Can clay barring cause scratches on a new car?

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rkelmy

New member
Aug 31, 2012
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I have a brand new black Dodge Charger which I detailed this past weekend by:


  1. wash and dry
  2. Iron X
  3. rinse and dry
  4. clay bar
  5. Pinnacle advance finishing polish - orange pad
  6. Pinnacle wax - red pad
I see ALLOT of scratches in the paint after following this process and it bugs me!!! the scratches are not isolated to just one area but are over the entire car.

They are not swirls as all of the scratches have a pattern of front to back which is the manner in which I used the clay bar. I used a new clay bar kneading, folding and keeping it well lubricated after each time I completed a section. The clay bar was new, clean and not dropped.

The scratches do not appear to be deep as I rub my finger nail over them and it does not catch.

What can I do to remove these scratches????

Thanks in advance....
 
Your clay marred the paint. You didn't say which clay you used, but it's common on black. There are different grades of clay. On a new black car, you may want to start with Fine Grade Clay. The only way to get rid of the scratches is to polish them out.
 
Common on cars with soft paint. Also the problem gets worse if you don't use lots of lube and knead the bar frequently. The fix is to polish the paint.
 
What type of polish would I use? I have pinnacle advance swirl remover would that work with a DA?
 
The Pinnacle should take care of it, but it's all in the technique. Do you have any marrying on your hood or trunk? If so, mark off a test spot and see if you can polish the scratching out. If so, repeat the technique on the rest of the car. If not, you need one of the following:

1. More aggressive pad
2. More aggressive polish
3. More aggressive technique
- more aggressive can be achieved the following ways:
1. Slower arm speed
2. More downward pressure
3. Smaller work area

Hope this helps!
 
I had the same issue when I first started detailing my cars. I found that I wasn't using enough clay lube while claying. Once I got my technique down I got great results. I would suggest just starting the process over making sure that you inspect your results carefully after each step. If you need a more aggressive pad/product combo try the Meguair's MF correction discs and compound. They worked great for me under similar circumstances.
 
Very few can clay an entire vehicles without inflicting some type of marring or fine scratches. It all depends on how careful you work, how much clay lube you use, grade of clay etc.

The trick is to knead the clay often so you do not drag any stuck particles over. You'll also notice them more on dark colored or black cars.

A simple polish once done claying, should remove the marring/scratches.
 
Do you remember how much lube you used? I usually use at least 10-16oz on a car that I'm claying. Lube is much cheaper than paint!
 
Clay cause friction when you dont use a lubricant between. Try that with meguiars quick detailer or alot of water. I would go with a claying process , then maybe even washing it down and drying it. Then sealent, then wax
 
It would be good if rkelmy could post some good photos because there's a difference between scratches and marring. If there are actually scratches it points to something else. I mean, you're using about the most mild clay there is, and it sounds like you use plenty of lube. The abrasives in a mild clay are too fine to produce scratches (the way I'd define scratches anyway)

As you are claying, if you clay ever gets "grabby," STOP right away and add more lube. When the clay gets grabby it stretches the clay and exposes the abrasive edges which are normally pressed into the clay and do not abrade the surface. The abrasives in the clay are only "activated" by above surface contaminants that press into the clay and expose the abrasive. The idea behind the claybar is that the flat surface against the paint does not abrade the paint because you press any abrasive edges into the clay when you first put your finger-flattened clay pancake against the paint.

Maybe your contaminant was some sort of liquid mist that captured some grit from the air before it hardened. Then as you clayed, that grit didn't get reduced by the fine abrasive in the clay and just turned your clay into essentially clay sandpaper. Don't know and just guessing, but a normal clay process (especially the fine clay you used) with "normal" contaminants shouldn't produce scratches.
 
SR99 said:
It would be good if rkelmy could post some good photos because there's a difference between scratches and marring. If there are actually scratches it points to something else. I mean, you're using about the most mild clay there is, and it sounds like you use plenty of lube. The abrasives in a mild clay are too fine to produce scratches (the way I'd define scratches anyway)

As you are claying, if you clay ever gets "grabby," STOP right away and add more lube. When the clay gets grabby it stretches the clay and exposes the abrasive edges which are normally pressed into the clay and do not abrade the surface. The abrasives in the clay are only "activated" by above surface contaminants that press into the clay and expose the abrasive. The idea behind the claybar is that the flat surface against the paint does not abrade the paint because you press any abrasive edges into the clay when you first put your finger-flattened clay pancake against the paint.

Maybe your contaminant was some sort of liquid mist that captured some grit from the air before it hardened. Then as you clayed, that grit didn't get reduced by the fine abrasive in the clay and just turned your clay into essentially clay sandpaper. Don't know and just guessing, but a normal clay process (especially the fine clay you used) with "normal" contaminants shouldn't produce scratches.
Click to expand...

I'll see if I can gat the right light I can do pics or a video with the iPhone
 
As a professional detailer, I always assume that claying the car will slightly scratch the paint. It probably won't but, sometimes it does for whatever reason. Because of this, I almost never clay unless I'm going to follow it with polish.

Tip: ONR works excellent for a clay bar lube, and it is a great buy because it is dilutable. And it smells nice haha :dblthumb2:
 
wow, I just bought the same exact products (pinnacle ultra poly clay and pinnacle clay lubricant 16oz) and I was planning to clay my brand new BMW M3 when I stumbled on this thread !
Rkelmy can you please give an update as to what you think could have caused the marring ?
Needless to say those pinnacle products will not be going anywhere close to my car now. I was not planning to polish my new car and certainly do not want having to polish as a result of clay marring. I am taking claying out of my plans for my new car now and I will wax directly after drying the car.
 
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