s way you’ll start receiving emails from AvalonKing with tips on prepping your car for the coating. In my case this included an email each day with prep tips along with a final email with a full detailed video of what I was about to undertake when my coating arrived.

Along with these tips and video instructions you get tracking updates with detailed location information as to where your package is at on it’s journey.

I have to admit all this helped my impatience while waiting for my coating to arrive. I also haven’t received this level of interaction from any other detailing product company to date. Usually the ordering process from detailing product companies feels very “fire and forget.”

AvalonKing Armor Shield IX Unboxing

AvalonKing’s presentation doesn’t just stop at their website. Their ceramic coating comes in a swanky box reminiscent of a high end men’s cologne or a fine watch.

Sliding the cover off the box reveals a two piece silver box with a velvety insert holding tightly to the shiny bottle of ceramic paint coating.

AvalonKing does a great job here of making you feel like you received something worth the price you paid even before you actually used it. Though I have to wonder how much savings could have passed on to the consumer with a bit more modest packaging. But without the presentation they would likely fade away into the sea of the countless other coatings out there. So I get it.

It’s hard to see in the picture above but right above the bottle is the foam applicator pressed into the box. Removing the applicator and the velvety insert holding the bottle reveals all the other goodies that make this a complete kit.

As you can see, they managed to fit an impressive amount of gear into this kit. The kit contains:

• Metallic bottle containing the ceramic paint coating
• Foam applicator
• Suede cloths to use with the foam applicator
• Black low pile microfiber towel for removing the excess coating
• Black gloves to wear when applying the coating
• Instructions on how to apply the coating
• Thank you card
• Sticker

See what I meant when I said impressive? Opening the package was like opening the gift that just kept on giving.

The foam applicator and suede cloths are great quality and easily a $10 value by themselves.

The black low pile microfiber cloth is just ok. When doing any kind of fine work on paint, be it polishing or wiping off excess product, I prefer to use a more plush and higher gsm towel. I admit I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to towels, though, given my collection of Towel Titan, The Rag Company, Adam’s Polishes, and Chemical Guy’s towels. That said, as you’ll see later in the review, the included towel is perfectly sufficient.

The disposable gloves are good quality, though I opted to use my own since I already had them on hand (litterally, I was already wearing them from correcting my paint in prep for the coating.)

The instructions, pictured below, are pretty amazing. I say that because most other coatings come with a vague set of  instructions printed on the bottle or a link to a video. It’s nice having proper, well illustrated instructions you can hold in hand and reference along the way. Plus, I don’t like fumbling with my phone or a laptop/tablet while in the middle of paintwork projects, especially when chemicals are involved.

Looking at the bottle itself, I liked that it has a plug seal along with the cap to pretty much guarantee you wont have a leak in transit and you’ll be able to reseal the bottle should you have any product remaining.

The bottle is also very sturdy, again insuring that you don’t unintentionally lose any of the coating you paid good money for.

Alright, enough gloating about the excellent packaging. Let’s prep the paint and find out if the coating is actually any good. That’s really what you pay for.

Prepping Paint for AvalonKing Armor Shield IX Ceramic Paint Coating

As with any coating, you want to make sure your paint is in the best condition possible before you apply your coating. Any imperfections or contaminates will essentially be sealed in by the coating for the lifetime of the coating or until you polish the coating away.

Fortunately for me, the vehicle that I had available was already fully paint corrected and coated in the past so I didn’t have to spend as much time on it as a person would that was starting with a virgin vehicle.

Here are the steps I went through to prep my paint.

1. Wash the Car

Typically I would use the two method of washing before taking on a project like this but like I said this car has already been treated and barely see’s anything other than perfect weather. Since it was mostly just minor dusting on the paint I opted for a waterless wash. I prefer these over a normal bucket washing for this vehicle when I can because I don’t like inviting water places it doesn’t need to be to reduce the risk of rust.

For my waterless wash I sprung for Adam’s Waterless Wash.

2. Clay the Paint

The next prep step is to clay the paint. I opted to clay using Adam’s Polishes Detail Spray and Clay Mitt which really sped up the process over a traditional clay bar.