Clay

I

ianitrix

New member
Hey guys I just purchased some Optimum Polish and Hyper Compund and was curious do I still clay or is the Hyper good enough.



Thanks
 
I think most here would say to clay before polish to get out any minor particles in the paint. Otherwise, you risk "polishing" those particles right into the paint leaving swirls. OTOH, if you've clayed recently you probably don't need that step again for a while.
 
bobbyp said:
I think most here would say to clay before polish to get out any minor particles in the paint. Otherwise, you risk "polishing" those particles right into the paint leaving swirls. OTOH, if you've clayed recently you probably don't need that step again for a while.
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Thanks bobby for your reply. I clayed last year and well I have a white car which gets alot of rust spots but I remember using compound to get those out b4 I found clay. Is once every couple years good enough for claying???
 
If you're only working a small area aggressively to fix an imperfection you probably don't need to clay it first. However, waiting 2 years to clay - especially after your harsh winters - is something you might want to reconsider. I clay my cars twice a year and my garage queen - which does not see winter or rain - still soils my clay bar each time.
 
If you don't have the clay safely remove the abrasive contamination, the compounding/polishing will. But, the down fall with that is that those abrasive particles will get picked up and embedded into the pad that will/could cause unecessary marring. Choice is yours.
 
ianitrix said:
...I have a white car which gets alot of rust spots but I remember using compound to get those out b4 I found clay...
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If what you're seeing are tiny orange stains the size of mechanical pencil lead and the surface is rough to the touch, then I'd recommend decontaminating the surface first before you clay if you want to get at the root of the problem. Clay will help to remove many of these littles spots, but a decontamination process before clay will be 'much' more effective.



Check out page 7 of this service bulletin to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/mazda3/docs/0043.pdf



Finish Kare sells a paint decontamination kit and here's some links with more info. You can also get similar kits from your local car dealer (Ford, GM, etc).

Finish Kare FK1 1119 / 883 Paint Decontamination System

Paint Decontamination and How It Works



And here's one more kit for $49.95 that contains enough Acid Neutralizer and Alkaline Neutralizer to do about 10 to 14 vehicles and there's enough wash for many more vehicles. It also comes with a couple wash mits.

ABC Car Wash System - Automotive International
 
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