Mothers Clay with Zaino?

T

Tiger88

New member
So, I've been using Zaino on my car and it's been looking great. I park close to a tree and recently noticed a few sap spots that weren't coming off with the normal cleaning routine. I've never used clay before, but it seemed like the thing to do.



I used the Mothers California Gold Clay package with the Showtime detailer as a lubricant. The sap marks came off great, but the clay really made a mess. When I was done there were a lot of streaks, I tried to clean it up with the Zaino detailer and then put on a coat of Zaino polish. Now I still have streaks under the polish. The streaks look like clay residue or maybe they came from the Showtime QD.



Fortutunately, I only did the trunk lid. Next weekend I'll have to use the buffer to clean it all up and start over.



The question is did I do something wrong, does clay always leave a residue or is Showtime incompatible with Zaino?
 
Tiger88,



I've use Mothers clay before on my Zaino for light touch ups. I would recommend that you use the Z7 car wash for lube. Obviously, wash the entire vehicle first. Then, mix up a small batch of the car wash, or a regular batch if you want to touch up the entire vehicle. Take your wash mitt, and get a bunch of suds and water and apply to say............. half the trunk. Leave the suds on there, and go over the area with you clay bar and rinse off. Just keep the area you are claying well lubed with the suds and wash water.
 
I found the best lube to be Z7. I wash the car, then soap up a panel real good, clay, and rinse.



Mothers Quick Detailer most likely contains some ingredients that are incompatible with Zaino show car polish. I would wash the car with Z7 or Dawn and apply another coat of zaino. That should do the trick...........



DK
 
When I went to use a non-zaino clay on a car I was doing for a friend, I saw that the spray bottle of lube that came with the clay, which was also a QD, contained wax. Since I knew that Zaino and wax do not mix, I used Z7 + water for the lube and had no problems.



Also, as noted above, you do not state that you washed the car after the clay. Yes, clay will leave a clay residue on the car. The car should simply be washed with soap (I used the Z7) to get all the clay off.



My guess is that you did not do that; the Zaino QD (Z6) is not a wash, and that you put the Zaino finish over the clay residue.



I'm not sure how you get it off under those circumstances.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys, you made some good points.



I did wash the car very well before the clay, but because I was only doing a small area I thought I could just clean it up with the Mothers Showtime and then the Zaino Z6.



I've been using Meguiar's Deep Crystal car wash shampoo. It's been working so well I never got around to ordering the Z7, plus I've got a huge bottle of it. Maybe next time I can just use the Meguiar's instead of the Showtime as a lubricant?



Next weekend I plan on using my buffer with 3M Swirl remover to clean up the mess. I've got a little scratch I can work on at the same time. Once I get it buffed I'll put on a fresh coat of Zaino, that should do the trick.



Maybe I should have posted this in the "mistakes you've made" thread. ;)
 
Tiger - was the paint warm to the touch, by any chance? Quite frequently, detailer will streak if sprayed on a warm finish, and it starts evaporating.



What size area were you working with the clay and lubricant?



It a rare day I hear of streaks from our clay bar. Was the area well lubricated? A warm surface, evaporating lube, and a working large area can contribute to the results you experienced.



Any info would be appreciated.
 
Forrest,



I seem to get a little streaking on my 2002 Envoy.( Indigo Blue so it shows everything.) I just wash it with Z-7 and it looks fine. I have done several cars with Mothers Clay/QD and then Zaino with no problem as long as I wash after the clay.
 
Forrest, it was about 9 or 10 in the morning on an overcast day and I was in the shade. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the weather is generally very nice. I don't know exactly what the temperature was, but it was not overly hot or cold.



I only did the trunk lid of my Jag. I did half at a time and tried to keep it wet with the Showtime. The trunk lid is not that big so each half is probably only a couple square feet.



The only thing is that the car is black and very, very shiny. It really shows every little thing. The streaks left after the Showtime and clay would have been noticed by anyone, they looked like smears from each stroke of the clay. After I tried to clean it up with the Z6 and polish the streaks were reduced to something only I, or a fellow Autopian, would notice.



At this point I have streaks under the polish. I guess I should have rewashed the car between the clay and polish steps. It was my first attempt at using clay, but it was also pretty discouraging.
 
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