Clay a must!!!!

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fredcandetail

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Brought out the newbie "experienced" detailer with his arsenal of products today for a wash and wax on a Honda Accord .... Apparently he claims CLAY is not really necessary.... Uhhhhhmmmmm ( can I slap you now punk!)
I tell every customer that any wax job we do we HAVE to clay... Well as this was his client he was bringing in to the shop I let him do his thing ... As he took out the DA and proceeded to polish with 151 I could see all the dirt still embedded on the car! The DA would spin over it and miss sections and not get uniform even coverage!!! I couldn't believe it and he was ok with it!
Not to mention that I gave him a brand new pad!!
After two sections I went over and looked at the pad and omg that pad noticeable pieces of foam missing!!! The paint was as rough as 400 grit and he was ok with it ... I took him to the side and told him to clay this efn car or take it and your client outta here!
Some people just think they know it all!!!
My motto is even on a $75 wash and wax I will do at least a quick mild clay over the car (takes 10 minutes) to ensure you get the silky smooth effect but noooooo MR KNOW IT ALL thinks he can go straight to wax.....SMH
 
Well, you'd better get him reading forums then, just not the Optimum forum....
 
You would be very surprised what "experienced" detailers do behind closed doors. I've met more than one detailer who is highly respected in this community who doesn't use clay and doesn't practice and good techniques when it comes to washing vehicles.
 
I'm sitting here laughing thinking about the (pro) guy on another forum who wouldn't use clay and did all his work by hand...until he briefly posted a picture of a Corvette he "corrected" and got laughed off the forum...
 
Go ahead and slap him!
I just dont feel right waxing or polishing without claying... Even if it's a mild clay
 
Problem I see is he's working out of your shop and sooner or later one will slip by you and your shop will be the one that is talked about doing the work. Not the new guy expert that you talk about on here. IMO you have a decision to make.
 
I agree the guy is a tool, BUT claying is not ALWAYS needed. If the car is well cared for, there is no reason to risk marring it by claying it. Also my motto is, if it gets clayed it gets at least a paint cleaner treatment before wax. Even the mildest of clays can leave some marring especially on dark colors and/or soft paint. My .02
 
We use the mild wonder bar at it will occasionally marr the tiniest bit but seriously have you ever done a foam bath and then clay while being sudsy? It goes by quick..
And in the interest of full disclosure I do advise my clients it is a mild claybar treatment and if/when a an additional step is needed for heavier accumulations it is extra.
And as we use 151 for all details it cleans up any marring easily. And we call it a true cleaner wax and explain in 3 seconds the difference in a wax and a cleaner wax and they always elect for the cleaner wax over the Nuba
Btw the only time we "wax" a car is after a full paint correction.
 
if you are taking a buffer to the paint, then you need to clay. Why risk it?

my main concern is claying a car in 10 minutes though. How is that possible, especially on a car that really needs it. Either it won't be done properly or it won't be done properly.

Chances are if you're going like gangbusters, then you will drop the clay and then you're increasing your product costs. Maybe you just clay the large sections like hood, roof, trunk?
 
embolism said:
.......10 minutes though. How is that possible, especially on a car that really needs it. Either it won't be done properly or it won't be done properly.
Click to expand...

I agree. I see people claiming 10 minute clay times on a car and I say hmmm. Well, I can polish a car in 10 minutes if you can clay one in ten. But neither of us would have done a full or good job.
 
The only thing I can clay in ten minutes is the hood.

Just had a friend drop by with her brand new Honda Civic.
She thought the paint was perfect until I had her run her hand over the just washed surface with a plastic bag. Then I clayed a small area and had her do the test again. Now the world has one more believer in clay.

And one other thing. After we finished claying her car I gave it the iron-X treatment and got LOTS of purple running off the surface.

So, brand new car, lots of embedded crud, and plenty of iron particles. But the dealer told her it had been shipped in an enclosed rail car and never left outside. So where does all the crap in the paint come from?

Moral? Clay is a must. (long winded way of agreeing with the OP, wasn't it?)
 
Keep in mind a few things here ...
This is a production shop
This is a mild clay
A mild Clay service allows for an upsell to a heavy clay job
An upsell to a heavy clay job usually sells paint correction
Paint correction pays more
When we make more we are all happy
There is a method to my madness, trust me

And I challenge any of y'all that do this for a living, not enhusiast or I detail only on the weekend guys to do a sedan with 9 panels and tell me if it takes you longer than a minute and half to do a panel ... Anxiously await honest replies
 
fredcandetail said:
Keep in mind a few things here ...
This is a production shop
This is a mild clay
A mild Clay service allows for an upsell to a heavy clay job
An upsell to a heavy clay job usually sells paint correction
Paint correction pays more
When we make more we are all happy
There is a method to my madness, trust me

And I challenge any of y'all that do this for a living, not enhusiast or I detail only on the weekend guys to do a sedan with 9 panels and tell me if it takes you longer than a minute and half to do a panel ... Anxiously await honest replies
Click to expand...

I would say it takes me about 3-5 minutes per panel, unless it's really bad. Then, I'll usually get out a scrub pad during the wash, or other chemicals/tools.
 
CEE DOG said:
I agree. I see people claiming 10 minute clay times on a car and I say hmmm. Well, I can polish a car in 10 minutes if you can clay one in ten. But neither of us would have done a full or good job.
Click to expand...

Well, if you're using an entire 200 gram bar, or maybe two whole 200 gram bars stuck together and spread out so it's the size of your hand, you could clay in 10 minutes if you're not kneading your clay at all during the process.....

Or if there's not really much/any contamination you have to remove and you're just spot-claying.....
 
If the car is really contaminated claying takes a lot longer because you have to wipe the contamination off and QD the area again and knead the clay repeatedly. I did one so bad last month I had to rewash the car after the clay, cause the lady parked the car under a tree that must have been home to pterodactyls.
Has anyone used the Ultima Elastrofoam with any success?

autogeek_2180_84844324
 
The distinction that Fred made here is he is a PRODUCTION shop. To me that means minivans and beaters, where people are usually more concerned with the inside, anyway. And if you listened to what Fred wrote...er...read what he wrote, he said he's foaming the car and using that for clay lube.

What he's doing is a little different than the kind of claying a pampered car is going to get, and I have no trouble with it taking 10 minutes.
 
I don't clay for a wash & wax either. If I'm not polishing...I don't clay. Waxing won't remove marring.

I've turned vehicles down for a wash & wax service, or upselled them simply due to the absolute need for clay. Some customers don't like it...but it's for their own good. No polishing, then no clay. Those are the same customers that will complain when they see marring that's been waxed over. Then I have to explain AGAIN why I shouldn't have clayed...no thank you.

Sounds like your buddy just did a poor wash, which explains the dirt on the panel. He should have at least sprayed and wiped the panels down before hand. You don't just whip the DA over dirt, haha. FNG!
 
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