Dropped clay.

I cut my clay into smaller pieces in case I drop it. I only have to toss a third of it away if I do drop it.
 
Anyone want clay? Got some white Megs clay unused that I don't use anymore since I got the nanoskin towels and pads.
 
Blackthorn One said:
If my garage floor was as clean as my paint, I would just pick it up and continue my work.

If it was dirtier, I would slice off the part that touched the ground with a razor blade and use that for wheels and such. (This I have done)

If one is truly of the opinion that a piece of dirt from the ground in the clay does no more damage than the grit in the paint, it is hard for me to understand why they bother to clay at all.

I use a small piece of clay, about 1 ounce, and I try not to drop it.

I did drop a 4 ounce piece of clay once, and I realized my mistake.

I drop clay 3% of the time or less. I clay to make my paint perfect, and if I drop it and pick up grit, it can make my paint worse than by not claying.

As long as you keep in mind you are trying to make your paint it's best, you will "grasp" the practice of throwing away dropped clay.
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What? I believe I said that it's possible to pick up "scratchable" particles right off the car.

Think about this. How many threads have we seen where new guys ask about claying before compounding? Well, what's the reason we all recommend claying paint beforehand? The reason is because you could pick up particles off the paint while compounding--wait for it-- that scratch the paint.Im the MAN
 
StuDLei said:
What? I believe I said that it's possible to pick up "scratchable" particles right off the car.

Think about this. How many threads have we seen where new guys ask about claying before compounding? Well, what's the reason we all recommend claying paint beforehand? The reason is because you could pick up particles off the paint while compounding--wait for it-- that scratch the paint.Im the MAN
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I apologize. I may have missed that. Extending the logic though, since you are going to pick up contaminants that can scratch just from the paint, it is best not to also pick up some from the ground, since the type of particle from the ground is usually an unknown.

Do you Iron X before you clay, btw? That really helps reduce the need to clay, and would be even safer.
 
Blackthorn One said:
I apologize. I may have missed that. Extending the logic though, since you are going to pick up contaminants that can scratch just from the paint, it is best not to also pick up some from the ground, since the type of particle from the ground is usually an unknown.

Do you Iron X before you clay, btw? That really helps reduce the need to clay, and would be even safer.
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First off, I kind of like to argue by nature and I know context is hard to deliver via a message board. Just want to put that out there. I don't mean to offend you or anyone.

No I haven't used Iron X yet. I'd love to try some, but money is tight and I had to hold off on my last order and just get things that I absolutely needed.
 
StuDLei said:
First off, I kind of like to argue by nature and I know context is hard to deliver via a message board. Just want to put that out there. I don't mean to offend you or anyone.

No I haven't used Iron X yet. I'd love to try some, but money is tight and I had to hold off on my last order and just get things that I absolutely needed.
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I just used Iron X a few weeks ago for the first time. The cars had been clayed before, and kept garaged. One is driven maybe 20 miles a year. I made the mistake of spraying it to get an even coat, when you really don't need that much product. There was a significant amount of purple on the cars. (Iron X is clear, then turns to purple when it reacts with iron)

I should have sprayed a little, then spread with a foam applicator or maybe a boar's hair brush.
The surface is a lot fresher, like new paint.
Think of how much claying it could have saved me had I used it prior to clay.
It is $20 for 16 ounces, and if you use just enough, but spreading it out, it is definitely worth the price.

I used 1/4 bottle on two hoods/tops of fenders and one deck on my 57 Chevrolet Sport Coupes.
Much too much product. I used 4X as much as I should have.

I used another half bottle to clean baked on brake dust from my wheels. It worked great. Nothing better. Only Iron X Paste would be better, because it's 10X as concentrated.
 
FUNX725 said:


:D

Bob
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If you can shoot the embedded contaminants off with an automatic pistol and some clay lube, that's a lot more impressive than shooting the wings off a fly. You don't get any lead streaking? Impressive, most impressive.
 
