Questions On Claying

HondaMan

HondaMan

2004 Civic EX magnesium
(1) For a new car, I presume a FINE clay (i.e., Clay Magic fine grade) is preferable? I also have some older cars (2-7 years) that have never been clayed, would a MEDIUM grade be better for these?

(2) Can I get away with just a good cleaning, a claying, and then a waxing -- or do I need to use all the intermediate steps/products of a polish, sealant, etc. Remember, I'm talking family cars here where I'd like to improve the look, not a sports car where every extra step provides some marginal benefit. If I can get 75-90% of a professional job with 50% of the work, I'll be happy.
 
SO here is my take on claying - if your finish is new or in good condition (no maring, swirls what have you) then Clay. If you have to do corrective work on the finish (scratches, swirls..) then you are going to remove anything clay can and then some so why clay?
 
Not to contradict you fair groebuck, but I thought I read on here that clay gets things out of the paint that abrasive or other cleaning agents could not get out. Did I get the wrong impression? Please straighten me out on this.
 
JaredPointer said:
Not to contradict you fair groebuck, but I thought I read on here that clay gets things out of the paint that abrasive or other cleaning agents could not get out. Did I get the wrong impression? Please straighten me out on this.
Click to expand...

I was under the same impression too.
 
So as I understand it from my Meguiar's clinic - clay will remove surface contaminents - overspray,tar..things like that - basically things stuck to the finish - like pulling a tic off your skin (:lol)..

abrasives will remove some of the clear or painted surface - a little or a lot depending on what you use and how you use it. If your going to use a product like DACP then you don't need to clay - you would use both in most situations - say the verticles were fine but rough they would get clayed but if the hood and trunk needed some repair (swirl marks - what have you) then you don't need to clay because your not only removing those things stuck to the surface but a small amount of the surface as well - that's what they told me ; ) seemed to make sense.
 
i think clay makes a difference.. when i do it the paint is very clear & clean .. i also realize the polish i use really wakes up the brightness of paint .. and gets close to the results of clay . i clay then polish and i can tell the difference & the customers can too .. it can go either way . im sure of one thing. when i demonstrate clay to my customers i let them feel the paint first then i clay and they hear the clay working. then they feel the paint again.real smooth. ive sold clay on every job ive offered it on ..
 
http://www.goodspeedmotoring.com/?p...=1&PHPSESSID=452705514cd722bbc6f2d9720d825386

Pretty interesting, eh?

If you've ever worked on a white car with lots of small rust spots on the surface then you have seen surface contaminants. These particular contaminants are rusting on the surface of the paint. I have polished the rust off, but if you feel the paint the contaminants are still there and will rust again. I have a tail gate off an SUV that has been polished only in one area and clayed and polished in another area, I upsell claying everytime a client touched it. Not every client in my market can afford the full steps even though I recommend them, the one's that really appreciate their cars go the whole hog.

I had a quick chat with one of my first paint details from a couple of months ago and he's still stoked with the job I did. He told me he dropped in to see a mate who had just finished polishing his car (4hours by hand), my client promptly showed him the difference between a clayed car and not. The mate was simply blown away by the difference. So there you go, an everyday chap can tell the difference - but whether he'll pay for it....
 
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