For all the naysayers who say you can’t clay black paint w/o marring

[Eldorado2k]

Here’s proof that you can.

Lets dry and inspect...

Any clay marring? Nope.

Dedicated to the people who said I just can’t see the marring because my vehicle’s white.

I clayed this entire GMC Denali with a Mid Grade Clay Towel [I never use a fine grade]

And the only small spot that the clay towel marred was the handle on the rear door. [I knew it as soon as I went over it]

...But there was no clay marring on the rest of the vehicle. There never is.

 

[Cruzscarwash]

Which clay towel is that?

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[Eldorado2k]

Which clay towel is that?

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Auto Scrub Handy Towel. It’s sweet.

 

[Cruzscarwash]

Auto Scrub Handy Towel. It’s sweet.

How many jobs per towel?

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[Eldorado2k]

How many jobs per towel?

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A ton. They last a long time as long as you take care of them... That reminds me, I better bring it inside.

What do you clay with?

 

[minerigger]

Do you wash them after use? How do you store them? I've got one on order

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[Eldorado2k]

Do you wash them after use? How do you store them? I've got one on order

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Never wash them. Just spray them with my claylube [D114] and then rinse it with the hose nozzle on shower setting then air dry [preferably not in direct sunlight like here]

Bring it inside and store it in a safe place away from dust and make sure it has a vent hole. [a cool forum member hooked me up with this container]

 

[minerigger]

I gotcha. Just curious as to if they can be folded back up after they dry and then stored or if they need to be flat with the nano surface up not touching anything

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[Rsurfer]

I gotcha. Just curious as to if they can be folded back up after they dry and then stored or if they need to be flat with the nano surface up not touching anything

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Do not let the nano side touch or it will stick together.

 

[Finick]

This might sound silly, but what do you do differently to avoid marring?

I tried to gently go over my car with a megs white clay bar (big box version) and ended up with some marring from it. Nothing alarming, but it was enough at the time that I made the time later that week to hit the car quickly with HD speed.

Do you find the towels easier on the paint/easier to work gently with?

I’ve used copious amounts of ONR at clay lube dilution, and UWW+, and neither really seem to do the trick.

Would love to be able to give my car a light clay quickly here and there if it needs it without feeling like I need to polish every time.


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[Rsurfer]

This might sound silly, but what do you do differently to avoid marring?

I tried to gently go over my car with a megs white clay bar (big box version) and ended up with some marring from it. Nothing alarming, but it was enough at the time that I made the time later that week to hit the car quickly with HD speed.

Do you find the towels easier on the paint/easier to work gently with?

I’ve used copious amounts of ONR at clay lube dilution, and UWW+, and neither really seem to do the trick.

Would love to be able to give my car a light clay quickly here and there if it needs it without feeling like I need to polish every time.


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I feel that the Nano clay towei is better because of the design. It is safer than clay because of the diamond shaped cuts in the towel surface that with allow dirt/grit to hide. It can also easily be rinsed out after every section. Unlike clay that has the grit imbedded on the surface of the clay, thus causing marring as you go back and forth gridding the grit into the paint. Just because you fold the clay for what may or may not be a clean surface, doesn't mean it's free from grit.

You should get 30 plus cars out of one towel. A tip is to use a Sharpie and make the green edges so you know what side to use before changing.

 

[JMak97008]

I've used Griots clay bars for years and can't recall ever seeing any marring at all on my black or dark blue vehicles.

 

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Funny you mentioned this. I just picked up a handy towel a couple weeks ago and love it. Its almost between a fine grade and medium grade but fits my hand better.

 

[Eldorado2k]

This might sound silly, but what do you do differently to avoid marring?

I tried to gently go over my car with a megs white clay bar (big box version) and ended up with some marring from it. Nothing alarming, but it was enough at the time that I made the time later that week to hit the car quickly with HD speed.

Do you find the towels easier on the paint/easier to work gently with?

I’ve used copious amounts of ONR at clay lube dilution, and UWW+, and neither really seem to do the trick.

Would love to be able to give my car a light clay quickly here and there if it needs it without feeling like I need to polish every time.


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I’m seriously thinking it could be the water... I’ve always used distilled water for everything I dilute up until just recently I decided to be lazy and began filling with filtered drinking water because I figured it’d at least be better than tap water.

That’s when I suddenly had my clay towels marr paint twice and I couldn’t believe it. So I went back to distilled water and here we have the proper results I’m used to.

Do you leave the car wet after a car wash and proceed to clay like that? I don’t.
Do you ever use leftover car wash suds for claylube? I don’t.
Rinseless bucket that you filled with tap water for claylube? Not me.

During that time I tried going cheapo I also noticed my Megs D120 Glass Cleaner began streaking for the 1st time ever thanks to diluting it with cheap water.

IMO traditional clay bars are way more gentle compared to clay alternatives. I’ve only had regular claybar marr paint once in my life.

Btw, I use alot of claylube. Like so much that when I start a panel I have a spray bottle in each hand and spray till it’s damn near dripping wet and then hold a spray bottle in my left hand while I’m claying just in case I need more.

I tried using the Kwazar pump sprayer for claying but I didn’t like it, spray bottles work better for some reason.

Funny you mentioned this. I just picked up a handy towel a couple weeks ago and love it. Its almost between a fine grade and medium grade but fits my hand better.

It IS between fine and med grade.

 

[Finick]

I’m seriously thinking it could be the water... I’ve always used distilled water for everything I dilute up until just recently I decided to be lazy and began filling with filtered drinking water because I figured it’d at least be better than tap water.

That’s when I suddenly had my clay towels marr paint twice and I couldn’t believe it. So I went back to distilled water and here we have the proper results I’m used to.

I dilute things like UWW+ with distilled water, things like D101 usually get just tap water.

Do you leave the car wet after a car wash and proceed to clay like that? I don’t.
Do you ever use leftover car wash suds for claylube? I don’t.
Rinseless bucket that you filled with tap water for claylube? Not me.

- I do primarily rinseless, so it's usually dry when I do bother to clay it. By time i'm back around to where I started i'll just start spraying down some lube and start. Perhaps I just need to use more lube? My panels are generally coated pretty well, but they're definitely not sopping wet (if a car could be sopping, that is.)

- Negative on leftover rinseless solution.

Off the top of my head, I'd say I could probably knead the clay more often than I do. I normally just kind of check it after a panel, with a hood being treated as two panels. Perhaps too much pressure, although I feel like I'm pretty delicate.

 

[Eldorado2k]

I let the paint dictate my speed, if it resists then I start off slow and spray more lube. Work like a butter knife not a chainsaw. Lol.

But that doesn’t mean it takes me like an hour to clay a vehicle.. I get done pretty fast with claying. Maybe a couple of minutes per panel.

 

[C5Longhorn]

If using a clay bar, is there one I particular you recommend or have used?

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[Desertnate]

For me I've always had some light marring of some sort, however the marring is far, far worse when I used a fine Nanoskin clay sponge. Two bad experiences with my black VW and it's rock hard paint led me to toss the Nanoskin and go back to a traditional clay bar. Far less marring and less correcting work required afterwards.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

For all the naysayers who say you can’t clay black paint w/o marring

Here’s proof that you can.

It looked like proof you could and proof you couldn't.

My guess is the paint is different on the urethane covers over the rear bumpers than on the major body panels. I was once told that these components are often manufactured by companies outside the OEM manufacturing plant but assembled onto the car at the assembly plant, if this is true, this would explain the use of different paint.


:dunno:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's clay towel induced marring

It's the section to the right of the overhead light reflections...

Here...

close-up...