Is Clay Bar Marring My Paint..HELP + Pics

M0nk3y

M0nk3y

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Please help guys.

I was clay barring my car with poorboys clay (My paint literally feels like sand paper).

Anyways; I started noticing that I was getting serious marring across the paint. Pictures below. As well, on the rear bumper I was getting red all over my clay bar. Is this some sort of overspray or am I taking paint off?!

I was able to get everything corrected (Makita 9227c with M105/205 and Hydropads). But I'm just trying to figure out why my paint is in such bad condition.

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Paint Corrected!

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Any will help. Thanks alot. Sorry for the somewhat poor pictures. It's hard focusing in on Red paint with my new SLR
 
I don't want to be like an ahole but this has been covered God knows how many times. Maybe a little search and reading will help.:)

"You can help create your own luck, you can make things happen through hard work and intelligence."- Donald J. Trump
 
does the car still feel like sandpaper?

if not then you took off red overspray

marring happens sometimes (not enuf lube, not kneading enough etc)

Shouldn't matter to you if you are going to polish anyways
 
Many paints can be clayed without marring but I find that most will still leave at least some amount of light marring. Make sure you have a good clay lube and that you knead the clay often.

FWIW, I always polish after claying.
 
embolism said:
does the car still feel like sandpaper?

if not then you took off red overspray

marring happens sometimes (not enuf lube, not kneading enough etc)

Shouldn't matter to you if you are going to polish anyways
Click to expand...

I stopped after seeing the Red Paint, so I haven't clay it completely. It still feels rough, but much better

RaskyR1 said:
Many paints can be clayed without marring but I find that most will still leave at least some amount of light marring. Make sure you have a good clay lube and that you knead the clay often.

FWIW, I always polish after claying.
Click to expand...

I'm using CG QD, seems to provide decent lube
 
clay doesn't remove clearcoat and a Z4 definitely has clearcoat so clay away without worry. You may have to polish again afterwards though. Sounds like you've got a tonne of overspray.

Had any bodywork done lately?
 
The red paint seems to be overspray from a previous paint repair. Overspray will definitely feel very rough like sand paper.
 
embolism said:
clay doesn't remove clearcoat and a Z4 definitely has clearcoat so clay away without worry. You may have to polish again afterwards though. Sounds like you've got a tonne of overspray.

Had any bodywork done lately?
Click to expand...

Yes. The stupid shipping company put a dent in the roof of the car.

So they had to sand the whole roof completely down and re-spray that...and I assume they did the rear deck lid as well. That would explain the overspray in that odd area.

jjkacz said:
The red paint seems to be overspray from a previous paint repair. Overspray will definitely feel very rough like sand paper.
Click to expand...

Ok, that would make sense of why it was very rough.
 
It's too bad your vehicle is red also cause it kind of makes you think twice about what you're doing. Are you taking off paint, or over spray?

If it feels like sandpaper...I'd say without a doubt you have over spray. The fact that you're pulling red off with your clay is a pretty big give away that there's just red over spray. I also highly doubt your vehicle has single stage paint. The marring from the clay looks to be on top of clear to me.

Maybe a part of your vehicle has been resprayed? I say clay away, then polish out the marring. Then you'll be all set!:dblthumb2:
 
Yea, I tend to agree with everybody else that is is the over spray from the repair so no worries there.

A quick tip for our clay (probably everyone else too) if you want to get it really soft and mailable run it under hot water while kneading it. Gets it really really nice to work with and than the heat of your hand will keep it that way.

Just something else I noticed in the first and second picture on the panel above the light it looks like you have some clay smears on it. Possibly using to little clay lube make sure its just about dripping and the clay shouldn't be grabbing onto the paint (once you take a majority of the overspray off)
 
no,
unless you drop it on the floor, stomp on it, then pick it up and start rubbing it onto your paint with no lube...

:)
 
Pockets @Poorboy'sWorld said:
Yea, I tend to agree with everybody else that is is the over spray from the repair so no worries there.

A quick tip for our clay (probably everyone else too) if you want to get it really soft and mailable run it under hot water while kneading it. Gets it really really nice to work with and than the heat of your hand will keep it that way.

Just something else I noticed in the first and second picture on the panel above the light it looks like you have some clay smears on it. Possibly using to little clay lube make sure its just about dripping and the clay shouldn't be grabbing onto the paint (once you take a majority of the overspray off)
Click to expand...

I always have a bucket of hot water standing by. When the clay starts to get hard or if it's cold out I'll just toss it in there for a few minutes and it's nice soft again.
 
Thanks for the tips on softening up the clay.

It's good to know that I wasn't do any damage about taking the red paint off, and it's probably overspray. I was getting really worried when I started hitting the rear-diffuser and getting an extremely rough finish.

I did really minor clay bar, and didn't want to push it because it was Red Paint; and I was just scared of doing and damage. But from just thinking, it's probably bad overspray and I'll clay away and polish everything up
 
I came about this close: ll to asking if it was an old EVO because they have SS paints... but nvm :xyxthumbs: Saw the tag, haha.

In case of any doubt, just be sure to use more lube and you're good to go. I would always carry a couple types of lube and clay. Also, make sure you have a non-abrasive clay that's not as aggressive on hand incase this happens again. I know these are no brainers, just thought I'd throw them out there. Also, don't forget your plastic bag. I'm sure we all have seen the commercials: "Plastics make it possible." Lastly, re-knead every 2x2 section you do just to play it safe. :dblthumb2:
 
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