How often do I have to strip wax?

C

Cheetah

New member
I had RAG detail my car last week and of course he did a great job. Here are some pictures of his work. Apologies for the low res pics. I wash my car once a week and wax my car about every 3 weeks. I don't have a pc yet but I will buy one this fall when I move. Until then, how often should I use a cleaner wax? Is it ok to just put Natty's Blue on top of the previous layer every few weeks without stripping all the wax?
 

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And if I have to clay that would mean a cleaner wax is necessary?



EDIT: Ok. I re-read your reply. I got it. Thanks.
 
Cheetah said:
And if I have to clay that would mean a cleaner wax is necessary?
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Depends on how aggressively you need to clay. FWIW I've been getting by without using paint cleaner products by using Sonus green Ultra-Fine clay when I need some cleaning before reapplying my LSP. It's been a *long* time since I'vehad to do anything more than that...What ends up happening is that I eventually find some marring that needs polished out and I redo things from scratch at that point. Then I just rewax/use Sonus green for a *long* time again.
 
DieselMDX said:
so by using ultrafine clay you are being less agressive by removing just contaminents and not the wax?
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Yeah, basically. There's a limit to how much claying you can do (even with fine stuff like the Sonus green) but I seem to stay ahead of trouble by LSPing frequently enough with durable products.



I spot-clay as needed with the Sonus green at every wash and I *very* seldom have any sign of LSP wear on the areas where I clay a lot (e.g., rockers and behind wheelwells).
 
Accumulator said:
Yeah, basically. There's a limit to how much claying you can do (even with fine stuff like the Sonus green) but I seem to stay ahead of trouble by LSPing frequently enough with durable products.



I spot-clay as needed with the Sonus green at every wash and I *very* seldom have any sign of LSP wear on the areas where I clay a lot (e.g., rockers and behind wheelwells).
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Ok that makes sense, I ussualy dont clay if the surface is smooth but I will try some of that clay and use before every application.



thanx
 
I've only been an Autopian for a few months but let me get this straight...

Using clay will remove contaminates without removing wax? I thought clay will remove wax.:nervous:
 
Cheetah said:
Using clay will remove contaminates without removing wax? I thought clay will remove wax....How does Mother's Clay compare to the Sonus Ultra-fine?
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How aggressively the clay behaves will depend on a) how aggressive the clay is and, b) how aggressively you use it. It's perfectly possible to clay gently enough to basically just "clean the wax", I've been doing it since the early '90s, but you've gotta be gentle about it and you need to have a reasonably healthy coat of wax on there too. It's also just as possible to "clay the wax right off the car" and to even mar the paint when claying, the trick is to do what you *want* to do and not more/less.



The Mother's clay seems to be identical to the Griot's clay that I used for years. It's pretty mild and you should be able to clay with it without removing the wax if you use plenty of lube and very little/no pressure. But the Sonus ultra-fine clay is much more gentle and is my hands-down choice for jobs when you don't want to risk stripping the LSP.
 
After reading Accumulator's posts on this issue, I followed his clay/wax/polish routines during 2006, and was happy with the results. I used the Sonus green clay before adding another layer of Natty's Blue. As winter approached, I noticed a few very minor swirls. Rather than polish with winter coming, I clayed, and used 845 IW x2.



FWIW, I do keep some Clay Magic around for heaverier claying, but have yet to use int on my car.



I figured the swirls can be polished out in the spring (soon, I hope), at which time I will start from scratch. I'll follow the same routine again. I'll clay before adding another coat of wax (haven't decided whether to stick with NB, or try something else). When the need to deal with marring is there, I'll go back to square one.



With better wash/dry techniques, I do not break out the PC as often, and that's probably a good thing.
 
With regular washing, you shouldn't have to clay very often unless you are usually large amounts of industrial fallout in your area, or live near railroad tracks,



I wouldn't worry about stripping wax, whenever you polish your car again, that will remove any wax already on the car.



Looks like RAG did a great job on your car!
 
The pics don't do it justice. I got this camera in Japan as a gift. The camera was expensive with all the bells and whistles not available in the cameras here in the u.s. However, the pics it takes are horrible. I used to be into photography too. I think it's time I get a nice camera because everytime I post my car's pics here it just doesn't show what it looks like in person.

RAG did a great job.
 
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