Wash after claying before polishing?

[Mike Phillips]

Yes, I washed before claying. There's people out there who wash again to remove anything that may still be on the surface. I don't see any need for that, but I wanted to ask.

Hi Mark,

Actually your question is a real common question that comes up all the time.

Here's the skinny...

Claying after washing and drying
The most common process is to wash and dry the car, then after drying the car, clay the car section-by-section and after claying a section, while the surface is still wet with your clay lubricant, use a microfiber polishing cloth to wipe that section dry.

Some people may choose to wash and dry the car a second time after the claying process to insure all residue and any loosened dirt or abrasive particles are completely removed. This would be on the AR side of the spectrum because if you do a good job of wiping the paint clean with a good quality microfiber polishing cloth immediately after claying a section then for the most part that section is clean and ready to work on.



Claying while washing but before drying
Another way to clay the paint that is common and popular with professional detailers is to clay the paint during the washing process while the car is still wet as a step-saver to reduce the amount of time invested in the job in an effort to maximize profits.


Three Factors - Time, Labor, Profit


Enthusiast Detailer
If you're an enthusiast detailer, only working on your own cars then time, labor and profit are not usually factors that influence your process. You can invest as much time and labor into your car because your profit is your enjoyment of the process and the results.


Professional Detailer - Anyone detailing a car for money
If you're a processional detailer then you understand that your profit is directly determined by the amount of time you invest into the job plus the cost of materials. Your labor is a given if you're working by yourself and if you hire workers to help you then the cost of their labor must also be factored in.

Because profit is greatly influenced by the amount of time invested into each job, it's only natural to look for ways to save or reduce time. One way is to clay the car immediately after washing the car but before drying the car. The goal is to save a step by not having to dry the car after washing and the re-wetting the car with a lubricant to clay the car and then drying or wiping the car a second time to remove the lubricant. The goal being to get a car washed, clayed and then dried with as few steps as possible.


Clay the car after washing but before rinsing
Some detailers will wash the car and as mentioned above, clay the car after washing each panel using their car wash solution as the lubricant. I've called on and worked with detail shops where the detailers kept their clay bars in their buckets of wash soap as a normal practice. I personally wouldn't recommend this practice as it would be too easy to contaminate the clay but I've seen this done at a lot of production type detail business.

The problem with the above process is that after you wash a car or even just a panel what you have effectively done is loosened dirt, road grim and abrasive particles on the surface and if you now run a clay bar or clay patty over this surface you could grind any of the loosened dirt particles into the clay bar and over the paint possibly scratching the paint.


Clay the car after washing and rinsing but before drying
A better variation of the above is to wash the car, then RINSE the car thoroughly, with a lot of emphasis on the word thoroughly to insure all loosened abrasive particles have been flushed off the car. Now while the car is still wet with rinse water but free from any loosened dirt or abrasive particles, now use detailing clay and a clay lubricant or your car wash solution by dipping your clay bar into your bucket of car wash soap to clay the various panels on the car and then give the car a final rinse before drying.

The above variations of claying after washing but before final drying can all save a detailer some time, the important thing is to focus on the task at hand and do everything you can to avoid instilling scratches into the paint during the claying process. There are some that will say even if the paint is accidentally scratched during the process that it's no big deal as these scratches will be removed in the next steps when the paint is polished and then waxed.

How dirty a car is will also be a huge factor as it relates to any potential for inflicting scratches during the claying process especially if a person chooses to clay the car immediately after washing a panel but before rinsing the panel and flushing off all the loosened dirt, road grim and abrasive particles.


There's no hard rule that says any of the above methods is better than the other because it really comes down to personal preference and even skill level. Lots of Pro detailers are completely able to do any of the above with no problems at all yet I've read threads on forums where usually an enthusiast has tried one of the step-saver methods above and accidentally inflicted scratches into their car's finish.


My take...
My personal preference is to wash and dry the vehicle and then use a dedicated spray detailer formulated for detailing clay and clay the car using a dedicated claying process and after claying each section, wipe the section clean and dry using a microfiber polishing cloth.

[TMD]

In addition to Mike's comments, we've found the clay to break down (fall apart, lose effectiveness) faster when a dedicated lubricant is not used. It may be our water or it may be the clay, just our take on the subject.

[Mike Phillips]

In addition to Mike's comments, we've found the clay to break down (fall apart, lose effectiveness) faster when a dedicated lubricant is not used. It may be our water or it may be the clay, just our take on the subject.

It could be the soap solution that causes the clay to break down also and different clay formulas will react differently than other clay formulas.

The best practice is to use the clay as the manufacture recommends and that's usually with a dedicated clay lubricant.

Using detailing clay with car wash soap or any other type of lubricant outside of the manufactures recommendation is a risk some people are willing to take and anyone doing this should not complain or be disappointed if the clay does not perform as expected.

That's part of the risk a lot of pro detailers will take in an effort to reduce costs and maximize profits.