AIO as clay lube?

REX-RACER

New member
There was thread last week about using diluted AIO in the initial wash. The jurry was split on it as a practice as some like it but others thought that it broke the suds down too much. I posted this question in that thread but it was towards the end so I'm not sure many folks really read it and noone responded.



I probably won't use AIO in my wash but I'm wondering could it be beneficial to use diluted AIO as a clay lube. So for instance a capful ( 1 oz. ) of AIO in a 20 oz. spray bottel w/ water or even water and 1 oz. of NXT wash?



Something like this:



-NXT Wash

-ClayMagic clay w/ 20 oz spray bottle w/ 1 oz AIO and/or 1 oz NXT Wash added

-Polish w/ SSR2.5+SSR1

-AIO

-SG removed w/ Sonus Crystal Spritz

-TOP w/ P21S



I'm am really curious as to whether this sounds like a good addition to the above process given AIO's renouned cleaning capabilities?



I intend to try this on my red '95 Jeep Cherokee which has considerable paint oxidation and really neglected paint that have come from the years of being parked outside in harsh midwest winters.



I also want to give this a shot on my g/f black '96 Monte Carlo and my mothers Java Black Pearl '02 Acura TL. Both have extensive swirl damage curtosey of the hacks at the dealership!



I'd really like to know what people think of the AIO lube idea? I'm just a noob tryin' to learn before it's show time this spring!



Thanx in advance!
 
I don't know if I would use AOI for claying lube it's too costly for one. I like using car wash soap. A little in a bottle and off you go. You can also clay when you wash to save time, just make sure you use clean suds and after you rinse. I also don't think you need AOI after SSR's it may be redundant, but if it gives you the look you want go for it.
 
Me personally.....I'd just skip the whole 'AIO as clay lube' step, and use the wash suds from the NXT wash as a lube.
 
Seems to me that AIO would be a poor choice for this. I don't see how it would improve the claying any at all, and IMO it would probably interfere with it. Anything that leaves protection on the surface would compromise the "grabbing" that the clay is supposed to do by coating the clay/surface. Just as too much lube can make for ineffective claying, so would using a product like AIO. Since one might use AIO to remove clay residue, or clay to remove [any] residue, I don't see the two products working together. And generally the best clay lubes are of fairly thin viscosity, not nearly as thick as AIO.



It would only be in a *very* rare instance of *extreme* oxidation that I would use clay for anything except pulling contamination off the surface. And in those extreme situations I wouldn't try to combine fundamentally different/separate steps.



Sorry if I sound like a wet blanket, but I just don't see an upside to this idea...
 
Accumulator said:
Seems to me that AIO would be a poor choice for this. I don't see how it would improve the claying any at all, and IMO it would probably interfere with it. Anything that leaves protection on the surface would compromise the "grabbing" that the clay is supposed to do by coating the clay/surface. Just as too much lube can make for ineffective claying, so would using a product like AIO. Since one might use AIO to remove clay residue, or clay to remove [any] residue, I don't see the two products working together. And generally the best clay lubes are of fairly thin viscosity, not nearly as thick as AIO.



It would only be in a *very* rare instance of *extreme* oxidation that I would use clay for anything except pulling contamination off the surface. And in those extreme situations I wouldn't try to combine fundamentally different/separate steps.



Sorry if I sound like a wet blanket, but I just don't see an upside to this idea...



Ahhh, this is just what I needed to know! Thanx guys! I hadn't consider the fact that AIO has mild protection qualities.



Perhaps just using 1 oz. of NXT Wash in 20 oz. of water would be a better way to go then.



I've heard of people claying while they wash w/ NXT or other products, essentially combining two steps, but I'm afraid of the soap drying on the car after I wash. I'd rather just use the spray bottle method until I become more proficient. Perhaps there's a more efficient way of doing this that I'm not thinking of though?:confused:



Thanx again for the feedback! :xyxthumbs
 
Here's how I combine the steps, maybe it'll work for you:



Wash panel, rinse panel. Clay panel. Rewash panel (quickly and easily, there won't be much to clean off), rinse panel. Move on to next one. Keep rinsing off the entire vehicle so it stays wet and you don't get spotting.



That way you never really give the clay/soap/etc. a chance to dry, you wash off any residue and rinse it before anything bad happens. Of course, this won't work in the sun on a summer day :D
 
Accumulator said:
Here's how I combine the steps, maybe it'll work for you:



Wash panel, rinse panel. Clay panel. Rewash panel (quickly and easily, there won't be much to clean off), rinse panel. Move on to next one. Keep rinsing off the entire vehicle so it stays wet and you don't get spotting.



That way you never really give the clay/soap/etc. a chance to dry, you wash off any residue and rinse it before anything bad happens. Of course, this won't work in the sun on a summer day :D



Thanx for the great info!



Another ??? about claying. I've heard it's really not so bad to let the lubricant residue dry on the car especially if you are gonna re-wash the car and dry w/ a MF and then do the rest of a full detail. I've done this in past and it seemed to come out okay but I'm wondering if the autopia crowd is more like :scared :shocked
 
Heh heh, I guess I'd be among the :scared crowd. I try not to let anything dry on my vehicles except LSP. Dunno how big a problem it really could be, but I don't want to find out either. Since I do a panel at a time it's no biggie to wash any residue right off before going on to the next panel, and I keep it all wet to avoid waterspots. If I'm claying an already washed/dried car I just wipe it all clean with a MF and some Meg's #34 before I move on to the next panel.
 
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