Scratches after clay bar!

C

coladuna

New member
Me and my bro used Wolfgang clay bar for the first time.
After finishing, we noticed heaps of scratch marks on the paint, some of which are pretty deep and won't come out with SSR2.5.

What could we be doing wrong?
The instruction says we should feel the clay "grab" at first, but I have no idea what that means. When we moved the clay bar back and forth on the paint surface, we felt like the clay going over sandy particle, but there was no "grabbing" as such.

Is it that we are not using enough lubricants or are we not kneading the clay often enough?

Need help desperately before I try the clay bar again on my car.
I'm feeling very paranoid and scared to clay my car after this experience with my bro's car.
 
coladuna said:
Me and my bro used Wolfgang clay bar for the first time.
After finishing, we noticed heaps of scratch marks on the paint, some of which are pretty deep and won't come out with SSR2.5.

What could we be doing wrong?
The instruction says we should feel the clay "grab" at first, but I have no idea what that means. When we moved the clay bar back and forth on the paint surface, we felt like the clay going over sandy particle, but there was no "grabbing" as such.

Is it that we are not using enough lubricants or are we not kneading the clay often enough?

Need help desperately before I try the clay bar again on my car.
I'm feeling very paranoid and scared to clay my car after this experience with my bro's car.
Click to expand...
What kind of lubricant were you using? I suggest that you make sure that you are using a bonafide clay lubricant and plenty of it. This is very important to minimize any marring that may occur during the claying process.

Dwayne wrote a mighty fine article on how to to use detailing clay that might help you out.

How To Use Detailing Clay
 
you musta had a rock in the clay or something!

the worst clay marring I have every got came our easily with a light polish. Even dry clay with no lube will not make deep scratches. It must have been something that came off the car into they clay and then began scratching.
 
I am using Wolfgang clay lubricant, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I might throw away the used clay and start with a fresh one and see how it goes.
I was warned by the seller not to use too much lubricant because there is a risk of the clay just disintegrating.
 
Break the bar into several pieces (depending on the size of the bar, I usually get 3 or 4), roll one into a ball & flatten it & use. Re-roll & flatten often to give yourself a fresh surface and not drag contaminants across the paint.

You are working on a freshly washed car?

Also, if you drop your clay - throw it away!! :eek

Good Luck & :welcome to the City :)
 
Assuming you washed and dried the car first. My guess is you picked up something or the clay was a medium clay. Medium clay seems to marr more but nothing that can't be polished out. I'm surprised 2.5 didn't take it out though. Can you feel the scratches with your nail? Also it's a good idea whenever you try something new to check your work in small sections. Not a good idea to do a whole car and then find out that it didn't go as planned. I do this for a living and admit on occasion I've done that myself lol. One time I tried a new paint product and put it on like instructions said to do. I spent the next two hours getting it off the paint as it was terrible to remove.
 
Larry A said:
The clay should slide over the paint.There should be no grabbing. Grabbing will cause scratches
Click to expand...

I'm very confused. The instruction says there is grabbing at first but should become smooth as you clay it.
Straight from the word go, I could feel sandy particles when I clayed.
And yes, the car has been washed and dried prior to claying.

I suppose I'll reserve my comments until I have another crack at it.
Thanks for all your help.
 
When you are moving the clay you will feel resistence which will lessen as the surface particals are removed. Since the clay is grabbing the particles and pulling them off the finish (often in layers). You can often hear and feel this too. Now that I know you washed the car, how well did you work the 2.5 into the paint? If you have a PC and some pads that would be great. If doing it by hand you have to rub quite a bit and probably have to use a ssr1 after. I've used the ssr line to remove some pretty nasty defects. If the scratches are so deep that you can catch them on your fingernail then I'm puzzled. I think the advice on using too much lube was bad advice. I've used a lot of lubes and even more soap/water mixtures and have yet to see my bars disentigrate. I spray it till it becomes slippery. On an average car (outside) I'll use 16-32oz of lube. This is why I tend to use a soap water mixture because the cost of lube would be too high and I wouldn't use any less.
 
PhaRO said:
When you are moving the clay you will feel resistence which will lessen as the surface particals are removed. Since the clay is grabbing the particles and pulling them off the finish (often in layers). You can often hear and feel this too. Now that I know you washed the car, how well did you work the 2.5 into the paint? If you have a PC and some pads that would be great. If doing it by hand you have to rub quite a bit and probably have to use a ssr1 after. I've used the ssr line to remove some pretty nasty defects. If the scratches are so deep that you can catch them on your fingernail then I'm puzzled. I think the advice on using too much lube was bad advice. I've used a lot of lubes and even more soap/water mixtures and have yet to see my bars disentigrate. I spray it till it becomes slippery. On an average car (outside) I'll use 16-32oz of lube. This is why I tend to use a soap water mixture because the cost of lube would be too high and I wouldn't use any less.
Click to expand...

I just checked the bottle and I actually used SSR2, not SSR2.5.
I've tried applying it both by hand and with a random orbital polisher I have, but I don't have any pads designed for cutting. Can't really feel the scratches with fingernail either, so I'm guessing that they may come out if I put more elbow grease into it.

I'll be sure to use heaps of lubricants next time I clay bar, which will probably be this weekend.
 
I had a clay bar that i suspected was contaminated so i had to chuck it :beat i bought a new .5 lb bar today and i cut it into 8 peices and rolled them into little balls and put them in a small tupperware container. i cant afford to scratch customers cars or throw out half a bar very often. so ill use one piece per car and throw it away . $3.00 per car is ok .
 
There's also the possibility that the clay exposed the marks that were already there but disguised under dirt, contaminants, etc.
 
I'm not a fan of most retail clay bar systems.

1. I like systems with a bar for light cars and a bar for dark cars. The bar for light cars is less abrasive.
2. I tear off a portion of the bar. This could be 1/3 of a small bar, or less of a larger bar. As the bar becomes dirty and flatter, I fold it in so that there are two exposed clean sides again. I keep doing that until the bar is too small to use and start again.
3. The bar should NOT grab, but will feel smooth and easy with the lubricant. I use an expensive lube that comes with the system I bought when I intend to wax or polish after. As you move the bar, you may feel slight ticks as you hit contaminants.
4. The bar should not disinigrate too much our you will expose dirty parts. Too much disintegration may show that your lube has a solvent in it, or there is some remaining on the paint.
5. I store the bar with a little lube in an air tight container.

A good cut polish will take out most clay bar scratches, but you may need to go deeper than what you usually use. Real cutting is tough on paint and takes a lot of time.
 
Edit to above^ post:
6. Throw bar away if dirty, or if you drop it. Clay is cheap, full scratch repair and paint renewal is not.
 
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