Should you polish after claying every time?

[flakpyro]

As i dive deeper down into this maintaining my cars shine i read conflicting posts that after every clay you should go ove your car with a light polish since clay is an abrassive while others will say you should not polish too often since clearcoat is a finite resource. This has me somewhat confused....


My vehicle is for the most part parked outside and therefore i usually clay and add a coat of power lock twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall before winter. By fall the vehicle is in need of a clay, and I have been going over it with a mild polish each time after claying (Started with Megs Ultimate polish, then moved to using CG V38, and this year currently using Griots perfecting cream) always trying to pick a mild less aggressive polish based on an online polish aggressiveness chart. This also takes care of any tiny scratches / maring from claying / washing over the months. From what i have been reading this makes sure you are "LSP ready".


Should i be skipping the polish after claying? I don't want to end up polishing too much but at the same time am trying to follow best practices that i have read on here and not waste time, effort and product and not get great results.

 

[Desertnate]

I would like to recommend an alternative to your current Fall polishing session: a good glaze like Blackhole or White Diamond from Poorboys or Prima's Amigo. The glaze will easily cover up any clay marring and leave the finish ready for a sealant. All of those I mentioned were designed to be covered by an LSP and I've used both Blackhole and Amigo with success.

When I used sealants I was on a similar rotaion and had similar fears. I moved to the glaze in the Fall since the vehicles were going to be covered in grime and salt through most of the winter and a perfect, just polished shine, wasn't all that important to me. Using the glaze ensured the vehicles were only getting polished once a year, even though a light polish should only remove the most minimal amount of clear coat.

If you don't like the idea of using a glaze, I would keep up with the light polish after the claybar.

 

[FUNX650]

•I clay my vehicles only if they
happen to fail ”The Baggie Test”.

•When I do clay my vehicles:
-I always follow up with—at the
very least—a light polishing step.
-Even, occasionally, an AIO.


•Just to throw a wrench into this discussion:
-Even if I don’t clay...I will sometimes use a
light polish/AIO on my vehicles (another one
of my favorite paint cleaning methods).


Bob

 

[Rsurfer]

Being a daily driver, I would use a paint cleaner in between polishing. You won't be removing clear coat and yet decontaminating the surface.

 

[Bruno Soares]

I only clay if I plan on polishing.

 

[SWETM]

Since it's a DD and not a show car I would not be worried about claying it 2 times a year. The fall prep just clay and reapply the LSP. And when spring comes clay and polish. I think the reason that got this to polish after the claying. Was when detailers got cars to them and the owners have clayed their paint every month with a very poor technique and aggressive way.

Many does not think about the need of a good claylube. But with that and a fine grade clay or clay alternatives you will be fine with an extra claying between the yearly polish. Sonüs Ultra Fine clay you can even clay and the LSP would not be much effected. The use of dodo juice born to be slippy concentrate is a great claylube and with a fine grade clay or clay alternative. And if you are gentle and feel when the contaminants have been clayed off you will be fine IMO. If you have a very soft paint maybe the claying would leave micro marring. But on normal paints you will be fine.

Dodo Juice Born Slippy Clay Lubricant Concentrate, born slippy clay lube, detailing clay lubricant, clay lube concentrate

Pinnacle?s Ultra Poly Clay is the single finest clay composition available today. Use auto Detailing clay to deep clean car paint, glass and chrome.

Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay, clay bars, auto clay, paint cleaning bar

 

[TTQ B4U]

As i dive deeper down into this maintaining my cars shine i read conflicting posts that after every clay you should go ove your car with a light polish since clay is an abrassive while others will say you should not polish too often since clearcoat is a finite resource. This has me somewhat confused....

My vehicle is for the most part parked outside and therefore i usually clay and add a coat of power lock twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall before winter. By fall the vehicle is in need of a clay, and I have been going over it with a mild polish each time after claying (Started with Megs Ultimate polish, then moved to using CG V38, and this year currently using Griots perfecting cream) always trying to pick a mild less aggressive polish based on an online polish aggressiveness chart. This also takes care of any tiny scratches / maring from claying / washing over the months. From what i have been reading this makes sure you are "LSP ready".

Should i be skipping the polish after claying? I don't want to end up polishing too much but at the same time am trying to follow best practices that i have read on here and not waste time, effort and product and not get great results.

IMO you can go either way. My cars are coated and even previous ones were. There are times where I will very lightly run a Fine Grade Nano Sponge over them to knock-off any tree sap, etc. that may be interfering with the coating. I can do so on a clean car with overly soapy water without issue. No marring at all. Again, no realy contaminants just light stuff and I'm not pressing down. Just enough to remove the gunk. No issues.

That said, lightly polishing your car isn't going to wear down the finish much at all. If all you're doing is lightly decontaminating, thus not really marring up your paint, then you're fine. I do before and after paint measurements with a thickness gauge and you'd be surprised at how little is removed upon just a polish. Outside RIDS, standard swirls are remarkable shallow vs how they actually appear.