does claying usually take forever

R

rockstar_style

New member
The first time I clay my car and it takes about 10 hours??? I've got to be doing something wrong. It didn't help that right after I clayed it I got a bunch of paint overspray at work where they were repainting the building and had to do it all over again. I used an entire Clay Magic kit to do it those two times. One thing I question is whether I need to use the clay to get rid of the rust-colored spots where brake dust particles were. That was definitely the most time-consuming. Maybe a cleaner or polisher will do a better (and quicker!) job?
 
I normally take about 20 minutes to do a complete car. 10 hrs is a little extreme! I understand theres some overspray, but thats usually limited to one side of the vehicle, or all horizontal surfaces, etc....Its not slow process, claying is a rather fast process anyways, not something you do at a slow pace....
 
Clay is your best option for getting rid of surface contaminants.



I think you might be doing something wrong. I have found claying to be the quickest and easiest thing to do.



What do the pro's say?? Anybody out there?
 
freedre said:
Clay is your best option for getting rid of surface contaminants.



I think you might be doing something wrong. I have found claying to be the quickest and easiest thing to do.



What do the pro's say?? Anybody out there?
Click to expand...



One first time clay took about 2 hrs to do. There was just so much rust and surface dirt trapped in the paint.
 
I was kind of ambivalent about clay until recently. Now I'm a clay evangelist. ;)



You should be able to clay a moderately contaminated car in 30-60 minutes, tops. Are you trying to clay each speck individually? You are supposed to do areas, such as 1/4 of the hood, at a time with a back and forth sweeping motion. Use plenty of car shampoo or clay lube.



Check out the how to at this site to see if you are using the proper technique.
 
Your paint may be very oxidized and damaged. What kind of car is it and what kind of condition is the paint? Does it have a clearcoat on it? If it doesn't, then you have single stage paint. SS paint oxidizes a lot faster if it isn't cared for.



What I have found to work better if the paint is pretty oxidized is to do a quick clay to remove the harshest contaminants, then grab my PC w/ #83 DACP and clean the paint with that. DACP doesn't just remove swirls it's also a good paint cleaner. I've blown my Dad away when he was watching me do my girlfriend's car one time. I did one side of the trunk lid with DACP and left the other side untouched. It was like running your hand over silk then onto sandpaper. I'm not sure what kind of condition your paint is in, but this is what I did to "smooth" out the paint on my girlfriend's car.



Erik
 
No offense but that's really funny. My boss told me the same thing when he did his car. 10 hours! Holy Bat Krappe! Forget telling him that it took me about 20 minutes in the rain with a very soapy mit. He's the kinda guy you can't tell anything to. Knows everything and pretty un-open to new ideas. The guy still gets a paper check every week and spends his lunch hr. at the bank cashing it, go figure. Anyway it should not take more than an hr. at the worst case.
 
Thanks all for the responses. I obviously can't hide the fact that I'm a newbie. :o BTW, the paint is in good condition. It's a 2000 Accord coupe (silver).



I checked out the link about claying and that's pretty much how I did it. I guess I was just a little obsessive (a bit of an understatement) about the rust spots that the brake dust left behind and clayed each one until it was gone. Since that is a waste of time, what will remove that discoloration? Will a cleaner do it or can a polish do it as well?



I've got an order coming in and AIO, PP, MP are some of the cleaners and polishes that I'll have on hand. Thanks again for the suggestions. I don't want to get burned out before I even get started, though even that wasn't enough to deter me.
 
Clay is GREAT. I felt odd using it for the first time but I got over it. I clay both the cars in the household twice a year. Really an important part of the prep process for a smooth finish. I can do a full size Pathfinder in just over 20minutes. My Eclipse takes a little less.



Shawn
 
AIO and Mp will work great for paint cleansing......Your on the right path, also being as its a rather new car, 4 yrs old, if you clay twice a yr, and detail seasonally, youll have a sound maintenance plan....Its important to have a plan of attack and stick to it.....
 
I checked out the link about claying and that's pretty much how I did it. I guess I was just a little obsessive (a bit of an understatement) about the rust spots that the brake dust left behind and clayed each one until it was gone. Since that is a waste of time, what will remove that discoloration? Will a cleaner do it or can a polish do it as well?
Click to expand...



I dont think it was necessarily a waste of time. You did get rid of the contaminates after all. Maybe your car was just more contaminated than usual. A lot of stuff can accumulate over four years. I dont know of any other way than clay to get rid of stuff like rust spots and brake dust.
 
Well on the bright side, I think you'll be able to shave down the time next time around. You probably did a really great job. Speed comes with practice/experience. I think I took 1 1/2 hours the first time I clayed. It's a lot shorter now.
 
Nickshades said:
does anybody use running water from the hose as a lubricant to clay rather than soap or a final detail spray?
Click to expand...

:xyxthumbs, dependant on the weather...If its warm i will go with soapy water, but cool or cloudy out I will use just water.....
 
a.k.a. Patrick said:
:xyxthumbs, dependant on the weather...If its warm i will go with soapy water, but cool or cloudy out I will use just water.....
Click to expand...



I found as long as the surface is wet it works with water. It picks up a lot more than with soap/water.
 
Don't feel bad - the first time I clayed my own car I took "many hours" too. It doesn't help that you had to remove overspray from your car! :eek: That alone probably was a bear.



It depends how obsessive you are about it too. You can clay a car quickly and knock off "most" of the contamination and leaving the little bit left over for the polish and pad to remove (though not ideal by any means), or you can obsessively go over the car inch by inch.....



Obviously, claying a regularly detailed car is easier than claying one that has never been detailed before or infrequently.
 
Don't let these folks bust your chops, rockstar_style! If some fool says they can clay a car in 15-20 mins., then RUN! In my experience, if you want to do this process to maximum advantage, then you gotta do it slow. (But, then, I believe in doing almost everything slow.) I clay 3-4 times a year on each of my cars, and I'm sure it takes 2-4 hours per car to do it carefully and be sure I'm claying every square MM of the car. If you're taking 10 hours, you may be a little off-the-top. On the other hand, it's kinda like making love to your car. Do you want to do a 20-min. quickie? or do you want a several-hour lovemaking session? Me, I go for the latter.



As you read Autopia, be aware that we have various demographics here. Some folks are top-notch detailers. For them, time is money. They HAVE to learn how to get good results in a little time. Others of us are enthusiasts who nearly worship our cars. For us, it's ok to spend hours (not minutes) claying.
 
rockstar_style said:
The first time I clay my car and it takes about 10 hours??? I've got to be doing something wrong. It didn't help that right after I clayed it I got a bunch of paint overspray at work where they were repainting the building and had to do it all over again. I used an entire Clay Magic kit to do it those two times. One thing I question is whether I need to use the clay to get rid of the rust-colored spots where brake dust particles were. That was definitely the most time-consuming. Maybe a cleaner or polisher will do a better (and quicker!) job?
Click to expand...



Dang, that sucks about the over spray. I would of complained and made the company painting the building pay for a complete detail. This just happened to me recently to both my Mustang and Navigator. My neighbors insurance company paid for it all. $500.00 for the Mustang (it's a convertible and they had to dye the top) and $400.00 for the Navigator. I had the Mustang done by one of the best shops in town and did the Navigator myself and pocketed the money. The hard part about the Navigator was that the over spray was white and the Navigator was white. You could have easily made them pay for a detail. Irresponsibility like that makes me mad.:angry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top