Polish or Clay

B

BobD

New member
I was just reading another site and someone on there is pushing that you don't need to clay because polishing does the same thing as claying. I explained the whole embedded rail dust and stuff and they said that a polish will go deep enough to remove the containments. What do you guys think?



From my experience:

We had a local dealer that was getting some new white and light colored trucks back in because of "rust spots" all over the paint. The dealer would polish the truck, they'd go away and the customer would be back in a month with the same spots. It wasn't until they learned to clay the trucks that they stopped returning. I say that the polish just leveled off the rail dust, polished the rust off and it just came back where as the clay bar removed the dust all together.
 
If you dont clay, all you're going to do is drive the contaminants into the paint and marr the crap out of it. As if rubbing a dirty car with a rag. What board is this on?
 
clay then polish...



when i was first trying out my PC on a buddy's commuter car i find it hard to polish the panels i didnt clay. the pad was barely spinning with minimal pressure and took longer to remove defects. the car was heavy on fallouts, the qd turned rusty brown during claying.



contaminants may also get on the pad it not clayed which in turn cause marring
 
Not claying may also cause problems during the polishing process. The paint should be the cleanest of clean prior to even starting the polishing process. Thats why many wipe the car down with alcohol after claying, prior to polishing. Some cars also require a 3 step decontamination process such as the FK or valugard kits, in addition to claying.
 
Ive got a new car and have used the clay bar 2x in the past 4 months. I used Meguiar's® Quik Detailer® as the lubrication for the clay and followed up the clay by wiping the car down with the same Quik Detailer product prior to using a polish and then wax.



Do you think I should be washing and drying the car after the clay or can I stick with my Quik Detailer spray/wipe prior to the polish?



Also, this is a black car and has (so far) almost none of the issues of tiny scratches or spiderwebs Ive seen on some black paint. How often should I be polishing? Is it wrong to polish every week? I'm using Meguiar's® Deep Crystal® system Polish.



'Black Beauty'
 
Rafter said:
Ive got a new car and have used the clay bar 2x in the past 4 months. I used Meguiar's® Quik Detailer® as the lubrication for the clay and followed up the clay by wiping the car down with the same Quik Detailer product prior to using a polish and then wax.



Do you think I should be washing and drying the car after the clay or can I stick with my Quik Detailer spray/wipe prior to the polish?



Also, this is a black car and has (so far) almost none of the issues of tiny scratches or spiderwebs Ive seen on some black paint. How often should I be polishing? Is it wrong to polish every week? I'm using Meguiar's® Deep Crystal® system Polish.



'Black Beauty'
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Claying twice within four months is probably overkill. Unless you routinely park next to an industrial smoke stack, or next to a body shop with lots of paint overspray flying everywhere.



Normally I won't re-wash the car after claying. As long as you buff off the lube after each panel with a good MF cloth, you should pick up 90+% of the contaminants. Polishing should take care of what's left, if anything. Now if I was going straight to waxing after clay (no polishing), then I would DEFINITELY re-wash.



How often should you polish really depends on the process used and the car. Every week is definitely too much. You are wearing away a tiny amount of your clear coat every time you polish, so there is such a thing as doing it too much.



Basically you should polish when you notice your paint starting to get swirled, marred, or spider-webbed. If you don't see those things, then you don't need to polish. I do it twice per year on my car. If you're doing it more often than that, it probably means you are doing something else wrong. For example bad washing technique, or inferior materials will introduce defects on to your paint and increase the need for polishing.
 
I am just getting into detailing at the autopian level. The first time i clayed my car i also did a quick detailer wipe down after i clayed the car just to get any loose contaminants off the surface.



But i think when i completely detail the car this spring i'm going to wash the car after claying...prior to the polishing process. It makes perfect sense for the paint to be a clean as possible prior to polishing.



Just my two cents.
 
Danase said:
It's on a ford focus board I'm on.
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I thank i know what ford focus board you are on . I go on it all so and some of the Kids you can not tell anything. But it is a fun forums
 
04v8s4 said:
I am just getting into detailing at the autopian level. The first time i clayed my car i also did a quick detailer wipe down after i clayed the car just to get any loose contaminants off the surface.



But i think when i completely detail the car this spring i'm going to wash the car after claying...prior to the polishing process. It makes perfect sense for the paint to be a clean as possible prior to polishing.



Just my two cents.
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You yourself called them "loose contaminants". So think about this logically, step-by-step.



Contaminants are embedded in your paint/clear coat.



Clay pulls them out and traps them in the clay leaving the finish smooth.



