062.5iwagon Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 I'm a believer. Clayed my car for the first time yesterday. Wow. Can't believe how much stuff it pulls out of the paint, and I thought my paint was clean! Best result I've ever had. 1/ Meguiar's gold car wash / chamois dry 2/ Meguiar's clay bar kit 3/ Meguiar's polish 4/ Meguiar's NXT paint sealant Took 5 hours, but worth every minute.
BigBad Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 Yeah it is amazing what claying can do for your finish. The hard part for me is finding the time to do the whole process start to finish like you (5 hours) including swirl removal, with wife and kids and other projects that need doing. I need to do my car and the wifes car real soon.
OCDetails Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 You get quicker with it as time goes. I washed, clayed, polished, sealed, and did the interior detail on a Corolla and a Camry yesterday in six hours combined. Actually, the work itself was probably only five hours because I spent some time in between talking to the owner about this and that. When you are new to the process it can take longer, but as anyone here will tell you, once you know what you are doing you can get the car done in much much less time. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 I agree. . . the clay bar is great! I don't think I can get as many uses of out it as they claim though. I'm too worried that if I don't knead and change my clay pieces often, I'll end up scratching the car. I purchased the Mothers clay bar kit. . . washed, clayed, washed, and polished in about 4 hours or so.
OCDetails Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 Trust me... the clay can go through a couple cars before it needs to be tossed. As long as you aren't dropping it and you store it in a container of some kind, it will last you for awhile. I get at least five or six cars out of a regular sized Clay Magic bar. I lost the paranoia of scratching the car with clay a long time ago. Why? Because the next step after claying is to polish the paint. Any scratch I put in the paint with clay is just going to get polished out in a minute, so why worry? Don't be reckless or anything, but don't stress too much. Clay is pricey and you should get your use out of it before you toss it. Even after you have your use out of it, it can still be useful to clay your wheels and glass. If all else fails it is good ticky tack stuff for hanging your posters in the garage. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
RangerMan Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 A full on detail takes me about 4 hours and at least 3 beers. The PC definitely makes it possible to get some nice shine. My car is absolutely disgusting right now...I feel inspired to clay, polish, seal my car. I also have used old clay on some aluminum rims that I sold a couple years ago. Cleaned it up great.
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 Good tip on using the old clay for wheels and windows!
OCDetails Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 Clay use is more of a 'feel' thing. You don't really get better visual performance after using it since it is just pulling out microscopic junk from your paint anyway. If you want your paint to be smooth as it can possibly be (I won't use glass as a comparison since I haven't felt glass as smooth as my car in a long time) then clay is a must. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
praedet Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 For those of us with white cars, claying does a little visually Stupid brake dust and IFO
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 OCD, do you use the clay on your windshield?
062.5iwagon Posted April 21, 2008 Author Posted April 21, 2008 I definitely think I can do it next time in under 4 hours, now that I have the system down. Would I have got any better results by adding a cleaner wax step in there, or does the clay followed by polish negate that step? Just curious what you think.
subienubie Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 i clayed my dad's 04 ford escape the other weekend and was surprised at how good the paint was after four years of being parked outside and only maybe two or three waxes in it's lifetime. It felt/looked brand new
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 I combined two steps by using Mother's cleaner-wax. Probably not the optimal solution for a hardcore detailer but it seemed to work well. . . especially since it is all I had available to me
whobaru Posted April 21, 2008 Posted April 21, 2008 Clay use is more of a 'feel' thing. You don't really get better visual performance after using it since it is just pulling out microscopic junk from your paint anyway. If you want your paint to be smooth as it can possibly be (I won't use glass as a comparison since I haven't felt glass as smooth as my car in a long time) then clay is a must. Pics or ban!
Bdubs Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 I just did this yesterday as well, however, between doing 50 things at the same time, I just used the spray detailer and ran out of time for a wax. One day I'll do it all in one step.
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Pics or ban! I'm not sure what kind of pictures you are looking for? Like OCDetails mentioned, when you clay, it gives the paint a smoother, clean feel. Pictures really can't do a clay bar justice. You just have to feel the paint to understand.
OCDetails Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Pics or ban! Alright, bish... You wants da pics? YOU GET DA PICS!! I started to clay the front of this beat up Civic and this is what happened. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/zivic.jpg So yes, you can clay the wheels and windshield and get fantastic results. Just think about what would happen if you clayed your engine. I clayed my Integra and the next thing I knew it was an LGT. Go fig.... _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
MarkyMarkLGT Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Alright, bish... You wants da pics? YOU GET DA PICS!! I started to clay the front of this beat up Civic and this is what happened. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/zivic.jpg So yes, you can clay the wheels and windshield and get fantastic results. Just think about what would happen if you clayed your engine. I clayed my Integra and the next thing I knew it was an LGT. Go fig.... HAHAHA nice 300 . . .uhhh Civic?
executor485 Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Wow... So if I claybar my LGT, it'll turn into a Mercedes AMG? If I pass you on the right, I'm flipping you off.
OCDetails Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 HAHAHA nice 300 . . .uhhh Civic? I call it the 350 Zivic. It is what happens when you do all your details in the same spot and your pictures turn out at the same angles. I've tried to do that on purpose and it hasn't ever turned out. Accidents are the best kind of fortune. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
OCDetails Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 Wow... So if I claybar my LGT, it'll turn into a Mercedes AMG? Sure, why not? I clayed a 300M and it turned into this car, so why not an LGT? http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w22/OCDetails2007/Fall%20Detailing%20Blitz/3.jpg _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG
executor485 Posted April 22, 2008 Posted April 22, 2008 ^^^ What happens if you clay a V12 AMG? IIRC it turns into Chuck Norris... But dont quote me on that If I pass you on the right, I'm flipping you off.
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