Wash, then Straight to Claying; Skipping Rinsing & Drying

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expdetailing

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So, I watch more than a few detailing channels on YT and recently I've noticed a trend amongst these full-time detailers which is to clay the vehicle while there is still a wet layer of dust/dirt on the paint. These detailers claim that on a slightly dirty car, you can get away with claying a vehicle before rinsing the soap/rinsless-formula during a wash & wax. They will apply soap/formula, move a wash mitt over the vehicle, then go straight to claying before rinsing.

Obviously, this saves them time & allows them to work faster and fit more into their workday, but are they onto a good thing for those who are concerned with saving as much time as you can, while still being reasonable? This question is asked when there will not be paint correction performed afterwards because in the videos, there is no paint correction afterwards.

I've seen written here that polishing always follows claying because there will be some marring, and I have always agreed. I've agreed because I always notice a lot of marring after I clay. I used to over-tighten bolts too, when I was younger. Maybe some of us are claying too hard, with too much pressure?
What do you guys think?
 
Ill wash & rinse w/ DI water & clay. No reason to dry.

Clay a dirty car? No.
 
That is a method that you risk alot of scratches on the paint you working on. At least do the rinse thoroughly. The only risk with leaving the paint wet before claying with clay bar. Would be that you dilute your claylube a little more. If you use a clay alternative and your clean wash solution that would be no problems. As rule of thumb I go after is to touch the paint when it's as clean as possible before touching it or do anything else mechanical on it. Now I don't detail for money. But still if I would to handle a customers car as safe as I could. Leaving back a car with more RIDS than when I started would be a total failure.
 
I don’t see claying prior to rinsing as much of a time saver. Rinsing, then reapplying soap back onto the panel for lube will only cost a few minutes extra per vehicle and will ensure any remaining dirt in the original suds has been rinsed away.
 
my mitt allows me to use soap suds vs a spray detailer. What I do is presoak with foam gun, wash with mit. rinse and then resud with foam gun and then synthetic mit wipe.
 
No matter how dirty a car isn't would I do this
One chunk of dirt in your clay could cause damage that will take you twice as long to correct.
I do rinse and then spray my lube on without drying first.
On car that has a lot of tar as well I dry,remove tar and then clay
 
not worth the risk. rinse first. And this should probably be relocated to Auto Detailing 101, well, because it is.
 
sudsmobile said:
not worth the risk. rinse first. And this should probably be relocated to Auto Detailing 101, well, because it is.
Click to expand...

The topic is obviously relatable to 101, but I chose here since my original post question is regarding certain professional detailers skipping a step--under certain conditions--to save time, and/or because rinsing can be viewed as unnecessary, supposedly.
Hopefully, someone who has actual experience, successful, or unsuccessful can chime in. And, BTW, don't assume that just because I started this thread means that I agree with skipping rinsing. I found the practice of skipping the rinse by professional detailers odd, and especially odd when they put it up on YT, and other sites for others to see.
 
•Personally:
-I really don’t see how ”The Baggie Test”,
(a determinant if the vehicle actually needs
to be clayed, or not), can ever be properly
performed on a dirty vehicle.


Bob
 
The way I see it, why even bother washing, if all you’re going to do is leave the dirt on the surface anyways? Might as well save even more time and simply rinse the dirty vehicle and go straight to claying... You’ll wind up at the same result, jacked up marred paint thanks to claying with dirt in the mix. Stupid idea, it only takes a minute to rinse a vehicle after washing it.

Some of these youtube guys seriously run out of ideas sometimes and wind up with stuff like this...
 
expdetailing said:
So, I watch more than a few detailing channels on YT and recently I've noticed a trend amongst these full-time detailers which is to clay the vehicle while there is still a wet layer of dust/dirt on the paint. These detailers claim that on a slightly dirty car, you can get away with claying a vehicle before rinsing the soap/rinsless-formula during a wash & wax. They will apply soap/formula, move a wash mitt over the vehicle, then go straight to claying before rinsing.

Obviously, this saves them time & allows them to work faster and fit more into their workday, but are they onto a good thing for those who are concerned with saving as much time as you can, while still being reasonable? This question is asked when there will not be paint correction performed afterwards because in the videos, there is no paint correction afterwards.

I've seen written here that polishing always follows Clay ingredients because there will be some marring, and I have always agreed. I've agreed because I always notice a lot of marring after I clay. I used to over-tighten bolts too, when I was younger. Maybe some of us are claying too hard, with too much pressure?
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...



These are most likely the guys charging $75 or something ridiculously cheap for a full detail. These type of “car cleaners” are why there is a demand for true detailers.

Really why would you want to make compounding/polishing harder than it already is? That’s all they are doing by claying a dirty car!
 
Dr Oldz said:
These are most likely the guys charging $75 or something ridiculously cheap for a full detail. These type of “car cleaners” are why there is a demand for true detailers.

Really why would you want to make compounding/polishing harder than it already is? That’s all they are doing by claying a dirty car!
Click to expand...

According to them there isn’t going to be any polishing afterwards.
 
Are people really doing this? Ive seen Optimum do a wash/clay/wax but in my head rinseless washing is a different situation than a traditional wash.

That’s wild.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
expdetailing said:
The topic is obviously relatable to 101, but I chose here since my original post question is regarding certain professional detailers skipping a step--under certain conditions--to save time, and/or because rinsing can be viewed as unnecessary, supposedly.
Hopefully, someone who has actual experience, successful, or unsuccessful can chime in. And, BTW, don't assume that just because I started this thread means that I agree with skipping rinsing. I found the practice of skipping the rinse by professional detailers odd, and especially odd when they put it up on YT, and other sites for others to see.
Click to expand...

Hey, you didn't exactly come out and say that you disagreed with this process. In fact, you stated that you used to overtighten bolts when you were younger, as if maybe you stumbled onto some new idea about how to do things.
 
I got a headache just reading the original post. Never in a million years would I think to skip a rinse...... wow...
 
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