I like claying but...

[CombatCQB]

It takes too LONG! I wash the car in 1.5hrs, but take twice that time to clay the whole car. And I still need to cleaner/polish and apply sealant.

 

I really like the result of claying, but will a cleaner/polish be just as good? How often do you guys clay?

[OCDetails]

.....wha? I takes you 1.5 hours to wash the car and three hours to clay it? You have some process issues if that is really how long it takes. Granted, I've got a little bit of experience with clay baring cars, but I seriously can't imagine a vehicle that would take 3 hours to clay. This is my process for using clay. I'm interested to know how it is that you are using it that is taking so long. You'll probably have a better experience if we can figure out what it is that is dragging the process out.

 

A cleaner/polish won't do what clay does. Clay pulls contamination out of your paint while paint cleaners and polishes take contamination [/i]off of[/i] the paint. Look at clay as the tweezers and paint polish as the hydrogen peroxide. You need to pull the problems out of the paint before you clean it. You wouldn't want to just knock the top off a sliver in your finger before putting a band aid on it, would you?

[bosco]

It takes too LONG! I wash the car in 1.5hrs, but take twice that time to clay the whole car. And I still need to cleaner/polish and apply sealant.

 

I really like the result of claying, but will a cleaner/polish be just as good? How often do you guys clay?

 

1.5 hrs to wash a car? your joking right? bosco

[AMBIVALENCE]

how do you wash a car? I am just wondering where you wash it... By the time you are trying to dry the car, your car probably have a layer of dust on it already... no good no good.

 

AND OCD, WHERE DID YOU HIDE RECENTLY.

[CombatCQB]

Okay, it take 1.5hrs from the point I take the buckets out to the point when I finish drying. I use the two bucket method and start with the roof then all the windows and ABC pillars. rinse the roof, then wash each panel starting with hood, LF quarter, L doors, etc all the around the car with a rinse in between. This first pass is usually very light pressure with a chenille wash sponge since there is a lot of surface dirt and I rinse the sponge frequently. I usually have enough soap to go over the car again, but this time much faster since there is no large debris to scratch the paint. Then I rinse and use the Mr. Clean soft water filter to rinse again. Now I start cleaning the wheels. By the time I'm done with the wheels, any remaining water on the car is removed with the water blade.

 

For claying, I use about a ping-pong ball size amount. The roof is divided into 6 sections, folding the clay at least once per section. Each pillar is one section, the hood is 6 sections, the trunk is two sections, each door is 4 sections and quarter panels are 2 sections each. The front bumper takes the longest since I travel highway a lot. The lower half of doors and quarter panels requires more clay folding per section.

[G.T.Subie]

You are nuts:icon_bigg , I clay my car in about 15 min. I don't see how it can take that long unless your car hasn't been cleaned in years. I don't think you need to be so tedious with the clay but it's your car and your time.

[kenchan]

it usually takes me 15min to wash, 30min to dry, then maybe 30min to

clay if that. I only spot clay the dirty area and just move onto polish.

 

btw, if your car has swirls you can skip clay and go onto using your course

polish. clay is especially great for cars with no to very light swirls so that

you don't remove the clear with your polish.

[OCDetails]

btw, if your car has swirls you can skip clay and go onto using your course

polish. clay is especially great for cars with no to very light swirls so that

you don't remove the clear with your polish.

 

You should never skip the clay. It isn't meant to do anything for swirls. It pulls contamination out of your paint and does things that no polish can do. It is not an optional step in proper paint care. Clay does nothing for appearance. It pulls things out of your paint that you can't see but can certianly feel. In fact, clay will likely cause swirls rather than remove them. That is why polishing is always the next step after using clay.

[kenchan]

You should never skip the clay. It isn't meant to do anything for swirls. It pulls contamination out of your paint and does things that no polish can do. It is not an optional step in proper paint care. Clay does nothing for appearance. It pulls things out of your paint that you can't see but can certianly feel. In fact, clay will likely cause swirls rather than remove them. That is why polishing is always the next step after using clay.

 

 

^^ i think you took my post waaay out of context, but clay is an

important part of the cleaning process and never did i mention

that clay would do anything for swirls.

 

Edit:

(i noticed that i mis-typed and stated "polish" instead of "clay" at the end

of the original post. should've said: "very light swirls so that you don't

remove the clear with your clay.")

 

But even so, clay does do good things for appearance as it removes contaminants

including road tar, road marking paint, bugs, and many chemical fall out

that are visible to the naked eye. but im sure you know that since

you have your own detailing URL.

 

Also coarse polish will not only remove the contaminants on the clear, but

also remove a micron level of clear. if you remove the contaminated clear,

you remove the contaminant with it. how cool is that? so, going back,

if you have heavy swirls, imho, you're wasting your time removing surface

contaminants and then removing a layer of clear which the contaminant

was stuck to. you have a fresh layer of clear showing when you're done

with that coarse polish anyway.

 

i guess if you don't want your polish pads dirtied up, you can clay first.

 

when i use my fine polishes on my cars, i clay, then use polish as the

polish i use are very fine.

 

but at the end, i know what im doing and im sure you know what

you're doing so let's leave it at that.

[bosco]

[OCDetails]

 

 

...should've said: "very light swirls so that you don't

remove the clear with your clay.")