What doesn't get trapped in the clay is still loosened from the paints surface.



Then you buff off the QD/Lube residue with a soft MF cloth. Anything loose on the paint is going to get picked up by the QD wipedown.



After that, there should be VERY minimal, if any, contaminants on your car. And if t here is anything, they are, as you said, "loose". So a pressure rinse is going to be just as good as a wash.



If you are going to wash after claying, you could save time by not buffing off the QD residue. Just spray, clay, then wash. That will probably be faster, and work just as well.
 
Just to refer to OP, they're probably right in that polishing CAN go deep enough to remove the fallout , but that would mean it's their practice to polish aggressively and take off a lot of clear.



Plus, the contaminants are of a different composition than your paint, and the polish you use is formulated for paint, not contaminants. Who knows what possible effects there could be.
 
Less said:
You yourself called them "loose contaminants". So think about this logically, step-by-step.



Contaminants are embedded in your paint/clear coat.



Clay pulls them out and traps them in the clay leaving the finish smooth.



What doesn't get trapped in the clay is still loosened from the paints surface.



Then you buff off the QD/Lube residue with a soft MF cloth. Anything loose on the paint is going to get picked up by the QD wipedown.



After that, there should be VERY minimal, if any, contaminants on your car. And if t here is anything, they are, as you said, "loose". So a pressure rinse is going to be just as good as a wash.



If you are going to wash after claying, you could save time by not buffing off the QD residue. Just spray, clay, then wash. That will probably be faster, and work just as well.
Click to expand...



Oh i agree completely. I wouldnt take the time to go through the QD wipe down and buff. I'd just roll it outside and give it a quick wash. You're right...any loose contaminants should come right off with a pressure wash...but not everyone has a PW. A quick wash would be the next best thing.



Cheers
 
tnforever said:
Just to refer to OP, they're probably right in that polishing CAN go deep enough to remove the fallout , but that would mean it's their practice to polish aggressively and take off a lot of clear.



Plus, the contaminants are of a different composition than your paint, and the polish you use is formulated for paint, not contaminants. Who knows what possible effects there could be.
Click to expand...



Yeah, I was thinking of that too. They could be using that old school Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound that would take the surface right down. lol It's always a possibility.
 
Yeah, this threads a few days old, but I was washing my car this morning and thinking about doing a write-up on the subject if I can find a “model� for the photoshoot.



Unfortunately, I’d need the right car in the right condition for the pictures to come out really well and I don’t have access to one that would be appropriate right now.



Anyway, I did do it once. I just wasn’t prepared to take pix.



The car had single stage red paint. It actually looked pink because the whole top layer of paint was heavily oxidized. I picked out a section of the hood about twice the size that I would normally compound at one time. I clayed half of it. There were lots of bonded contaminants. Then I compounded both halves with a rotary buffer, Meg’s M84 Compound and Meg’s maroon foam cutting pad.



There’s no question that I took off a lot of paint. I had to remove the entire depth of pink to get down to the red paint below. After buffing the finish was deep red.



Then, I clayed again. And guess what? The half that hadn’t been clayed before still had bonded contaminants. Maybe there was less, but there was still a lot.



Plus, when some of that nasty gunk does get removed while buffing, where does it go? Into your pad, that’s where. That can’t be good for buffing. You can feel that too. Buffing a finish that’s already clayed goes smoother and easier than buffing one with stuck-on gunk.



So I say to use the tools the way they work best, clay for bonded contaminants and compound/polishes to cut paint.





pc.
 
Less said:
If you are going to wash after claying, you could save time by not buffing off the QD residue. Just spray, clay, then wash. That will probably be faster, and work just as well.
Click to expand...



As a plus, with the residue still left you already know where you clayed. It seems silly, but it can save time when you aren't accidentally overlapping spots that you already clayed. When I learned I was told to just wash after a clay, so that is my personal method.



And as a whole, I like this thread. I've heard both arguments, but feel that clay before paint correction is always the best choice.
 
Less said:
How often should you polish really depends on the process used and the car. Every week is definitely too much. You are wearing away a tiny amount of your clear coat every time you polish, so there is such a thing as doing it too much.
Click to expand...





He mentioned he is using Meg's Deep Crystal Polish. Does that have abrasives in it? I don't believe so, I believe it is a Pure Polish which is really just a glaze/paint cleaner. If so, I would guess he can use it all he wants w/o fear of removing clear. He may be wasting time using it so often but his clear should be OK assuming it is just a paint cleaner/glaze.
 
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