First time claying

kaos

kaos

6-Speeder
Well, I used a claybar for the first time on the truck today. All I can say is.... well... nothing. I'm speechless. Flabbergasted. Taken aback. Stunned. In disbelief. Staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed. In a dreamlike state. Completely immobilized.

This stuff is da schizzle! (did I really just say that?)

I had some tar spots that I scrubbed and scrubbed at the other day with bug&tar remover, and they flat-out refused to budge. I said 'welp, guess I'll just have to see if the clay will take 'em off'. Umm... yeah. Like 4 passes with the clay, and they're gone. Also had some tiny little rust specks all over the bottom of the truck. Dunno where they came from, but I just hoped that they weren't coming from under the paint, cuz nothing I had would take them off. Till now. GONE. The first pass with the clay over the tailgate felt like sandpapaer. Had to stretch and re-knead like 4 times just to get through the tailgate without dragging a bunch of stuff around. It's silky smooth now though. Had some other annoying stuff on the hood that refused to come off with any cleaner I had. Completely forgot about that spot until after I was done claying. However... GONE. With no special attention even paid to that spot.

I wasn't exactly an unbeliever to begin with, but nevertheless, one time with the clay has definitely made a believer out of me.

One question: I used almost the entire bottle of Clay Magic lube that came with the clay to do the truck just this one time. Does that sound right? I know I've got more surface area than the average car, but if I had a full-size truck or a big honkin' SUV, the bottle wouldn't have even made it through one full use. Next time I'm just gonna use some nxt wash solution. Tried that on one panel, and it worked quite well. Much cheaper too. :)
 
Clay Magic does not give you enough lube in my opinion. I'm going to start claying during the wash process or just use a lot of water.
 
Yep, clay's pretty magical stuff.

A friend of mine bought his wife a 1991 Mercedes 500SL convertable in absolute pristine condition (essentially like new) for $18,000. It was lovely. That is, until you rubbed your hand across the surface.

I could feel the contaminents because I knew what to look for. He couldn't feel anything. To show him, I used the old "sandwich bag trick". He got a thin sandwich bag, put it on his hand and then ran it over the surface. He put it on his hand and then, "WHOA! What are all of those little bumps?!?"

We did the same to my Audi (which was carefully clayed, polished and Zaino'd) and he said, "Wow! Smooth!" :hah

Regarding the clay lube... The pre-bottled stuff has two major problems. First, it's very expensive. If you car is pretty dirty (even after washing), you can go through a bottle of the stuff in one car. Second, as a result of the high cost, you tend to use less lube, which is VERY bad.

I've tried two things that work well. First, as TW85 mentioned, claying while washing works pretty well. Second, my preferred method is to separate the wash and clay process, but use a good car wash to make a lube. I use a capful of Zaino Z7 car wash with 18oz of water in a spray bottle. It's a GREAT clay lube and costs about 30 cents a bottle.

With either of these two methods, you save boatloads of money and feel free to use lots of good, paint-saving lube.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Dan.
 
Isn't it wonderful when you buy a product based solely on what you've read + the advertising hype .... and the product DELIVERS as expected.

I had a similar experience first time I clayed (never heard of it till I found DC) and I just couldn't wait to show others.

When claying is necessary, I do it while washing the car with NXT. The NXT car wash provides excellent lubricity and it has never smedged, streaked, or caused any marring on satin silver metallic but YMMV on darker colors.

Shaun: I would be very careful claying over pinstripes. expecially if they're painted, 'cause clay is slightly abrasive. If they're tape, clay gently with a fine grade clay in the direction of the tape, not across it. I have no experience claying over painted pinstripes but my gut instinct is to go very, very easy with a fine grade of clay.

I used Clay Magic blue on my gf's Accord with taped pinstripes and, though claying did not remove them, it seems to remove some color from the tape.
 