 

 

Clay doesn't have the ability to remove clear. And I don't know what level of polish you are using that will remove the clear down to the point of deepest penetration by the fallout, but if you are comfortable detailing that way, then I guess that is up to you. I think it is incredibly dangerous to do that on paint as thin as the Legacy's paint is. I would never suggest that the best way to clean your paint is to remove all of the clear surrounding the particles instead of just pulling them out with clay...

[CombatCQB]

Everytime I clay, I have to clay the whole car. My office is by the highway and there isn't a spot on the car that doesn't have dirt embedded on it. So down to the nitty gritty: Every section I clay, I spray with the lub and run the clay back and forth till I can't feel any dirt under it. This usually takes 2-3 passes per section. Then I wipe dry and move on to another section.

 

Where can I save time? should I do larger sections? Skip the wipe dry part? Does anyone go over each section only once even if they can still feel dirt under the clay?

[bosco]

"Mothers" clay kit seems to work well. bosco

[kenchan]

Clay doesn't have the ability to remove clear. And I don't know what level of polish you are using that will remove the clear down to the point of deepest penetration by the fallout, but if you are comfortable detailing that way, then I guess that is up to you. I think it is incredibly dangerous to do that on paint as thin as the Legacy's paint is. I would never suggest that the best way to clean your paint is to remove all of the clear surrounding the particles instead of just pulling them out with clay...

 

 

i know that clay does not remove any clear. like i said before,

you're taking my posts out of context.

 

my legacy is never that dirty to use that level of polish.

i clay or spot clay as needed and use a fine polish, never anything

that coarse. If you compare the legacy's paint vs the new hondas, it's

actually pretty thick.

[kenchan]

"Mothers" clay kit seems to work well. bosco

 

yep, i like mother's clay too.

 

Ive used some other ones, but mother's is firm enough that it

doesn't start dissolving in your hands and get super sticky.

[PGT]

"Mothers" clay kit seems to work well. bosco

 

smelly good too!!! I did the MINI today....took me about 15 minutes after washing. with only 1200 miles on it, there was a surprising amount of crap in the paint. cleans up easy too...

[PhilT]

i know that clay does not remove any clear. like i said before,

you're taking my posts out of context.

 

my legacy is never that dirty to use that level of polish.

i clay or spot clay as needed and use a fine polish, never anything

that coarse. If you compare the legacy's paint vs the new hondas, it's

actually pretty thick.

 

You can stop digging now

[bosco]

when your done with clay bar put it in a "baggy" stays moist/soft.

 

very easy to use. just spray on lube/polish, "drag" clay bar lightly over paint a couple of times, wipe off excess. fast, easy, cheap, very good results. bosco

[kenchan]

You can stop digging now

 

 

sorry guys. i hate getting into arguments with people that

get real nit picky on things most of us already know.

 

but i do know that there are newbs here too so want to

make sure we get the facts down before someone with

less experience start doing something and damage their

paint.

 

back to clay!

[underpowerd]

+1 for mothers, pretty good.

btw, today i saw that meguires has a clay kit out. usually i really like their stuff, has anybody given that a shot?

thanks

[OCDetails]

Most people don't know how to clay. That is why I get 'nit picky' about it. Besides, look at the name of my company. What do you think the 'OC' in OCDetails stands for? Nit picky is my first, middle, and last name.

 

i know that clay does not remove any clear. like i said before,

you're taking my posts out of context.

 

Perhaps you wouldn't think I was taking your posts out of context if you would say what you mean. Did you not say that you should've said: "very light swirls so that you don't remove the clear with your clay"? It didn't sound to me like you knew that clay didn't remove clearcoat when you said that.

 

And as a point of interest, I have seen the measured of subaru paint compared to new hondas. I've seen the paint measurements from a 2006 WRX and a 2006 Accord. They are the same thickness. I thought that was interesting.

[OCDetails]

I was surpised at the quality of the Wolfgang clay too. Mine was very crumbly and not very good. The new Pinnacle clay kicks ass, but it is really mild. Unless you are claying very clean paint, then it may even be too mild. Mothers or the blue Clay Magic is a mild grade clay that is more effective on paint that is in heavier need of clay. Meguiar's clay has been crumbly in the past, so I have stayed away from it. I talked to on of the technical writers for Meguiar's and he said they improved it and it shouldn't have that problem anymore, but I haven't gone back to it.

 

Not everybody knows this, but clay is actually patented and made by only one company in the world. Everybody has to get it from them. There are still many different grades of clay, but ultimately it is made by the same place. There are only two different 'types' that they make too. One is plastic and the other is elastic. The plastic clays are the ones that tend to be more crumbly. Elastic is what Clay Magic and Mother's clay is. Meguiar's is plastic. Oddly enough, Wolfgang is supposedly elastic too, but it is crumbly like a plastic clay. Go figure...

[PGT]

I've used both the Mother's and Meguiar's. Feels the same with respect to the clay itself, though the color is different. The Mother's was $10 cheaper and has better smelling spray....if you need a reason to pick one over the other.

[bosco]

I've used both the Mother's and Meguiar's. Feels the same with respect to the clay itself, though the color is different. The Mother's was $10 cheaper and has better smelling spray....if you need a reason to pick one over the other.

 

$10 cheaper same result, i'm in. bosco

[kenchan]

Most people don't know how to clay. That is why I get 'nit picky' about it. Besides, look at the name of my company. What do you think the 'OC' in OCDetails stands for? Nit picky is my first, middle, and last name.

 

 

yep, we have to be nitpicky to be detailers, that's for sure.

I will agree to that.