claying for the first time

[blackmagicwrx]

so i started my full regimine tonight. nothing has been done to this car other than washing for over a year.



so i washed /dried and moved it into the garage and started with the clay bar...



two things i noticed.



1) it seems like if i use too much lube, the clay does nothing. seems like if i just get the paint damp or even just get the clay itself a little wet it grabs the dirt better.



2) it has takin about almost 2 dozen passes over the area the size of a text book to get it totally smooth.





am i doing this right? :nixweiss

 

[imported_gsrjedi]

For me, when I clay, there's a slight sound when going over the area at first. I remember reading here that can be an indication that it's working.

As far as it taking many passes over an area, there could be a couple reasons that I can think of.

1.) The age of the car and when it was last clayed, if ever.

2.) You could be in an area with a lot of fallout.



Since you're name is blackmagicwrx, I assume you drive a Subaru Impreza WRX, which were first made in 2001, so the car can't be too old. It's probably just rail dust from when it was first shipped.

 

[blackmagicwrx]

its a 2003 that i picked up jan 03' its got 27k miles on it and i never clayed it. i just didnt know how to properly take care of my paint. now im realizing that the car doesnt look clean even after i washed it, so i did a lot of research on this site and i'm starting to baby the car a bit more.



i also live in NNJ as we all know is toxicville usa, so yea there's a LOT of fallout.



thx for the advice.

 

[chris0626]

Blackmagicwrx, I'm not sure how much reading/researching you've been able to do so far. So forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know.



A good starting place for claying is our mayor's article on claying. And if you'll run a search, you'll find a bunch of discussions on the techniques and tips involved.



I'm a HUGE proponent of claying. I've been amazed at the improvement it can make, even on cars that I thought were already "flawless."

1) it seems like if i use too much lube, the clay does nothing. seems like if i just get the paint damp or even just get the clay itself a little wet it grabs the dirt better.

Darn! This is a matter that's so subjective! The difference between "too much" and "too little" lube is one that I think you'll only learn with experience and practice. All I can say at this point is this: The first time I clayed, was with my '75 Jag, which I thought was flawless. Because I was sorta scared of the clay, I lubed the heck out of it -- with no ill effect. Like gsrjedi observed, I could sorta "hear" the clay working, even with what I now know was probably too much lube.



After claying a lot of high-end cars in these couple of years, here's the conclusion I've reached: Using too much lube might slow-down the benefit of claying. But using too little lube can create a nightmare of abrasions/scratches. I'd rather err on the side of too-much lube than too-little. But it'll always be a judgement call, based on the condition of the car, the viscosity of the lube, and the quality of the claybar.

2) it has takin about almost 2 dozen passes over the area the size of a text book to get it totally smooth.

This doesn't sound excessive to me, if this is your first claying session with this car.



Good luck! :wavey And feel free to keep asking questions as you get more experience with this product.



BTW: Which brand of clay are you using? I've found some more satisfactory than others.



Edited to correct typo

 

[blackmagicwrx]

lynn



thanks for the information. I finally made it through claying the car this weekend, took about 9 hours in all. over time i learned the right amount of lub to use that protected the paint and would pull the dirt well.



the only subjective thing left for me to figure out is how much dirt is too much dirt on the clay. I decided to play it safe and i went through 4 bars to do the car. i was pulling A LOT of visible dirt off certain parts. i mean with one pass the bar was brown, i folded, did the same area and more brown. it was sickening how much dirt was embedded in the paint.



BTW i started out with two bars of clay magic and had to switch to mothers... i liked the clay magic MUCH more... the mothers bars were thicker and gave me more clay to work with but you can see the dirt on the blue clay magic bars much better.

 

[kartoon]

i liked the clay magic MUCH more... the mothers bars were thicker and gave me more clay to work with but you can see the dirt on the blue clay magic bars much better.

Wow, I'm surprised. While I never used Claymagic bars (I will try them in the future), to me the bright yellow color of Mother's clay bars shows every little piece of dirt.

 

[imported_jaobrien6]

I'll throw another vote out there for erring on the side of too much lube. The first time i clayed, I didn't use enough and ending up with lots of abrasions on my hood. They polished out pretty easily because they were mild, but if I'd used more lube, it wouldn't have happened.



John

 

[chris0626]

I finally made it through claying the car this weekend, took about 9 hours in all.

Yippee! :bounce I've found my soulmate. Finally, someone who takes as much time as I do.

the only subjective thing left for me to figure out is how much dirt is too much dirt on the clay. I decided to play it safe and i went through 4 bars to do the car. i was pulling A LOT of visible dirt off certain parts. i mean with one pass the bar was brown, i folded, did the same area and more brown. it was sickening how much dirt was embedded in the paint.

Here's the trick I learned from BradB which has really reduced my anxiety: When you open up the new clay bar, cut it into small slices so that you end up with clay sections the size of a silver dollar. Clay with that piece, turn it over and clay with that side, then toss that puppy. That's what I do now. No "folding," no judgment call. It's the conservative approach par excellence, and I recommend it highly.

BTW i started out with two bars of clay magic and had to switch to mothers... i liked the clay magic MUCH more... the mothers bars were thicker and gave me more clay to work with but you can see the dirt on the blue clay magic bars much better.

I'm with kartoon. I'll always grab Mothers before ClayMagic. Of course, I grab Autopia's clay before either of them.

 

[blackmagicwrx]

hmmm so how many strokes can you get outta that small piece? now that i dont have so much dirt in the paint i'm sure i could clay the car again in about an hour.

 

[chris0626]

hmmm so how many strokes can you get outta that small piece? now that i dont have so much dirt in the paint i'm sure i could clay the car again in about an hour.

Hmmmm ... Hard question. Like you, I now have cars that have been clayed. So my dollar-sized piece of clay takes me thru maybe 2 or 3 or the 2'-square sections of my car. I tend to discard it as soon as there's any question. And claying my well-maintained cars now takes only a couple of hours.