Claying without stripping old wax first?

[ahains]

Hello,

I have a newbie question that has not been fully alleviated by the reading of the forums I have done so far.



Note that I want to stick with a very simple paint upkeep regiment, I'm not shooting for the optimum level of car care that many Autopians expertly administer.



I would like to clay my car, but it still has some synthetic wax on it ("Nu" or something..). Probably 8 weeks old at this point? It's not silky smooth to the touch any more, but gets a thorough bead of water in the rain.



The illustrations I have seen of claying suggest that it is mostly going to be effective at grabbing particles that stick up from the paint, even if they are quite small.

I'm wondering if I have to do a thorough job of removing the old wax first with rubbing alcohol (after a good washing of course), or if I can just go straight to the clay?



I'm envisioning that the wax is a fairly even and thin coating, so I would expect that any protrusions of contaminants above the clear coat would still be caught by the clay and removed.



I know that some folks say that clay will remove your wax, but then others say that is only if you are pushing too hard. I intend to use very light pressure in my claying, so I don't expect it will fully strip the wax.



Along those same lines, can I then lightly polish without making a purposeful pass of stripping the old wax?



Essentially what I would like to do is:

-Wash thoroughly

-Clay

-Meguire's swirl remover by hand (very gentle stuff, I won't be completely polishing out the swirls, just reducing the visibility of them)

-Meguire's polish by hand (more of a glaze)

-Meguire's Gold Class wax (synthetic, I already have it so I want to use it up)

-Maybe a coat of Meguire's carnuaba (also already have it)



When these products are eventually used up, I would like to switch to an AIO to replace all of the Meguire's steps.



Can you please comment on whether or not I need to worry about purposefully stripping the old wax first?



Thanks!

Adrian

 

[Mikeyc]

You absolutely do not need to worry about stripping the wax. If the clay doesn't take it all off then the Megs Swirl Remover will.

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, the overall combination of what you're planning should clean it all off anyhow.



What I'd do is inspect the finish carefully after each step and see what does what.



And BTW, I think your approach sounds very sensible. Glad you're not getting all wrapped up in the "only perfection is acceptable" stuff we sometimes sorta lean towards around here.



One thought- the Meguiar's #80 is a fairly mild SMR type product that works OK by hand. Just a little more bite than their other similar products and it's what I'd recommend for what you're doing. In fact, it's what I often use on jobs where I'm being sensible and not shooting for true perfection. Follow with one of their "pure polishes" and top with the wax.



In your case, I would *not* switch to AIO either. Some people use it for every detail, but I think you'll prefer the results you get with the Meguiar's approach. The only time I use AIO is when I first achieve a basically flawless finish, which isn't always a practical goal.