To clay or not to clay?

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frank213

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I am more of a rookie than I originally thought when it comes to polishing and waxing. I have a 3 year old vehicle which I have maintained regularly. Just purchased a PC system. What is the down side of not claying and just polishing and waxing?
 
frank213 said:
I am more of a rookie than I originally thought when it comes to polishing and waxing. I have a 3 year old vehicle which I have maintained regularly. Just purchased a PC system. What is the down side of not claying and just polishing and waxing?
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I'm a rookie also, that said, I just finished my Dodge Magnum last week. I too thought I kept it pretty clean, until I clay barred the entire car. I was astonished at the debris that showed up on the clay bar ! I would venture to guess that bar is now a throw away. So I guess the result of not using the clay bar would have allowed all that grime to be ground right into the paint yielding poor result's at best, if not completely damaging the finish. My .02
 
if you don't clay then any contaminants that have bonded to the paint (and don't come off during washing) will contaminate your pads and be ground into your finish, possibly causing marring, pigtails, etc...
 
embolism said:
if you don't clay then any contaminants that have bonded to the paint (and don't come off during washing) will contaminate your pads and be ground into your finish, possibly causing marring, pigtails, etc...
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Take this to the bank!

Claying a car is very easy and takes about 30 minutes to complete.

I've used this photo several times to illustrate how dirty your paint really is after washing... The photo below is from claying 1/2 the hood on a 3 month old 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

Clay-01.jpg


Now, think of all this grit grinding the finish as you attempt to remove swirls and scratches because it's now on the face of your foam polishing pad...
 
Thanks for the feedback, I have not used clay so my concern is that I might do more harm then good? From what I have read claying seems to be relatively straight forward, can clay be purchase at local auto stores?
 
:iagree:

If you're gonna spend a few hours washing, polishing and waxing your car, you might as well do the job right and take the extra 20 - 30 min it takes to clay.
 
embolism said:
if you don't clay then any contaminants that have bonded to the paint (and don't come off during washing) will contaminate your pads and be ground into your finish, possibly causing marring, pigtails, etc...
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:whs: You'll be amazed at what you pull off your car with clay. a few years ago, I too, was uncertain about claying my 2 new cars but when I did, wow!, I could not believe what I saw.
 
clay is very easy to use and will make your car look better when done with your correction . Just for giggles take plastic sandwich bag and put your hand inside it and after you wash your car slide your hand over the finish and feel the crap on your paint ,you will be surprised at what is there.

Glenn
 
My feeling is that if you are going to polish, go ahead and clay. If you are only going to wax, dont clay because the clay will likely mar the paint a bit, and will need the polish afterwards to get it looking perfect.
 
frank213 said:
Thanks for the feedback, I have not used clay so my concern is that I might do more harm then good? From what I have read claying seems to be relatively straight forward, can clay be purchase at local auto stores?
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Just be gentle (very light pressure) and you shouldn't do any harm...especially if you are going to be polishing afterwards. You should be able to get clay at Wal-Mart (I think?) and certainly at Pep Boys, Advance, etc. I think you will be surprised at what comes off.
 
Do you really want to go through all the work of polishing and waxing your vehicle on dirty paint?


IMG_17171.JPG
 
Wal-Mart sells both a Meguiar's and a Mother's clay bar kit. They'll both come with the clay bar itself, as well as a microfiber towel and detail spray to use as lubricant. The microfiber towel in the Meguiar's kit has been designated for windows (for me). I would use a high quality microfiber towel on your paint.

Mark
 
My wife and I bought a used 2008 Chrysler Town and Country at the beginning of June. I had already washed it a few times since purchase, but used clay for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and was amazed. I had never used clay in my entire life, but after watching a couple of videos, it seemed easy enough. I bought the Megs kits at my local auto store. It was very easy. Don't worry. I did my glass as well (using the same QD as the rest of the car).

Side note, it removed all the glaze the dealer put on to cover up the paint imperfections. So I've got some correcting to do.
 
HeavyMetal said:
:iagree:

If you're gonna spend a few hours washing, polishing and waxing your car, you might as well do the job right and take the extra 20 - 30 min it takes to clay.
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I DEFINITELY agree with this. Do the job right the first time! I've used Mother's Clay Bar Kit twice now and they work great.
 
Clay is probably the easiest and cheapest thing you can do that will give you the best results.. The paint will look clear and crisp just by claying. Even if you just clay and wax you can tell by looking at it that you clayed
 
Y2KSVT said:
Wal-Mart sells both a Meguiar's and a Mother's clay bar kit. They'll both come with the clay bar itself, as well as a microfiber towel and detail spray to use as lubricant. The microfiber towel in the Meguiar's kit has been designated for windows (for me). I would use a high quality microfiber towel on your paint.

Mark
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any preference for one or the other??
 
KneeDragr said:
Are you sure you didnt cause that damage while claying? Take a look...

BUFFING
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Interesting read, thank you. It's almost looks like a couple of scuff marks, which I'm not sure the clay would cause from everything I've read, but I'm very new to all this so it's very possible I was more heavy handed than I realized.
 
Y2KSVT said:
Wal-Mart sells both a Meguiar's and a Mother's clay bar kit. They'll both come with the clay bar itself, as well as a microfiber towel and detail spray to use as lubricant. The microfiber towel in the Meguiar's kit has been designated for windows (for me). I would use a high quality microfiber towel on your paint.

Mark
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BobbyG said:
Either one works great so don't get hung up on brands. I've used both of them and really have no preference at all..
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thanks, I'll probably pick up the Mothers kit on my way home today
 
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