Clay questions! probably very EZ to answer!

T

Tad

New member
Hi,

my first post,

this website is amazing!



anyways

I read through the whole how-to clay page, but I have a couple quick Q's.



First off,

in this paragraph



"After a few passes with the clay, rub your hand over the area you cleaned to check for areas missed. You should feel a distinct difference between the areas you have clayed and the areas you have not clayed. Keep rubbing until all contamination bumps are gone. Finally, wipe the clay residue off with a soft microfiber towel, and buff to a nice luster. Just like waxing, work in small areas.



when he says finally wipe the residue off and buff to a nice luster...

i'm alittle confused on that,



so before washing your car again,

you go ahead and poish it or something? or does he mean just buff whats there with the microfiber towel,

not using any polish or anything..?



also,

when actually using the clay,

do you basically rub the car, similar to using an eraser, like kind of wipe it down with the clay?

or lay the clay on, then peel off sort of deal?



sorry for such noob questions,

but I figure its better to seem dumb at first.. then feel dumb later.. and have fekt up paint, hehe.



thanks in advance!!
 
Clay is easy, ensure that the area that you are claying is adequately lubed, the rub the clay over the paint ( I like to put it in the middle of my palm and rub with my hand flat ). When you feel it after claying, it will be smooth as. Keep folding the clay to expose fresh clay. I would personally give the car a quick wash and then dry rather than buffing off the residue.
 
I'm gonna draw a lot of flak with my stoopid noob question as well.....



When claying, does the dirt/soil/sediment get stuck in the clay or just comes off mized with the claying lubricant?



thanks.
 
it gets stuck in the clay, that is why you should knead the clay every now and then to get fresh clay surfaces exposed.



I find that a little QD and a good MF works good for gettting off the clay residue. I try to clay when I am washing the car so it doesnt waste too much time re-rinsing the area.
 
Probably better to say you 'wipe' the clay over the paint in one long pass than 'rub' the clay over the bodywork.



Dont use too much pressure,but still keep a firm grip on the clay patty,let the clay do the work plucking off the contaminants using the shampoo/qd to glide over cars paint surface if it doesnt glide then its picking up loads of muck off the paint or youve not got enough lube on the paint if it starts to stick.



Lets us know how you got on I know it was a revalation for me when I first (scepticly) tried it.
 
To build upon Mr. Concours, if you are using your fingertips to wipe the surface with the clay and your fingers are sinking deeply into the clay, you are applying too much pressure.



Many passes and light pressure is better than few passes and heavy pressure.
 
While the clay does 'absorb' the debris, you'll notice that your lubricating medium also becomes dirty. If this is allowed to dry, that's what one would need to wash.



Jim
 
Claying is hard to describe but within a few minutes of using it, the above advice is apparent. You will also wonder how you ever lived without it.
 
~One man’s opinion / observations ~



The advice I was given to apply clay was to well lubricate the surface, and use an ‘aquaplaning’ motion on the clay over the paint surface, the secret was lubricate, lubricate; you cannot over lubricate the surface.



~Hope this helps~



Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon

justadumbarchitect * so I question everything *
 
Also, i think the general consensus is that you should probably go over an area (say a trunk lid for example) about three times with the clay. go over the whole thing once, then go over it again, then hit it a third time. This gets me great results, and if i remember correctly this is the general consensus the board arrived at a while back.
 
thanks guys! great info!

I never expected to find a detailing msg board bustling with so much activity.



nice to know i'll be able to get answers to any questions I might have so quickly and reliably.



was so excited to detail my paint..

although now i'm kinda bummed.. someone just vandalized my car, left a fat dent in my door :(



people never cease to dissapoint me :(
 
Tad i'm sorry about that dent... some people... :(





but back to the thread... i just clayed my entire car which has never had any real treatment for a year and a half... it took a good 10 hours.



my question is, how often do i kneed the bar? when i get streaks of dirt? any dirt? how much dirt?
 
10 hours to clay the car, that's gotta be a record. I'm assuming you washed the car first? That must of been one hell of a workout for your hands. I hate to see how long it's gonna take you to polish.



If the bar is darkened at all then kneed. Usually per panel. Holy crap, 10 hours, was that like 10 hours straight thru, ouch. My fingers hurt just reading that.
 
basically it went like this... washed the car good. pulled it into the garage. this was friday night and i had to go out.



started again saturday morning. i QD the dust off the car and started on the roof, then moved to the hood. i had to work in small areas because seriously, i ran the clay about 1 foot across the panel, looked at it and it had darkened. reformed, ran it over the same area, still darkened, i had to do the same area about 4-5 times before i wasn'tpulling any dirt off.



by far the worst area of the entire car was the front passenger door, all the dirt kicked up by the wheel really stuck.



and yea 10 hours for a car that was never waxed and just washed. :(
 
blackmagicwrx said:
Tad i'm sorry about that dent... some people... :(



i just clayed my entire car which has never had any real treatment for a year and a half... it took a good 10 hours.

Click to expand...



That took you about 9.25 hours longer than it should have. I've clayed cars that weren't clayed for 6-7 years and it took an hour max.



What took so long?
 
maybe i was folding it too often?

wiped, dirty, fold, wiped dirty fold, at nausium.





maybe i was being to AR about it? i'd run my hand over in a ziplock to feel the area, start claying, after a few passes i'd feel it again and it would still be bumpy.



i hate not being good at things. :mad:
 
"so before washing your car again,

you go ahead and poish it or something? or does he mean just buff whats there with the microfiber towel,

not using any polish or anything..?"





Always polish after claying. I've clayed hundreds of vehicles and have never seen a car that didn't have clay marring after this process. You basically have raw, unprotected paint.



Hope this helps, good luck!



Oh, BTW, in many cases, I will wash the car thoroughly, rinse, then was again using soapy solution spritzed with QD, then final rinse and dry. This is a HUGE timesaver as opposed to wash, dry, QD & clay, wash again, dry again, etc...



Regards,



Mike R
 
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