I've noticed many are now using "Iron X" then clay/clay alternative. I'm just curious what advantage this holds? Is clay/clay alternative not as effective in removing the imbedded ferrous particles as we thought it was for quite some years?
I'm starting to put detailing up there with cell phones. Decide what you want and wait 3 months, something better will be out.
They are two are separate processes and should not be one or the other, rather both.
*Iron-X is a chemical decontamination to remove rail-dust, iron-fall-out.
*Clay is a mechanical decontamination process to remove above surface bonded contaminates such as over-spray, sap, tar, etc..
For Severe:
My wash process is a multi-step process on a vehicle that has never been washed or detailed in a very long time. I call this a SEVERE Condition. Most vehicles in that condition are severe and require multi-steps. After the obvious wheels/tires/wheel-wells/engine bay first...
- I'll first wash areas such as the bumper cover, rocker panels and behind the wheels to remove the lose dirt.
- I'll use a generous amount of Tarminator and a McKee's Scrubber (generally in New England, it's common to use cold-patch on roads with pot holes. Cold patch will stick to the sides of cars as tar nuggets).
- Once all those steps are accomplished, I go onto rinse the vehicle of all loose dirt.
- With the new McKee's Extreme Iron Remover, Mike states one does not need to rinse the car and may just apply the Iron Remover.
- Let the Iron Remover dwelling on the vehicle after several minutes (depending on weather, temp, sun)
- Foam bath the vehicle with the iron remover still on the vehicle and wash the vehicle (2BM).
- Generous Rinse
- Dry vehicle (including door jambs, trunk and hood jambs).
- At this point, inspect your paint with your bare hand. Is it smooth? Now inspect with a baggie, is it still smooth? If not move onto claying the vehicle.
After claying is compete, inspect the paint. Does it have swirls and scratches? If so, move onto correction phase.
For non sever, meaning well maintained, (like most Autogeek vehicles on this forum... OCD...)
Yearly I'll use Iron-X & Clay, but generally my POV's are just washed with a 2BM and some No Rinse Wash, or Megs Hyper Wash, dried and generally look great after.
I use coatings so a leaf blower will make water run from the vehicle like an impala trying to escape a hungry cheetah in the Serengeti.
It's all in Mike's Video; the "Aggressive Wash" and the "Gentle Wash".