I am new at this claying stuff, but as dirty as you make your truck sound you might consider new clay for your truck and use that one for windows or rims. These fine gentlemen could elaborate more on how long to use it, but do be careful.

brian
 
Youd be surprised at how many jobs you can get out of a single clay bar. First off, dont use the whole bar, cut it in halves or even thirds...You should get several jobs out of each 1/2, 1/3rd. I like to use clay during my rinse, ive never really needed anything to lube other than water. Too much lube is not a good thing, as the bar will tend to float on the surface and not adhere to any particals.
 
cutting the clay bar into halves or thirds also helps if you happen to drop the clay. Now you only have to chuck a portion into the trash rather than the whole bar.

After a while, you can knead & fold the clay and it just seems kind of dirty & grundgy no matter what you do so $10 for fresh ClayMagic blue & lube seems like cheap insurance.

I usually clay with NXT car wash water because of the lubricity that NXT provides.
 
kaos said:
had some tar spots that I scrubbed and scrubbed at the other day with bug&tar remover, and they flat-out refused to budge. I said 'welp, guess I'll just have to see if the clay will take 'em off'. Umm... yeah. Like 4 passes with the clay, and they're gone.
Click to expand...

Bug & Tar removers are extraneous, IMO. Claying is cheaper and faster and better.

As for the amount of lube you used, yeah, it sounds like a lot but I used close to 1/2 a bottle on my Civic so maybe a whole bottle on a big truck isn't out of the ordinary. If you did a good job, considering you only need to detail 2 times a year, it's well worth the cost.

As you no doubt found out !! :)
 
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Ah, memories. Seems so long ago that I experienced my first time with Clay. :drunk

As for the lube, yeah, not a surprise. I go through a ton of lube when I clay too. I just use some car wash soap mixed with water in a spayer (I use Z7).

Welcome to the magical world of clay!

:bigups
 
Did not see an answer for this and yes you can. Most pin stripping is under the clear coat, unless yours is aftermarket. If that is the case then I would not put to much pressure or go over the stripping very much. You can work around it but clay should not take it off unless its real thin. The tape style is of no worry only thing there is that the clay might catch on the edge of the tape leaving a little residue, maybe.

IMO I think that clay is one of the best car care products that I use. I do all my details with it takes little time and gets the paint ready for the rest of the detail.



Shaun Carollo said:
Can you clay over pinstripes?
Click to expand...
 
kaos said:
I had some tar spots that I scrubbed and scrubbed at the other day with bug&tar remover, and they flat-out refused to budge. I said 'welp, guess I'll just have to see if the clay will take 'em off'. Umm... yeah. Like 4 passes with the clay, and they're gone.

One question: I used almost the entire bottle of Clay Magic lube that came with the clay to do the truck just this one time. Does that sound right?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the tar that is removed from paint can and does contain small pieces of dirt (abrasive). These pieces when embedded into the clay can create marring and scratching of the paint. (been there; done that)
I agree that many of the Bug and Tar removers do not work. I have found mineral spirits paint thinner to be very effective at removing tar, also many report that WD-40 works well.

I did not like the Clay Magic Lube at all. I had to use too much and a lot of clay residue was left on the paint. I use Meg's #34 Final Inspection(one bottle = about 5 vehicles) or a 50/50 mix of S&W and water. Both work much better IMHO and clean-up is easy.
 
kimwallace said:
Keep in mind that the tar that is removed from paint can and does contain small pieces of dirt (abrasive). These pieces when embedded into the clay can create marring and scratching of the paint. (been there; done that)
I agree that many of the Bug and Tar removers do not work. I have found mineral spirits paint thinner to be very effective at removing tar, also many report that WD-40 works well.
Click to expand...
Yeah, unfortunately, I have also just been there and done that. Upon closer examination the next day after the sun came back up, I noticed that there is some marring and/or very minor scratching in the areas where I know that there was tar. I'm sure they're nothing that won't come out in the spring when I get the PC, though. :D I've got plenty else that I'm gonna need to get out with the PC, so no biggie. The hologrammed panel behind the driver's door though, that may be another story. I may have to find someone around here who can give me some live instruction in the art of the rotary for that. :)

I did the whole truck with 1/3 of the claybar, and knowing all the tar I put into it, and seeing some marring/scratching already, that chunk is pretty much retired to glass. Still got 2/3 of it left, which even at the same pace still gets me through 2 more clayings. Ought to do quite a few more though, since now it's actually been clayed for once in its life. :)
 
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