Claying Ceramic Coating

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rover137

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Does claying really impact a coating that much or can it be included as part of a decon process to better ‘unclog’ the coating?

Everything I’ve read says to not clay a coating as it will damage it and to just use chemicals to decontaminate the coating. If you could clay with no marring, I’m wondering if it really does do any damage? I have tried a few different clays on my soft black paint and have found a combination that does not marr. If anything, very slight in some parts.

I ask this because before I coated my car it had Megs HCW on the paint. I washed it, used iron x, a tar remover and clayed the car. I polished the next day and before polishing I gave it a quick wash as it was sitting overnight. The HCW was still on there, I could not even see any reduced beading after that decon process. I’m wondering that if HCW took little to no damage after claying, perhaps a sturdier LSP like a true coating would take even less damage and the benefits of a mechanical decon would outweigh the degradation it would cause to the coating.

Thoughts?


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rover137 said:
Does claying really impact a coating that much or can it be included as part of a decon process to better ‘unclog’ the coating?

Everything I’ve read says to not clay a coating as it will damage it and to just use chemicals to decontaminate the coating. If you could clay with no marring, I’m wondering if it really does do any damage? I have tried a few different clays on my soft black paint and have found a combination that does not marr. If anything, very slight in some parts.

I ask this because before I coated my car it had Megs HCW on the paint. I washed it, used iron x, a tar remover and clayed the car. I polished the next day and before polishing I gave it a quick wash as it was sitting overnight. The HCW was still on there, I could not even see any reduced beading after that decon process. I’m wondering if a coating would take even less damage than a hybrid sealant such as HCW from claying.

Thoughts?


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22ple makes a coating clay. I have also read other’s use ultra soft clay on a coating but most don’t recommend it.


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Yeah most what I have read recommends against it. I wonder if the benefits of removing embedded contaminants outweigh the cons of your coating taking a bit of a hit. In the end contaminants also degrade the coating.

I don’t think I’d ever do it. I’m just interested in the theory behind it.


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I'd do a chemical decon before mechanical

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rover137 said:
I’m confused… haha


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Chemical decon is an iron remover like IronX and mechanical is using a clay bar/towel/mit.

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Klasse Act said:
Chemical decon is an iron remover like IronX and mechanical is using a clay bar/towel/mit.

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Still confused… haha I know about the different decon processes - chemical/mechanical etc

I guess I was just posing the question on how much (if any) damage is done in a mechanical decon stage I.e claying, and if the pros of claying a coating outweigh the cons and any potential damage.

Sorry for the confusion!


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I brought up chemical decontamination so you wouldn't have to physically touch the paint, thus not wearing down the LSP.

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Yeah good point, chemical will always be safer and provide less wear on your LSP.

I’m wondering how much wear actual claying causes, and if that wear is worth it to remove contamination from your LSP.

The last time I clayed a LSP there was no visible wear that I could see. The wear could still be there of course.


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Clay is abrasive and a coating is only about 1 micron thick per layer. It may be a hard protection but it’s so thin it doesn’t take a lot of abrasion to go through it so claying the coating probably won’t remove it but it can impact it, perhaps severely, depending on how much is still left.
 
Why do you feel you need to clay your coating? If the car was prepped correctly you shouldn’t need to do a mechanical clay as it will definitely mar the coating. Wash the car dry it, then do a heavy iron X treatment and let it dwell for 5min then rinse and the coating should be good as new.
 
Claying can and will mar your surface even if it is coated. 22ple and a few others (from what I hear) make ultra-fine clay. I have used 22ple's offering with only minor marring.

I would also go to a chemical decon prior to mechanical/clay first to see if that would help you out first.
 
2wookies said:
Why do you feel you need to clay your coating? If the car was prepped correctly you shouldn’t need to do a mechanical clay as it will definitely mar the coating. Wash the car dry it, then do a heavy iron X treatment and let it dwell for 5min then rinse and the coating should be good as new.
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I don’t necessarily want to. I just thought it would be an interesting concept to discuss after my experience with claying Megs HCW.


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Sizzle Chest said:
Claying can and will mar your surface even if it is coated. 22ple and a few others (from what I hear) make ultra-fine clay. I have used 22ple's offering with only minor marring.

I would also go to a chemical decon prior to mechanical/clay first to see if that would help you out first.
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Yeah, it does make sense that claying could mar a coating and that it might not be worth it. I haven’t clayed a coating before but have clayed a hybrid sealant with no marring and visually no ill effect to hydrophobics.

I don’t intend to clay my coating it’s more of a ‘hypothetical’ question type thing.

Thanks!


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rover137 said:
I don’t necessarily want to. I just thought it would be an interesting concept to discuss after my experience with claying Megs HCW.


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It's important to understand HCW isn't a coating. It's a spray sealant infused with a some ceramic ingredients. Totally different product than a ceramic coating other members have mentioned (like CQuartz UK) which dries to a hard layer of material and bonds to the paint. A spray sealant like HCW may be pretty easy to clay right off.
 
Desertnate said:
It's important to understand HCW isn't a coating. It's a spray sealant infused with a some ceramic ingredients. Totally different product than a ceramic coating other members have mentioned (like CQuartz UK) which dries to a hard layer of material and bonds to the paint. A spray sealant like HCW may be pretty easy to clay right off.
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Yeah, I understand that HCW is a different form of protection, not a coating, and inferior to a true ceramic coating.

While HCW may be easier to clay off, my question stems from my previous experience of claying HCW and there being no visible signs of degradation to the protection. Water was still beading as it was before claying. The protection still appeared to be in tact. If claying did not damage HCW, I’m guessing the damage would be even less to a true coating. That’s why I’m just posing the question of if claying does in fact damage a coating and if so, does the benefit of removing contaminants from the coating and paint via claying out weigh the damage inflicted for the longevity and health of the coating?


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rover137 said:
That’s why I’m just posing the question of if claying does in fact damage a coating and if so, does the benefit of removing contaminants from the coating and paint via claying out weigh the damage inflicted for the longevity and health of the coating?
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My vote would be, "no". Since I keep my vehicles pretty clean, I don't have a need to be constantly claying them.

When I used sealants, I'd clay every six months before applying a new layer of sealant or as part of my process before polishing. Now that I use coatings, I only clay every couple of years when I polish out the car and re-apply the coating. Even on the more lengthy stretches between claying, I find the clay really isn't that dirty and even then only on the areas you'd expect like lower doors/fenders and the rear hatch/trunk lid.
 
Question - should a chemical decon be performed at least occasionally on a coated vehicle? I haven't done that on my car yet (just hit the 1-year coating mark 2 weeks a go).

All the videos I've seen show people hitting up coatings with various chemicals like APCs and such, so it seems like an iron remover shouldn't be that big of a deal...right?
 
Considering the coatings i've used on my DD and durabilities of 1+ years i do a full wash and decon once a year. I either change up the coating product to try something else or reapply what i've liked for the past year.

Having said that, i do chemically decon with 3D BDX twice during the year but don't clay. Clay, in my opinion, is too abrasive even with soft or mild clays.

It isn't as much the clay doing some marring but the stuff it pulls off remaining on the clay surface...even with soft clays.
 
vaca22 said:
Question - should a chemical decon be performed at least occasionally on a coated vehicle? I haven't done that on my car yet (just hit the 1-year coating mark 2 weeks a go).

All the videos I've seen show people hitting up coatings with various chemicals like APCs and such, so it seems like an iron remover shouldn't be that big of a deal...right?
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Wouldn't hurt to use an iron remove at least once a year.
 
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