Not Just For Your Car: The Hack That Helps Keep Grass From Sticking To Your Lawn Mower

Ceramic coating, originally developed to protect automotive paint, has been discussed as a better way to keep grass off lawn mower decks. Lots of lawn care pros have tried it, and the results are ... ambiguous. 

A closer look shows that ceramic coating is likely very good at keeping your mower deck clean, but not necessarily in the way you'd expect. Ceramic coating probably won't have a major impact on the amount of grass clippings you have to wash off your mower, but it should make the washing a lot easier. 

This liquid polymer coating is simply a protective layer that, when properly applied, bonds with your paint's clear coat. But it is not permanent and will eventually wear away.

Ceramic coating is hydrophobic and chemical-resistant, both of which could be important for keeping a mower deck easily washable. Its water-resistance helps your mower deck shed water, dirt, and — yes — grass clippings. The coating is not scratch-proof, and that really matters under a mower deck where all manner of debris gets flung around at high speeds. So, you might have to reapply a ceramic coating more often than you expect ... as frequently as 2-3 times per season.

The quality of ceramic coating matters, and you have lots of options. Most aren't professional-grade ceramic coatings, since those have very technical application requirements and should generally be applied by a pro. As a rule of thumb, cheaper DIY coatings don't last as long as pro coatings, and the easier-to-apply spray-and-wipe ceramic coatings generally don't perform as well as hand-applied coatings. Everyone agrees on one thing about ceramic coatings: The cleaner and smoother the surface to which ceramic coating is applied, the better the results will be. Additionally, those who have applied ceramic coatings to their mowers' above-deck paint jobs have seen promising results so far.

When it comes to preventing grass from sticking, most YouTubers and other lawn care influencers who have tried ceramic coatings on the undersides of their mower decks have not really structured their tests to conclusively reflect likely benefits. Rubbing a coating on a nearly new mower deck and then seeing if grass sticks to it a few hours later is unlikely to reveal a dramatic difference. Some did see a minor benefit when tested against the deck's factory finish, including both automotive ceramic coatings, spray-and-wipe versions, and even formulations made for lawn equipment, like Sta-Bil Ceramic Pro Guard, a WD-40 alternative for keeping grass off mower decks. About as many found the coatings effective as found them ineffective ... but again, long-term testing would be more revealing. 

Even if ceramic coating doesn't significantly reduce grass buildup, its hydrophobic properties may still make the deck easier to clean. And if a spray from your hose still fails to do the trick, you can always fall back on some handy tools for removing grass from your lawn mower blades and deck.