Clay Disintegrating !

EdLancer

New member
I normally clay with lube or ONR, but I decided to try soap and water to save a buck and my yellow clay started to turn into mush after one use. Is this normal ?
 
How much soap did you use? I've used water with a few drops of soap many times without any problems. I've tried a few spray waxes before (just experimenting) which caused the clay to turn to mush.
 
PhaRO said:
How much soap did you use? I've used water with a few drops of soap many times without any problems. I've tried a few spray waxes before (just experimenting) which caused the clay to turn to mush.





It was the same amount for washing the car, I just used the soap left over from the wash. I guess thats too much soap ! :sadwavey:
 
what clay are you using?



I use Megs meduim and aggr. clay with soap and water with no ill effects....
 
Is it is the "good" yellow clay that we (in the states) can't get anymore? I just used some of my "good" yellow clay a couple of weeks ago with car wash solution (my preferred method) with no problems. I think I was using Z-7 car wash at the time but usually use Poorboy's S,S,&S and my clay (still using the "good" stuff) never gets mushy.
 
Some Clays react differently to different soaps. I usually recommend using only clay lubes for clay but I myself am guilty of trying what soapy water. I found that some clay will degrade with soapy water but it was soap dependant. An example is when I used Meguiars Clay with Meguiars Gold Class Soap, it crumbled. The same Meguiar's clay with Poorboy's Super Slick and Suds....No crumbling (But I used less soap/water ratio). Like mentioned, if there is too much soap it will likely do just as it did, next time try just a few drops of soap per gallon. One certainty I have found is I have never had a Claybar crumble or turn to mush using a Clay lube!
 
It depends on the clay and the soap. Some soaps degreasers react and breakdown the clay. I stoppe dusing soap and water a long time ago. I would stick to a clay lube or quick detailer.
 
I had it happen with Clay Magic blue bar and Megs Deep Crystal. Ran out of lube in the middle of claying. Ordered a gal. of lube so it doesn't happen again.



Oh, I don't use the Megs wash. It was a gift and just sitting there.
 
06E90 said:
I've had it happen with Mothers clay and Megs GC soap before.



That's weird. Since I clayed the first time with QD spray, I've switched to using Meguiars GC + Mothers clay. The same half clay bar has been used multiple times, and I haven't seen any disintegration whatsoever.
 
Eliot Ness said:
Is it is the "good" yellow clay that we (in the states) can't get anymore?





Yes, its that "good" stuff ! ...LoL Its funny to see it is good one second and then instantly turn into mush.



Thanks Chris and Greg for your inputs !



I guess theres too much variables to this and with the cost of clay its not worth wasting it. So I will continue using ONR. Its just using soap is convinent right after a wash.
 
How is it more convenient? I never understood that.



Is picking up a bottle of QD that is most likely no more than 10ft away from you that much of an inconvenience?
 
[QUOTE-coupe]How is it more convenient? I never understood that.

[/QUOTE]





Noting that I stick with the dedicated clay lube (for various reasons including the disintegration issue), I did find it handy to clay with wash solution. I'd keep a blob of clay stuck to the rim of my wash bucket (or to the indentifying clip on my rinse bucket),then I'd just grap it, dunk it, and clay. It really was *VERY* handy for claying while washing, especially for little spot-claying jobs.



But no, it's not all *that* much better than sticking the blob of clay to the top of the lube bottle and hanging said bottle on the rim of one of the buckets. And the befefits I glean from using clay lube outweigh the convenience (and cost savings) of just using shampoo.
 
For me, it's more convenient because you can simply rinse the shampoo off using water. With the QD, you have to wipe off, and if you don't wipe in time, it dries off and is difficult to get off. I've also noticed that if you use a QD (I'm using the term interchangeably with clay lube), sometimes the lube gets contaminated and the lube gets dirty.
 
And the lube I like (Glyde) is so soapy I often end up rewashing as opposed to just rinsing :( Still works better for me over all though, but I suppose it's a matter of weighing the various factors (i.e., personal preference, yet again ;) ).
 
Yeah, just saw that this weekend with the red Z-18 claybar and using Z-7 soap for the lube. Don't know if I got the ratio wrong or what, but shortly before I made it halfway through the Grand Caravan, it was starting to crumble. And shortly past the halfway point, it was unusable.
 
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