Marring from claybar!!!

M

Mr.Dan

New member
I was working on a 6 months old Yaris today, and i thought i give it a good clay because it has never been clayed for the 6000km it has on the odo.



The paint was in fairly good condition with minimal marring. After claying the hood using Meg's mild clay, i noticed random marring where i had clay.



I'm not sure if it was my technique, or the clay has gone bad? Can anyone give me an insight to this?
 
Claying sometimes will cause marring depending on the type of clay and the technique. How did you clay? Did you use lots of QD (or car wash shampoo) and let the clay glide on the surface?
 
I used PB waterless wash as my QD. I usually use the MEg's QD but i ran out.



I also used moderate pressure when i clayed, and used one squirt and clay over an area of approximately 1 foot X 1 foot
 
Mr.Dan said:
I used PB waterless wash as my QD. I usually use the MEg's QD but i ran out.



I also used moderate pressure when i clayed, and used one squirt and clay over an area of approximately 1 foot X 1 foot
Click to expand...



Perhaps your choice of lube isn't slick enough or the fact that you seem to be using too little of it. I just clayed my car yesterday with Mother's clay and for the first time used Meg's NXT wash mixed with water in a spray bottle. I previously was using the QD that came with the Mother's clay. I must say that the Meg's mix works so much better as a clay lube.
 
Without being there, can't say for sure, but your choice of lube is suspect. Easy to duplicate once you get some more QD. I've never had luck with using carwash for clay lube. Most QD's diluted 2:1 seem to work well enough though.
 
The same thing happened to me before I found Autopia and Zaino Z18.

I used the same Mothers and their lube , it was on black which didn't help.

I was told to use plenty of lube and not press to hard, actually put just enough pressure sort of like you were shaving.
 
On soft clearcloats, like toyota, you should expect to get some marring from claying, but this marring should be very light and be easily removed with a light polish, like optimum.



My only recommendation is to fold the clay frequently and use lots of lube.





Kenney
 
Lube is certainly important to the claying process and IMHO its best to use too much that too little in this respect - I spray both the clay and the work area with lube and like to keep the area very wet.



Another thing which may be causing a problem, I know its something I have to pay attention to at this time of year in Scotland, is the temperature of the clay... For many clays, if they get too cold they can become hard and brittle and are more likely to induce marring in this state. I like to run two two bits of clay - one I keep stored in a tub of warm water to keep it supple, and when the other bar gets cold and starts to go hard I swap over.
 
For years I've posted that "properly done, claying won't mar your paint". But then I tried some reformulated clay a while back and it *did* mar, first time it's ever happened to me and I've been claying since forever. My experience with that particuular clay was *exactly* the same as RAG's, and he's been doing this stuff for a long time too. So it seems that sometimes you simply *will* get some marring :nixweiss Hey, it's abrasive process, guess it's gonna happen. Haven't tried the Meg's clay, but the randomness of the marring leads me to think that it might indeed have been process-related (you didn't get marring *everywhere*).



Whatever happened, IMO what to do now is pretty straightforward: Polish it out and stick to ultra-fine clays for most claying jobs. The Sonus Ultra-fine will *NOT* mar if you use it properly.
 
After a complete wash, I leave the car completely wet, drive it into the garage, fill a new bucket with a gallon of water and carwash, and just soap up the exterior and clay from there. When I'm done with the whole vehicle, I pull it outside and rinse it clean. Then pull it back into the garage to dry.
 
joyriiide1113 said:
After a complete wash, I leave the car completely wet, drive it into the garage, fill a new bucket with a gallon of water and carwash, and just soap up the exterior and clay from there. When I'm done with the whole vehicle, I pull it outside and rinse it clean. Then pull it back into the garage to dry.
Click to expand...





That is a good idea
 
yakky said:
Without being there, can't say for sure, but your choice of lube is suspect. Easy to duplicate once you get some more QD. I've never had luck with using carwash for clay lube. Most QD's diluted 2:1 seem to work well enough though.
Click to expand...

Have you ever used Poorboy's Spray & Wipe? It's far more slippery than any other QD I've ever used. It's only called a "waterless wash" because it's basically a QD with no wax, sealant, or gloss enhancers.
 
I clyed my black car using Zaino clay last year. Marred my finish and put light scratches all over. I used lots of lube, but will admit that I applied a bit of pressure. Though many would disagree, I'm not sure I'm sold on using Clay. If you don't apply pressure, then what can clay remove that an abrasive polish can't ? And if particles do come off onto the clay and your still rubbing the same spot (before you turn it) then how can that particle not scratch the surface ? Even if you turn the clay, at some point it is full of particles that can scratch. My black finish has never been the same since I clayed. I have since polished with Menzerna twins, but it still does not seem the same. I would be afraid to ever clay again, and I read all the posts about claying ...
 
I ran out of sonus glyde today (the sonus lube for their clay) and used megs wash soap 1:3 with water.



It is definately not a good ratio, but lubes exceedingly well.



I get some marring too, but it is REALLY hard to notice on my gold colored car.
 
mpmiller37 said:
If you don't apply pressure, then what can clay remove that an abrasive polish can't ? And if particles do come off onto the clay and your still rubbing the same spot (before you turn it) then how can that particle not scratch the surface ? Even if you turn the clay, at some point it is full of particles that can scratch. My black finish has never been the same since I clayed. I have since polished with Menzerna twins, but it still does not seem the same....
Click to expand...



The "shearing" effect of clay is different from the way polishes work; the polishing media (foam, etc.) conforms to the surface *sometimes including the contamination* and can result in "polishing the contamination" rather than truly removing it. Plus, you're effecting more abrasion than you will with a very gentle clay (and lots of lube and very little pressure). I used polishes and paint cleaners for (literally) decades before clay came out and the way clay works is often a huge improvement. And the ultra-fine clays allow you to clean the LSP...polishing would remove the LSP and force you to start over from a point further back in the process.



I agree that the contaminated-clay issue is scary! My way around it is to: a) tear the clay into little pieces and only knead them once/twice before getting out a new piece, b) sometimes knead/replace the clay after a single contact with the panel, and c) only move the clay in small increments as opposed to moving it across several inches of panel- that way you don't end up with inches-long marring. It *is* tricky to find a workable way around this issue. Fortunately, once you get things nice you can use a very mild clay and clean stuff off the LSP as opposed to cleaning it off the paint.



I bet some more work with the Menzerna twins (especially that FPII) will bring your paint back to pre-clay-damage condition. The clay marring I got on my M3 was pretty severe, but as I polish that car the clay marring is the easiest damage to correct, far easier than the damage inflicted by the previous owners when they washed it.



Given your experiences so far, I sure understand your reluctance to clay again. I suggest you get some of the Sonus green/Ultra-fine, that stuff is so mild it barely affects the LSP, much less the paint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top