wash car after claying?

Why? Go to your glaze if thats what your using. Glazes normally carry petroleum which would remove any clay residual. I would however opt for a quick dry with some water spritzing after claying though. You dont want your lube drying.
 
Why? Go to your glaze if thats what your using. Glazes normally carry petroleum which would remove any clay residual. I would however opt for a quick dry with some water spritzing after claying though. You dont want your lube drying.

Thanks Patrick... This will be my first time using clay. What do you mean about the lube drying? Aren't you supposed to buff the area with a microfiber towel? Any other tips about claying I should know?
 
Should you wash the car after claying or just go right to the glaze?

that would really depend on the lube and clay you are using.
If you use a diluted car shampoo as the lube, I would at least re-rinse the car to get off the soap residue.
Some clay also leave a residue behind, if you are using one that does, I would re-wash and dry completely and not try and put a glaze on top of it.
If you are using a dedicated clay lube and you are leaving nothing behind that you can see or feel then you might be able to go to a glaze, and that also depends on the glaze.
If this confused you, then you should give us more information as to the products you are using ;)
 
I clay while I wash, so after I get done claying an area, I rewash the area, rinse down and move onto the next panel.

"J"
 
I will be using:
Wolfgang clay bar
Wolfgang Clay lubricant
Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer

I really like the results from the Wolfgang paint sealant so I decided to give their other products a try.
 
I rinse the car after I clay it. I do this because little particles of clay as well as streaks and leftovers from claying itself are not things I want to be polishing the car with. It takes a couple seconds and makes the next step of polishing seem more prepared to me.
 
I will be using:
Wolfgang clay bar
Wolfgang Clay lubricant
Wolfgang Paintwork Polish Enhancer

I really like the results from the Wolfgang paint sealant so I decided to give their other products a try.

I would wash it again as most have said ;)
 
Like others have said, I would at least rinse off the car again, but washing it would probably be the safest course of action. No need in taking the chance of polishing anything harmful into your paint when a 15 minute wash will remove anything left over from the claying process.
 
I clay during the wash as well, and personally find that making an extra wash after you clay is a waste of time. Even if I were to clay "stand-alone" I would think that I wouldn't need to wash again. I feel that if you are leaving a lot of crap behind after you clay, then you aren't claying properly.
 
I clay during the wash as well, and personally find that making an extra wash after you clay is a waste of time. Even if I were to clay "stand-alone" I would think that I wouldn't need to wash again. I feel that if you are leaving a lot of crap behind after you clay, then you aren't claying properly.

:cheers:
I agree, and you shouldnt clay the surface, while you wash it. The surface should be as clean as possible before you clay. Your wash water is dirty for a reason,, so why basically clay with it, as a lube. You can use soap as a lube, but ya really shouldnt use the soapy water your washing with. If you want to clay while rinsing, thats even better.
Do yourself a favor, lube and clay about a 2x2, 3x3 area. Wipe with a MF before the lube dries. If you find a need to rewash, just mist with some QD and dry again. If you think you still need a wash, (IMO) theres something wrong. I have never found it necessary to rewash something I just dried, because I clayed. Perform your own little test bed and come to your own conclusion Dman!
 
I always wash after claying with clean water only, it takes 10 minutes. By the way, are any you using the Griots clay head for the PC? Need feedback on this, looks good to me.
 
By the way, are any you using the Griots clay head for the PC? Need feedback on this, looks good to me.

I wouldn't feel comfortable claying any other way than by hand. I feel that it's pretty important to be able to feel the clay moving over the surface just in case you pick up some foreign objects. You'd lose that trying to clay by machine. Claying isn't really that hard of a task to perform by hand either. I just don't see the benefits of purchasing an apparatus to try and do it by machine.
 
I wouldn't feel comfortable claying any other way than by hand. I feel that it's pretty important to be able to feel the clay moving over the surface just in case you pick up some foreign objects. You'd lose that trying to clay by machine. Claying isn't really that hard of a task to perform by hand either. I just don't see the benefits of purchasing an apparatus to try and do it by machine.

I agree :rockon if you clay by machine, you are more than likely to push the clay past it's limit. I tend to kneed my clay often after only a few strokes as it gets pretty dirty. With it on a machine, not only would you need to use the whole bar at once but you might grind dirt back into the finish and scratch it. Clay IS an abrasive :)
 
I wouldn't feel comfortable claying any other way than by hand. I feel that it's pretty important to be able to feel the clay moving over the surface just in case you pick up some foreign objects. You'd lose that trying to clay by machine. Claying isn't really that hard of a task to perform by hand either. I just don't see the benefits of purchasing an apparatus to try and do it by machine.

Thats my thoughts on it to. It really wouldent speed up anything you can only move the pc as fast as your hand would go with a clay bar in it and i usually do 2-3 passes with the clay real quick just to make sure. Plus you can feel different things with it in your hand. If you do get it post a review of it. Intersted to see how it works. :bigups
 
:cheers:
I agree, and you shouldnt clay the surface, while you wash it. The surface should be as clean as possible before you clay. Your wash water is dirty for a reason,, so why basically clay with it, as a lube. You can use soap as a lube, but ya really shouldnt use the soapy water your washing with. If you want to clay while rinsing, thats even better.
Do yourself a favor, lube and clay about a 2x2, 3x3 area. Wipe with a MF before the lube dries. If you find a need to rewash, just mist with some QD and dry again. If you think you still need a wash, (IMO) theres something wrong. I have never found it necessary to rewash something I just dried, because I clayed. Perform your own little test bed and come to your own conclusion Dman!

:rockon
 
I used to use lube. I have changed lately. I first wash the vehicle. I then come back around with a bucket of fresh extra soapy water. I find after liberally applying water this creates a very slick surface. This makes it very easy to clay and also to check both the surface of the clay and car for any contaminates.

I would be wary as others have stated to use any type of machine to clay. Remember that they whole idea of clay is to attract particle that have adhered to your finish. If you are doing it correctly they will not adhere to your clay. If you are not carefully your clay can almost act as a sanding block with the contaminates.

Glad to see you are using clay. Remember a great finish comes from GREAT prep. :rockon


Shawn
 
Thanks for the tips. I clayed my car yesterday and it came out great! Can you use too much lube? I used almost the whole bottle on the car. Wolfgang's products are awesome. Oh, by the way, I didn't have to rinse it after claying. The lube cleaned everything up perfectly.
 
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