How do you shorten your clay time?

Shawn T.

Shawn T.

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So it takes me a good 1 to 2 hours to clay a car at times. ONR has made this process much easier as I wash a panel and when the panel is done, I clay with ONR at QD dilution. This usually takes me about 2-2.5 hours to do. I keep claying until that paint is free of anything :xyxthumbs:

But, there are times when I have to do a traditional wash due to the dirt accumulation on the vehicle. Claying then takes over an hour and sometimes 2 hours on its own or even a but longer when its a large car like a Honda Pilot, minivan, etc.

Am I on the right track with time or is there a way to shorten this?

I know there are clay substitutes but I have also seen and heard of the marring these can do to paint. Anyone have any experience?
 
have you ever tried iron x spray/paste?

it will help you cut down your claying time on cars with lots of iron...
 
Are you claying glass and wheels as well? If so, an hour may not be bad. Most people report 30-45 min to clay and I am assuming that does not include glass or wheels. I did the interior of a BMW today and when we get to the exterior, it is going to take a long time to clay because the entire driver's side has overspray. But, on a normal reasonably maintained auto, an hour probably should do it. Sounds like you are aiming for perfection. I bet your work is awesome. I just don't have that much patience.
 
I don't, but I'm a hobbyist. Your times sound about the same as me. I could go quicker if I weren't deliberately meticulous, but I like to work panel by panel getting the paint as clean as possible.
 
Thanks guys.

That time does not include glass.

Maybe it is what it is.

I also use tons of lube per car. At least one 32 oz. bottle of ONR at QD ratio.
 
I have gotten my clay time on my car to about ~45 min. including the windshield but not the other windows or wheels
 
it takes me about an hour to clay my F150 SuperCrew (tons of sheet metal). But i'm not detailing for money, so time spent detailing is my relaxation time... I guess you could always lure a friend over with some pizza and beer and convince him to clay half the vehicle as your clay the other half :)
 
I clayed a car this weekend. It was parked at an apartment and got covered in overspray(full coverage). That happened two years ago and it hadn't been washed since, and I doubt the 12 year old car has ever had a proper wash before. It took me about 13 hours to ger everything off. It was very slow going. I was going to post this same question. I think with the overspray it would have been faster to just wetsand the entire car. But I was going with the least aggressive method first and just stuck with it. My arms are tired now.

Without any paint correction yet the car looks way better than before.


Do you have to clay before you wetsand?
 
Claying will always take time. I find that you can save a little time right after you wash a car...leave it a little wet and clay it then....saves on drying time.
 
^ leave the car wet after a wash. dry off the windows to prevent water spots, but leave paint wet and keep it in the shade. ONR is a great lube for clay, but you don't need quick detail strength thats overkill with no benefit.

Personally I don't anyone can clay a car for two hours...unless you fall asleep on the hood or something. being serious now, if its a show room car or if you live next to an airport and park under a sap tree and birds always poop on your car i can't see spending that kind of time. more power to you for your patients.

i find it takes 90mins to 2 hours to wash, clay and wax most daily drivers. it doesn't take 2 of claying to get the paint to feel like glass even if its 30 year old paint thats never been clayed. I would say 30mins top, unless its a big van/truck.

look at some videos on autogeek on how to clay. it shouldn't take 1,000 rubs to clean a spot of car. you can use iron x and tardias if you have alot of rail dust, that will save time.
 
It sounds like the OP is claying/rubbing the paint after after the clay has done all it can to give himself a warm and fuzzy. I highly recommend that you use a product to strip the paint of any film, tar, bugs, etc. Then, use Iron-X to remove the ferrous material so the clay isn't getting loaded with it and actually only getting the top of the material and leaving the bonded part in the paint.
If a vehicle is highly neglected and you didn't remove all the surface contaminates before claying, I can see it taking an hour or so. But, try a system like the Finish Kare three step system, or use a stripping car shampoo, or do an APC wash then car shampoo, followed by TarX or similar on the tar spots. Use IronX, or a similar product to remove the ferrous particles. After these steps claying may not even be necessary. While the decontamination steps take extra time and possibly more time than your claying process right now, it ensures the paint is completely decontaminated and may eliminate the need to clay the whole vehicle.
 
I think you are just being to meticulous. It takes me 20-30 minutes on average to clay a car. Also, mix your ONR 2oz per gallon for clay. QD strength is a waste of money.
 
Overspray can be a major pain to remove especially if the overspray paint has had the time to literally cure!! :nomore:

On general decon, after a degrease wash > tarx > iron x, there are hardly any contaminants left on the paint for the clay to pick up.

And after those steps, clay works great with just filtered water too!! ;)
 
tw33k2514 said:
I think you are just being to meticulous. It takes me 20-30 minutes on average to clay a car. Also, mix your ONR 2oz per gallon for clay. QD strength is a waste of money.
Click to expand...

:iagree:

There's nothing wrong with being meticulous but it adds time and if you're in the business, time is money.

After a routine wash, a general clay for a "normal" size car is about 30 minutes, maybe a bit more if it's the first time and very filthy.
 
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