Do you clay often?

G

grnzoom

New member
How often do you clay your ride?

It's been about 18 mos, since I clalyed my Miata.

Should I do it again before the Klasse twins are applied?



Nick

Zoom-Zoom:bounce
 
I dunno..... Do you? That's like saying that you haven't cut your hair for 18 months. That might be a bad thing unless you are bald to begin with. lol If you are trying to see how tall the industrial fallout can get on your car then I say let it ride. :D



I think you need to clay whenever it needs it. Usually twice a year should be good. If you live by a freeway or a refinery (in my case, both) or are around other hazardous areas that could increase your need to clay the car, then you will want to do it more often. Just feel the car. Is it rough? Then you need to clay. There is no set number of times a car needs to be done. Its based on the needs of the car to have it done.
 
Nick,



Here is a good way to test.



Wash the car. Take a plastic bag, put it on your hand and rub it across the paint, and if the paint feels rough then you need to clay. If it is smooth then you are fine. I bet it will feel rough and you will need to clay, 18 mo. is kind of a while.



Happy Detailing,

Ian
 
It has been probably close to two years now. I keep my car washed and waxed and the paint still feels smooth. I'm a firm believer in only claying my own car when it actually needs it.
 
I use clay before I wax or seal the paint. I rarely wax the entire car at one time so it's a matter of doing a few panels at a time. I've found that even after a month there will be a few bonded contaminants that washing will not remove so I do a light pass with the clay.
 
When my car sat outside 24/7 - I clayed it twice a year, with occasional spot claying on certain areas. Now that it sits in a garage and only gets driven every other week or so - I don't plan on claying for a while.
 
I "spot-clay" as needed...(works great on bug-strikes!)



Usually clay twice per year, when it won't pass the plastic bag test.



It also will not remove much product, if any.
 
I clayed 3 times this year. Twice for "overhauls" and once for some heavy pollen build up.

I'd probably still clay it even if it passes the bag test before the AIO.
 
Scottwax said:
It has been probably close to two years now. I keep my car washed and waxed and the paint still feels smooth. I'm a firm believer in only claying my own car when it actually needs it.
Click to expand...



Me too, it is definitely a case by case basis. I did mine over a year ago and not since, though I did have to do my front and rear lower bumpers this past spring.
 
i clay everytime im going to do a full detail(in other words, clay, polish, wax)because i want to make sure my surface spotless b4 i seal anything in. Course, my car is a daily driver that gets washed every week or other, and im around construction zones a lot, so I won't take a chance on my paint.
 
I'm with Luster on this- I spot-clay all the time (virtually every wash) and I do a FULL clay with every major detail. Never had a problem from it. Just gotta be gentle about it.



As Jngrbrdman said, it's a case-by-case sorta thing, like "how often should one use a SMR".
 
My cars sit outside 24/7, and this is a big railroad area. I clay 3-4 times from spring thru fall. It's just easier to do it before the contaminants build up.
 
I spot clay every wash. My car is silver and I can see little specks on the paint even when it passes the plastic bag test. These specks don't wash off but claying easily removes them.
 
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