Mothers Clay Kit on "New-to-Me" Black 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI

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JerryInOCMD

New member
Picked up a Mothers clay kit, and some Megs Ultimate Liquid Wax at Wally World yesterday. Had the car for two weeks and haven't done anything but wash and use some quick detailer. Car looks great, but I really wanted to give it a once-over with the clay bar, then top it off with a wax. I don't own a mechanical polisher, so I figured that I'd skip over the polishing step, and just straight to the wax. The more I read, the more concerned I get about causing more harm than good with the clay on my car's black paint. The car already has some minor swirling (if you look at it in the right light), but it still looks great to an amateur like me. I plan on applying some polish once I get a polisher (advice seems to say polishing by hand is a waste of time).



The car definitely has some contamination, as it doesn't pass the plastic bag test. Should I stop worrying and go ahead with a light clay of the vehicle with plenty of lube? I do have a tendency to over-think things...
 
IMO you won't have a problem. I clayed my 07 Passat annually for 5 years before I purchased a DA with no adverse effects. Also, clayed my wife's non metallic black Golf last year without polishing afterwards with no problem. The Mothers clay is pretty mild and if you use it properly with plenty of lube, light pressure and folding the clay often you should be fine. I've found the clay kits do not have enough lube though to do the entire car. If you pick up some Optimum No Rinse you can mix it at the Detail Spray dilution and mix as much as you need. After claying you can just wipe the surface and you're done. Then you'll have the remainder of the bottle for doing no rinse washes. BTW the Megs ULW is a great sealant--carnuba look, sheets water well and last a good long time--put it on thin, thin, thin.
 
JerryInOCMD- I always decontaminate new-to-me vehicles with the ValuGard "ABC" system, which I consider more effective for this than clay anyhow. Virtually no need to worry about inducing more marring that you would with regular washing since that's basically all it is process-wise (you wash your car with each of the three, "A", "B", and "C", chemicals).



Yes, Mother's clay is usually pretty mild. But remember that a) clay only shears off "above surface" contamination, it doesn't get down into the pores/microfissures of the paint and b) once a bit of abrasive stuff gets stuck to the clay it becomes a potential scratch-machine; I'm constantly kneading/replacing clay when I use it, and I don't mean after moving it a foot or more across a contaminated panel.
 
Just finished up a wash, clay, and wax...I'm very pleased with the results.



Of course, it's raining now, but at least I can watch the water bead up on the car. Guess I'll have to give it a quick wash tomorrow :) I'll try to post some after pics a bit later (I always forget to take before photos).
 
Not the best, but I took some quick shots...

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Jerry, what you're doing is fine. I'm sure later on you'll decide to get a little polisher like a PCXP and some pads, then you'll discover how much faster, and complete spreading wax by machine is over by hand. VW is tough paint, I had a 2008 black GTI and kept it 4 years, still looked great when I traded it. Mother's Clay is what I use when I find myself out of Clay Magic blue.
 
JuneBug said:
Jerry, what you're doing is fine. I'm sure later on you'll decide to get a little polisher like a PCXP and some pads, then you'll discover how much faster, and complete spreading wax by machine is over by hand. VW is tough paint, I had a 2008 black GTI and kept it 4 years, still looked great when I traded it. Mother's Clay is what I use when I find myself out of Clay Magic blue.
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Another thing that surprised me was how much less wax I ise if I apply it by machine instead of hand. It makes a little bit go a lot further by machine rather than hand.
 
brownbob06 said:
Another thing that surprised me was how much less wax I ise if I apply it by machine instead of hand. It makes a little bit go a lot further by machine rather than hand.
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It only works that way for me with certain LSPs, I generally do better by hand. But that's just me...
 
Accumulator said:
It only works that way for me with certain LSPs, I generally do better by hand. But that's just me...
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Agree - I seem to be able to apply a thinner coat by hand than by machine; and when I see pictures that people post of their LSP application using a machine, I am always a bit bemused by how "thick" the application seems, for me at least.
 
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