Blackthorn One said:
I just used Iron X a few weeks ago for the first time. The cars had been clayed before, and kept garaged. One is driven maybe 20 miles a year. I made the mistake of spraying it to get an even coat, when you really don't need that much product. There was a significant amount of purple on the cars. (Iron X is clear, then turns to purple when it reacts with iron)

I should have sprayed a little, then spread with a foam applicator or maybe a boar's hair brush.
The surface is a lot fresher, like new paint.
Think of how much claying it could have saved me had I used it prior to clay.
It is $20 for 16 ounces, and if you use just enough, but spreading it out, it is definitely worth the price.

I used 1/4 bottle on two hoods/tops of fenders and one deck on my 57 Chevrolet Sport Coupes.
Much too much product. I used 4X as much as I should have.

I used another half bottle to clean baked on brake dust from my wheels. It worked great. Nothing better. Only Iron X Paste would be better, because it's 10X as concentrated.
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How long had it been since you clayed before you used Iron-x?

Can you spray that stuff on the whole car or what?
 
StuDLei said:
How long had it been since you clayed before you used Iron-x?

Can you spray that stuff on the whole car or what?
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It had been 11 years in the case of one car, which was only driven 35 miles since, and had outside a total of maybe 25 hours. It passed the plastic baggie test before Iron X. It had been a year or so for the other car, outside maybe 35 hours since the last clay, and again, it passed the plastic baggie test. The cars have always been garaged.

You spray it on painted panels only, and then spread with an applicator for thin coverage. I understand it has been reformulated to be safe for chrome. I have not used it for chrome. If you get it on any bare ferrous metal, it will cause surface rust in a few minutes.

I don't know if it would rust stainless steel. Even though the paint was smooth, it pulled iron out of it, and there was a noticeable improvement in the shine and color of the paint afterwards.
Before I used it, I wouldn't have thought the paint had contamination, but the stuff turned purple right on the car, and it only reacts with metal. I then agitated it a bit with a wash mitt, then rinsed the mitt, and wiped it up about 5 times until the panel was free of purple residue, and then dried with a microfiber towel.
 
Blackthorn One said:
It had been 11 years in the case of one car, which was only driven 35 miles since, and had outside a total of maybe 25 hours. It passed the plastic baggie test before Iron X. It had been a year or so for the other car, outside maybe 35 hours since the last clay, and again, it passed the plastic baggie test. The cars have always been garaged.

You spray it on painted panels only, and then spread with an applicator for thin coverage. I understand it has been reformulated to be safe for chrome. I have not used it for chrome. If you get it on any bare ferrous metal, it will cause surface rust in a few minutes.

I don't know if it would rust stainless steel. Even though the paint was smooth, it pulled iron out of it, and there was a noticeable improvement in the shine and color of the paint afterwards.
Before I used it, I wouldn't have thought the paint had contamination, but the stuff turned purple right on the car, and it only reacts with metal. I then agitated it a bit with a wash mitt, then rinsed the mitt, and wiped it up about 5 times until the panel was free of purple residue, and then dried with a microfiber towel.
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Interesting, I definitely want to try it sometime. It sounds like it would be hard to not get it on stuff that it's not supposed to get on? So you don't just spray your whole car down with this stuff then? Will it hurt glass or trim?
 
StuDLei said:
Interesting, I definitely want to try it sometime. It sounds like it would be hard to not get it on stuff that it's not supposed to get on? So you don't just spray your whole car down with this stuff then? Will it hurt glass or trim?
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I used a small spray bottle and did just the hood and tops of fenders, as well as the decklid.

I avoided the chrome hood rockets and anodized aluminum. Some ran down to the chrome, and it wiped off with no damage.
It also accidentally got on the stainless trim on the fenders with no damage. There are metal trim clips that hold the trim on that I would be concerned about rusting.

The best thing is to spray areas away from trim and then spread the product just up to the trim using an applicator. Do small sections at a time like just a hood or a decklid, to avoid it drying. I'm guessing because it turns purple, it might stain if it dries.


These iron removal products can discolor things like wheel weights, and cause surface rust on brake rotors. I don't know what it will do to zinc or cadmium plating.

The product was mainly made for painted surfaces, because paint is soft enough to allow contaminants to become embedded and therefore not come off with just soap and water.
 
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