Warm Clay = better???

zesty-man

zesty-man

how do ya like it?
the other day, i was claying my mom's tires and lower back of her SUV, when i realzied something. it was a hot day that day, and it was really easy to knead the clay, and was a lot eaiser to use. however, on other days ive noticed taht the clay has been really hard, and at times sticky, so it gets really annoying. do you guys notice a differnce between warm clay and cold clay?
 
Absolutely. Last fall I attempted to clay and it was probably only in the 40's or maybe lower 50's as best I recall. I found it quite difficult to knead the clay. I did some claying just last night in fact and being so warm, it was much easier.

One thought, I would think, and I'm only offering a guess here, but it would seem that warm clay would also do a better job of removing embedded contaminants from the paint as well as being easier to knead.
 
the fact that the clay was sooo malleable made it easy to make the clay nice and wide, so i could cover more space. also, it made claying really fun!!! maybe i should microwave some clay next time....... bad idea/good idea? will microwaving clay do anything to my clay, or my mom's microwave?
 
I don't know this for a fact, but I doubt microwaving is a good idea. And it won't be but a few minutes in the cold again before whateber benefit you might have gained from microwaving will be lost.
 
hmmm, i want to find a way to get the entire clay warm, not just the surface............. anyone have any ideas?
 
It depends......some clay falls apart when warm. I use Autopia clay, the cheap stuff, and it falls apart when warm or hot. I just try to use it out of direct sunlight.
 
Clay on the tires? not heard of that one before. You can warm clay up in the oven. Turn on low and let warm up set inside fro 5 minutes and that should do the trick to start. However it will cool down as you use it but you can get most of the car done before hand.
 
Well, here's a thought on keeping the clay warm when temps outside are such that they cause the clay to become cold and difficult to knead...

You can try a number of different yet similar things, such as heating up a pan of water, not too hot, put the clay in a sealable baggie and take the whole ting outside with you. When not using the clay while wiping off what you've just dine, put the clay in the baggie andin the pan of water.

Another possibility would be to get a small container that is used to keep food either cold or warm, buy one of those items, whatever they are called that allow you to either heat them up or make them cold, heat that up, put it in the container and keep the clay in there and take that outside with you.

Those are just a couple ideas, but anything along that line ought to to the trick I would think.
 
I've used the microwave and it works great to soften the clay. Be sure not to do it for a very long time, as you just want it to get warm so it's easily pliable. I think I did it in 10 second intervals about twice to get it warm enough.:)
 
norahcrv said:
Zesters,
You're in HI, how cold can your clay get?
Norah
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ha! good point. cold for us would probably have to be around 72 degrees F. anyways, i just hate how the clay gets hard, because the harder it is, the harder it is to work with........... ill try running it under some warm water next time
 
Zesters,

I'm not sure that water would help the clay, I know that time spent in "soapy" water will cause it to deteriorate & flake off on your finish.

I just tear/break/cut off a small piece and work it in my hands for a few minutes til it's pliable.

Or you could try some of Keeotee's suggestions, but be sure to keep the clay in a sealed baggie to prevent "contamination" from the water.

Norah
 
I keep a container of hot water nearly when claying. when I notice the clay to be grabbing alot of contaminants I put the bar in the water for about 30sec, which softens it up enough to kneed and remold/reshape.

Ive found that using car wash as QD kills the claybar yet leaving it in normal water dosent seem to have an effect.

Tony
 
willbjew said:
what does clay even do???
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Clay picks up the "grit" that adheres itself to paint and won't wash off. Very small particles of dirt adheres to the paint and over time makes the surface feel gritty. It's especially noticable if you lay a plastic bag on the surface and then feel the surface through the baggie.

If you polish the paiint with this grit still on the surface it will cause microscopic scratches in the paint....like swirls. The proper way to prep the paint for polishing and finally waxing/sealing is to wash, clay, wash, dry, polish, wax/seal. Claying is very easy and simple and makes a huge difference although the difference may not be visible you'll certainly be able to feel the increased slickness.
 
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