What is your "go to" clay product nowadays?

J

JPW

New member
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
I've never been a fan of the claying process. I have black metallic car and although the clay makes the paint feel incredible, I will occasionally leave waxy clay streaks by accident even if I'm lubricating considerably. They can be buffed out, but it is time-consuming. My car is now due for a claying again and I've noticed there are all these new clay products out there like mitts, towels, and speed clay. I'm sure they all do the job in varying degrees, but I'm hoping someone who has "been there" could let me know what they've found as best? Any recommendation on one of the newer clay products?
 
Griot's Garage clay towel

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
I went full in on Nanoskin Autoscrub a year ago, clay buffing pads, the smaller sponges, clay towels, the works. First candidate was a white 2020 Chevy Blazer badly iron contaminated, what Blackfire Iron Remover couldn't get off chemically, a blue Autoscrub buffing pad on the BEAST with Blackfire Clay Lubricant took care of the rest with ease. I was quite happy with them for awhile, then about four months ago, I was getting ready to correct a car, started to clay it with a blue Autoscrub and it transferred a whole bunch of sticky synthetic clay to the paint surface.

By this time I had already tossed my old traditional clay out, so I had to remove the residue with 3D One and an LC orange pad on the BEAST. I've noticed the other products I had started to have the same extremely tacky feel the buffing pad had when it decided to fail and attempts to use them resulted in the same transfer of material. Not sure what exactly happened, we always kept them stored in a sealed container when not in use, cleaned them with clay lube and water only. Your mileage may vary, but it cost me enough of my time that day that I switched back to traditional clay.
 
I’ve had good results using the Blackfire Clay Mitt (fine grade) and now the Nano (fine grade) since BF doesn’t offer the fine grade anymore. I use it on my black Acura that has fairly soft paint. I’ll recently used it on my wife X3 with some success but it took a little more elbow grease since her paint is a lot harder.

I had to replace the BF because I left it in the hot garage and it was sticking to case pretty bad, I now keep under the sink in the kitchen!!

Prior to using, I always “wash” the windows before hitting the paint to make sure it doesn’t have any build up.

Jay


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
I have the Sonax clay disc, but also an assortment of yellow, gray, and black traditional clay. The gray and black clay only come out when things are really bad, or windshields.
 
Just to chime in...

I taught a class at MTE this year on detailing clay and clay substitutes.

The reason I chose this topic is because sometimes nothing beats traditional clay, at least when it comes to removing overspray paint.


So here's what I use depending upon the car and the paint and the problem.



1: Pinnacle ULTRA FINE detailing clay - cars with soft paint, PPF film and vinyl graphics - Just showed this in a new video.

2: Clay towel - most projects except cars with soft paint, PPF film and vinyl graphics - it's simply faster and convenient.

3: Aggressive Clay - Meguiar's or 3M - for tightly bonded overspray paint.​



That's my story and I'm sticking to it. No pun intended.


:)
 
I've been a traditional clay person for a long time. I tried the Nanoskin pads but had a bad experience with heavy marring, so I went back to clay. I really felt the clay did a better job anyway.

What intrigues me now are the mits. I like the fact they can be used at the same time as I'm washing and now that I keep my cars well maintained the heavy duty cleanse of a clay isn't needed as badly. My only concern is to not face the same marring issues I had with the Nanoskins.
 
Depending on what im up against its generally the Nanoskin discs driven by my 3401 and the Nanoskin hand pads for the areas the disc cant reach.

If im up against overspray or heavy bonded contaminants its the red aggressive clay from Meguiar's
 
I still use a Mother's clay bar. It works for me and I'm not having to clay too often.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
I bought a blackfire mitt. It's so much faster than clay and I was happy with the results.
 
Thanks so much for all the input. I guess I shouldn't be, but I am surprised there isn't a consensus or single product that people seem to be using most. It seems that people are using pretty much a diverse product range.

I'll probably go with a mitt of some kind and thanks to Jayfro for his comments about the impact heat can have on many clay products. I can see where leaving a clay mitt in a hot garage over time might damage the synthetic clay on it. I'll probably find a place inside the house somewhere, maybe the mantle in a glass case. My wife would love that. :)
 
Griot's Brilliant Shine disc, and Nanoskin sponges while washing before my annual machine polishing.

Couldn't be easier IMO.
 
A few years ago I tried the Nanoskin AutoScrub Wash Mitt and Speedy Prep Sponge. Haven't used anything else since then.
 
This car didn't have a lot of swirls in it to start with and I certainly didn't want to add any nor add any clay marring.

I used the Pinnacle ULTRA FINE clay and it worked perfect to remove teh black overspray paint without any marring.







I too like the polymerized rubber clay replacement but only when they fit the car, the job and the paint. Kind of the old saying,

The right tool for the job.



:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
Just to chime in...

I taught a class at MTE this year on detailing clay and clay substitutes.

The reason I chose this topic is because sometimes nothing beats traditional clay, at least when it comes to removing overspray paint.


So here's what I use depending upon the car and the paint and the problem.



1: Pinnacle ULTRA FINE detailing clay - cars with soft paint, PPF film and vinyl graphics - Just showed this in a new video.

2: Clay towel - most projects except cars with soft paint, PPF film and vinyl graphics - it's simply faster and convenient.

3: Aggressive Clay - Meguiar's or 3M - for tightly bonded overspray paint.​



That's my story and I'm sticking to it. No pun intended.


:)
Click to expand...

Who's Clay towel do you use?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top