Claying time?

L

litebulb99

New member
As a pure hobbyist, I am sure I take a lot longer than the professionals to detail the exterior of a car. Of all the threads I've read, claying takes at most 30 minutes. I find it impossible to cover that much territory with three fingers worth of clay in that period of time. It usually takes me 15-30 minutes each to cover a hood, roof, door, quarterpanel etc. I end up spending upwards of two plus hours on this process. I think the benefits of claying are there, especially if one's car hasn't had this done before. Any comments?
 
Sure I have a comment.



Claying an entire car in 30 minutes is doing a very poor job. Unless the car didn't need claying in the first place.



It should take no less than an hour. I spend several hours claying on any one vehicle. Speed isn't key here, and being a noob or a pro doesn't change the time it requires to properly clay a vehicle. The time does differ depending on the condition of the paint. More contaminants the longer it will take on any one area before you move on. The less, the shorter.
 
Sometimes my claying goes very quickly indeed, but other times yeah, it can take a long, long time. Just depends on the clay I'm using and the degree/nature of the contamination.
 
I usually take less than an hour to clay a full sized, typically contaminated car. I use a ton of lube and move the clay very fast over the paint, kneading frequently. Seems to work well for me, I don't see how you could spend *hours* claying a car. :nixweiss



This is with your average grade clay (Z18 is what I'm using now) and Meguiar's Last Touch as a lube.
 
If you have to use a gentle clay (say, on an original-paint car you can't afford to mar/correct) and you have significant contamination, it can take a while ;) I can't say I've ever literally spent *hours* at it, but given all the claying I've done I can't say I *never* have either.
 
Just lately and this is with any detailing job not just claying, I find myself saying "its only time", why rush, there is no detailing bible that lays down time limits, each car/job is always different, if you are going your own car or more importantly to do a service for a customer, it needs to be done right. On average a lightly contaminated car only usually needs the lower panels claying so look at 1 to 1.5 hrs in time, feel the paint with your hands they will tell you when to move on to the next panel.
 
I agree with the time. I spent 3-4 hours on my car that was mediocre with contaminates.. Maybe a bit toward the MORE contaminated side than non. The white clay bar was a dark gray when I was finished.



I didn't go extremely slow either,.. I just didn't rush like I was on a clock, moving my clay as fast as humanly possible.



Though, I can easily see doing it in under 2 hours. IE: A reclay of the car in 6-8months or so will take significantly less time.



Moving so fast to get it done in say, 30minutes for 4 door, would almost seem dangerous to the paint -- bringing a greater potential for potential marring/scratching/swirling. As the contaminates break loose and get rubbed with the bar. (The bar sucks them into it, but it is possible a few can be on the surface for a split second)



Though if you get it done in that time, and it doesn't make you break a sweat, and the car is properly clayed -- Then more power to you. I'd like to see a video of a 30 minute clay job on a car that has never been clayed, and is at least 5 years old. Be interesting to see.



On my vehicle it took more than one or two passes on the clay per section to get it smooth as silk. (By passes I mean while doing the section, not coming back to it later).



When I was finished rubbing your hand across any section of the car felt like Jessica Alba's rear end ;)
 
I've only clayed once. I used an OTC clay with their lube and did my GTI in about an hour. It was lightly contaminated as indicated by the condition of my clay and the feel of the surface afterwards. It was the polishing part that took me 3 hours...LOL
 
dublifecrisis said:
It was the polishing part that took me 3 hours...LOL
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That still isn't bad ;)



I've clayed cars in under an hour, then I've clayed a cars that took a lot more. As mentioned, depends on the level of contamination. The one that took me almost 3 was covered in red overspray! I asked where all the red came from and he was astonished that I asked him about it, never thought painting stuff in his garage would do that!
 
Bigpoppa3346 said:
I usually take less than an hour to clay a full sized, typically contaminated car. I use a ton of lube and move the clay very fast over the paint, kneading frequently. Seems to work well for me, I don't see how you could spend *hours* claying a car. :nixweiss
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Mee too. If a vehicle is that bad or will take that long (I'll know after the 1st panel I do), I'll hit it with some 4000 grit sandpaper (~15 minutes). The vehicle has to have some serious contaminants (fallout/rail dust/overspray) for it to need that much attention. If that's the case, I probably wouldn't clay then.
 
Bigpoppa3346 said:
I usually take less than an hour to clay a full sized, typically contaminated car. I use a ton of lube and move the clay very fast over the paint, kneading frequently. Seems to work well for me, I don't see how you could spend *hours* claying a car. :nixweiss
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Ditto for me too... If its so bad that it would take way longer than that, then a heavier duty clay can help...If I'm gonna be taking all of those contaminants off, its likely that I'll be doing a full correction on the vehicle anyways, making any light marring that I may induce to be not a problem as it will get polished out later.
 
For me claying takes about 20 min on an average sized car. I move the clay quite fast and feel if the paint is smooth. Can't see how I could spend hours doing this unless I move my arm really slowly. The car should look quite clean when claying, I use some solvents if I see any dirt stuck on the paint after a wash. Too risky to clay on visible dirt like tar and such and a waste of clay.
 
[quote name='Neofate']I agree with the time. I spent 3-4 hours on my car that was mediocre with contaminates.. Maybe a bit toward the MORE contaminated side than non. The white clay bar was a dark gray when I was finished.

3-4 hours? Wow, that's a long time claying!
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Neofate said:
When I was finished rubbing your hand across any section of the car felt like Jessica Alba's rear end ;)
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:bow:bow:woot2:



Ok, back on topic!



I agree with David F. Unless the surface has some SERIOUS contamination, claying should take no more than an hour for an avg sized car. Any more time than that and I would have to think the surface is contaminated beyond the point of claying.
 
David Fermani said:
If a vehicle is that bad or will take that long (I'll know after the 1st panel I do.. I probably wouldn't clay then.
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I think I'd reach for the decontamination system in cases like that. But I'd still clay while the acidic step was dwelling.
 
I suppose it was just me being over-thorough. It didn't hurt anything claying as long as I did.. I now know it isn't 'normal' to go that long. Next clay I'll shoot for an hour, hour and a half max time. I'll move a little faster. After that 3-4 hour clay, the car had a really clean slate to start with, and now that its polished, it is about as clean as its going to ever get.
 
This is probably like most things: each person will get into their own routine for claying and for the individual car owner, each clay session might get shorter over time. The first time I clayed my 560SL right after I got it, it took me all afternoon. I went over each panel with Speed Shine and clay like I was restoring an old painting; afraid of making a mistake :chuckle:. The previous owners thought clay was something that little kids play with, so it needed a LOT of attention.



Now that the initial agony is over with (although I still have polishing to do) I spend about 1/2 hour with the clay process. When I start on the Scion xB, I expect to spend the better part of a day...small car, but lots of paint!
 
karburn said:
..The first time I clayed my 560SL right after I got it, it took me all afternoon. I went over each panel with Speed Shine and clay..
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Doing initial/serious decontamination with the Griot's clay and SpeedShine *can* take quite a while. Nice and safe though...
 
Does anyone ever use cellophane when they clay?

AstinMartin023.jpg
 
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