Claying Time?

J

jam

New member
I've only clayed 3 cars so far, but it seems to be the most time consuming part of the the exterior care (I don't have a PC or rotary to polish yet). First two cars were in "decent" condition, but both never clayed before. Each one took about 2.5 hours. I just finished claying the hood of a 95 Volvo, never clayed before. I stopped after one hour and I don't think I did such a very good job. I can still feel and hear occasional friction when claying and when I run my fingertips over the paint, it's not as smooth as I think it should be. How long do you spend claying a non-autopian car?



I'm using Chemical guys clay and ONR for lube. For each 2X1 section, I'm using the clay on one side (gets dirty fast), then the other (barely any dirt), then I remold the clay and repeat again on both sides, but I can't seem to get everything out.



Will using something like a paint cleaner after this help? Or is it not really necessary to get everything clayed out if you're planning on a one or 2 step polish?
 
I race my white Mustang often and when it's time to detail it there are a few steps I take to make the process move along smoothly.

First I wash the car with Dawn to strip any wax off of the car.

I then use either Prepsol or Stoeners Tarminator to get any oil, grease, and/or hot tire rubber off the car.

I then wash the car a second time prior to using the clay bar otherwise any solvent which remains on the car seem to break down the clay bar.
 
On a REALLY bad large vehicle I have taken as much as 2.5 hours to clay. Most vehicles are 15-30 minutes, though.
 
This Honda Accord:

7b9b1ec4.jpg




Each 1x1 ft square...

9ae03ae6.jpg




Took me about 4 hours and 2 Megs Mild clay bars. Totally depends on the condition of the vehicle. I suspect that it was never clayed after BOTH of the SoCal fires this year...
 
:eek::eek::eek:



That clay is scary!









I usually clay my cars two to three times a year. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes each. I've done friends cars that have never been clayed; they easily require 1 hour plus.
 
WOW, that's contaminant removal!!! Based on that amount of contamination, especially on a 1 x 1 area, I'd be doing several passes on each section and THAT can get time consuming.



I'm in bythehour's range of 30 minutes normally but that might be different.
 
If a vehicle is really contaminated I use a decontamination system and clay during either/both of the alkaline/acidic steps.
 
I clay my persoal vehicle ~ twice per year and it takes less than 30 minutes.



But for severe contamination on a customers car that hasn't ever been clayed, I can easily spend twice that long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top