Street Dreams Detail - Dinan BMW 135i

B

bigbobv

New member
I have tried claying a few times and am left wondering if I just don't understand how to do it -- or just don't understand what it's like when done.



If I use enough spray so the clay does not stick or grab, it seems to slide pretty easily, but I have not tactile feedback that the surface is being cleaned. If I use less spray, it just grabs. I am using light to moderate pressure.



When done, I have a very cloudy mess on the car that has to be washed off thoroughly, but I assume this is normal. However, in looking at the surface, I can't imagine using clay on my black paint without causing a manner of streaks.



Help?
 
Hey Nick:



Yeah, I made a mess of my car when claying as well. This was because I didn't bother to clean up the QD on the car, and wasn't a problem to wash off. When claying your car you can tell if it is working by the feel of it. It feels and sounds like it's doing its job when it is working.



If your car is pretty new there won't be much to take off but the way to test is this: get a thin plastic/cellophane bag and put your fingertips inside of it. Move this over your paint. Wherever you feel rough spots the clay should make some noise and grab the surface a little bit.



By chance, are you using Meguiar's clay?
 
I am using Mother's Clay bar.



I would imagine I would not feel much on a new car, but I used it last week on a '97 Honda Civic that likely had never even been waxed much and I still did not get a "feel" that the clay was working. It either grabbed when it got too dry or seemed to too easily slide over the detailing fluid without seeming to make any contact with the paint.
 
The spot is between too much lubricant or not enough. If it's too lubricated, it won't pick up the surface debris and if it's too dry it may scratch. I use it until it just starts to "grab",

then apply *slightly* more lube until the clay just glides across the surface. I then use some QD

on a towel and clean the area. Works for me everytime, and nothing else smooths the paint like using clay.
 
im with you and the others on this one....maybe as said cause my car is new but i never have really felt any "contamination'...with the claying.......i think im just going with the ABC next spirng...that should get 90% of it all off and i can live with that.....i wont give up but for now im just gonna go with the other product....:rolleyes:
 
embedded dirt and contaminants. clay works well, it leaves a very smooth glassy surface behind. I like to use clay with car wash, on a shady cool day, a few capfulls of car wash in a spray bottle, or on a sunny day, just wash the car, then soap up a panel, clay it and rinse with the hose. If you use too much water some clay bars may leave streaks, but this is easily removed later.........
 
Claying does not feel like work at all. It should just glide across the surface anyway. It removes the debris by shearing them out of the paint. No elbow grease required.



The baggie test is the best test if you need to clay or not. Heck I baggie test while claying to ensure I have a smooth surface.



If you live in the sticks then there may not be that much gook in your paint to be removed.



When done claying I tend to make little animals out of my clay bar. Then I knead it up and form it till it fits back in container. Animal step is optional of course.
 
Claying provides the most results with the least amount of work, for me at least. When properly lubricated, the clay generally only grabs onto your paint when you are detailing a neglected car and there are a lot of embedded contaminants. If your car is relatively smooth and you are just spot claying, don't expect to "feel" the claying grabbing the contaminants too much. Just make sure the surface is smooth and your work is done.
 
You may have "missed" the feel - it will typically clean in one or two passes - after that the paint is smooth and it doesn't do any more work. I have never found "too much" lubricant to be a problem. too little definitely doesn't work, though. If it ever grabs, that's from too little- and that's when you get clay smears.



Of course, if your car didn't need it in the first place, its going to feel free from the start.



Claying isn't something you should need to do very often to your own car - but after a wash, if your paint doesn't feel as smooth as clear, clean glass, you should try it. I think it has one of the highest "reward-to-work" ratios of any process you can do....
 
I love to clay for the reasone CARGUY said. I even clay my windows sometimes.



Clay is an awesome product for paint prep! Fun to do too.
 
Good question Dan. Clay removes a thin layer off the top of your clear (including the contaminant) which is why it works so well. Which is also why Ron says not to do it much, if not at all.

Now is it abrasive? I looked it up in the Webster's dictionary (www.m-w.com) and here's what it had to say.

Main Entry: 1abra·sive
Pronunciation: &-'brA-siv, -ziv
Function: noun
Date: 1853
: a substance (as emery or pumice) used for abrading , smoothing, or polishing.

So it's not in an emery sense but in a polishing one :p I guess!
 
Basically an abrasive in a plasticene matrix. There can be a lot of variations in body clay due to the composition of the plasticene (soft, firm, in between) and the type and amount of abrasive added to the plasticene.

So it pays to experiment with different brands. I think Meguiar's uses a matrix that's too soft. I'm currently using Eagle One's and like it a lot.

Some folks don't like the concept of clay (Larry Reynolds at Car Care Specialties, for one). Like any product it can be misused. But care and common sense prevents most problems.

Here's an interesting article about clay - history, use, etc.
http://www.carwash.com/article.asp?indexid=6631277
 
I guess it is abrasive in the sense of the definition, but it does not scratch, mar or change the clearcoats physical shape. It does not SHAVE any clear coat off or help with swirls. I would use clay on paint before I used any abrasive cleaner wax, that is for sure.
 
The clays I've used Mother's and "AutoSol" - (I can't remember where I got it but maybe this is what Meguiar's ships?) do not seem abrasive at all. They don't leave any sort of swirl/scratches that I can see. And I am pretty darn sure they aren't removing any clear coat from my cars. I always assumed they were just good at establishing a really good flat surface that molds to the shape of whatever you're working on, so that they pick up the above-surface contaminents.



I do know that a) clay bars were developed to remove overspray in paint shops and b) there are more than one type.



Sorry to be so skeptical, but that's my nature. Bretfraz/YoSteve are you sure? Even the article that Bretfraz refers to suggests clay is NOT abrasive. Does anyone know for sure if ALL clay bars are abrasive?
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by bretfraz [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>So it pays to experiment with different brands. I think Meguiar's uses a matrix that's too soft. I'm currently using Eagle One's and like it a lot.

[/b]</blockquote>
There's an EO brand of clay? Couldn't find it on the CMA site. Where did you get yours?
 
Dan E: No, Clay bars do not remove scratches.



Clay bars are for removing "above-surface contaminants" only. The only way to remove scratches (which are below-surface defects) is to polish the surrounding clearcoat down to the same level as the bottom of the scratch.
 
Chad Heath of E1 must have given it to me. I just went to E1's site and I couldn't find it. Wonder if they discontinued it......

Anyhoo, I still have it and am happy with it's performance. I was not happy with Meguiar's clay. Just my experiences.....

Greg - Larry at Car Care told me once that claying was a bad idea. He has a few remarks about clay on his site:
http://www.carcareonline.com/overspray_clays.html

I respect his opinion but it hasn't stopped me from using clay.
 
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