Detailing 101 - How to clay paint - Tips & Techniques

[Mike Phillips]

Detailing 101 - How to clay paint - Tips & Techniques


A high gloss finish starts with a smooth surface. Over time, airborne contaminants build up on the surface of your car's paint that don't wash off. Contaminants like,

• Overspray paint
• Industrial Fallout
• Traffic pollution
• Tree sap mist
• Airborne dirt and dust

One simple method of safely removing these types of bonded contaminants to clay your car's finish using detailing clay. It's real simple and easy to do and not only will it help restore and maximize gloss it will also enable your choice of car wax or synthetic paint sealant to last longer since it removes the contaminants out of the way that can hinder bonding of the wax or sealant. A good rule of thumb is to clay our car twice a year. You can also inspect your car's paint using The Baggie Test to determine when it's time to clay your car's paint.


In order to clay your car's paint you need,

1. Detailing clay
2. Clay lube
3. Microfiber towels

Detailing clay comes in various grades. In the below picture the clay on the left is an ultra fine grade clay and the clay on the right is a medium grade clay.




Ultra fine grade clay is perfect for newer cars or for follow-up us on cars that are regularly maintained.




The clay on the right is a medium grade clay. This clay is for neglected cars with a great build-up of contaminants.




A clay lube will lubricate the surface as you rub the clay over the paint.





Step 1: Wash and dry your car. You need to remove any loose dirt before using detailing clay on our car's paint. If you don't remove the loose dirt you could grind it into the paint.


Step 2: Remove the clay out of the protective plastic wrapper and knead the clay bar into a clay patty large enough to cover the palm of your hand.






Step 3: Spray some clay lube onto a section of paint. You need enough lube to lubricate the area to be clayed.





Step 4: Place your hand on top of the clay patty and then rub the clay patty over the section of paint with light pressure. Move your hand in a side to side motion in the direction of the length of the car. If the paint has contaminants you'll feel the clay patty drag a little as you start out. After you make a few passes you'll feel the clay patty start to glide effortlessly, this is a sign that the contaminants have been removed in this area.




Step 5: Wipe the clay residue off using a clean microfiber towel.





Step 6: As you work around the car, re-knead the clay patty to fold the contaminants into the clay and expose a fresh clay surface.





That's all there is to it.


If you have never clayed our car before, do the baggie test as shared in this article.


How to use The Baggie Test to inspect the paint on your car



Important Tip
After claying your car's paint you should apply a fresh coat of car wax or a synthetic paint sealant to restore a layer of protection and restore that show room new appearance.




On Autogeek.com

Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay Bar

Wolfgang Elastic Poly Clay Bar - FINE Grade

Wolfgang Clay Lubricant

[AKT]

Hello sir,


Do you recommend polishing after every clay session? Does the medium grade bar more prone in scratching the paint?

[Mike Phillips]

Hello sir,

Do you recommend polishing after every clay session?

Yes. Definitely yes.

People will argue over whether claying mars or scratches paint and I don't really care if it does or doesn't, I prefer to error on the side of caution so for this reason anytime I do ANY form of mechanical decontamination I'm already planning on and allocating time to do at least one machine polishing step.


This single machine polishing step can include machine applying a one-step cleaner/wax.

Does the medium grade bar more prone in scratching the paint?

I'd say yes since it is more aggressive.


Great questions, thank you for asking.

[AKT]

Thanks Mike!

I asked because a few months ago, i experimented with ONRWW as wash and lube, then mothers speed clay, then finished with optimum car wax.

Then a few weeks pass, i started to see very very minor swirls. My hunch tells me it came from claying without polishing.

First time seeing swirls in my 2 year old car.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Mike!

I asked because a few months ago, i experimented with ONRWW as wash and lube, then mothers speed clay, then finished with optimum car wax.

Then a few weeks pass, i started to see very very minor swirls. My hunch tells me it came from claying without polishing.

First time seeing swirls in my 2 year old car.

And it goes without saying, (but I'll type it out), that paint hardness or paint softness is an unknown variable and some paints will be more susseptible to marring or scratching than others.

For me and the type of work I do I pretty much am already machine polishing everything I detail anyways so it's easy for me to tell others to be on the safe side, already plan on doing at least one machine polishing step after claying or using a Nanoskin type product.

[AKT]

And it goes without saying, (but I'll type it out), that paint hardness or paint softness is an unknown variable and some paints will be more susseptible to marring or scratching than others.

For me and the type of work I do I pretty much am already machine polishing everything I detail anyways so it's easy for me to tell others to be on the safe side, already plan on doing at least one machine polishing step after claying or using a Nanoskin type product.

Agree. I thought i could get away without polishing. I was sold on the “wash clay wax” of optimum technologies on youtube

[lj993]

Mike, thank you for the write-up. Do you recommend one clay over another? Poly vs. Regular? Clay runs from $12 to $30, is there a discernible difference? thanks Phil

[AKT]

Mike, thank you for the write-up. Do you recommend one clay over another? Poly vs. Regular? Clay runs from $12 to $30, is there a discernible difference? thanks Phil

I’m interested to know as well.

Clay alternatives are more practical but i still cannot “feel” the actual removal of contaminants.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, thank you for the write-up.

Do you recommend one clay over another? Poly vs. Regular?

Clay runs from $12 to $30, is there a discernible difference? thanks Phil

I personally like the Ultra Poly clay in the Pinnacle line and normally show it in all my classes. It's safe as you can get and with a few more passes than an aggressive clay it will do the same job in most cases.

Also very important to me is it's very malleable or easy to knead. I can't stand clays that are what I call chunky. Chunky means when you tried to twist it like taffy it breaks apart instead of re-molding and re-folding into itself making the user experience horrible.

Trying to knead a chunky clay into a patty is all but impossible except for the Hulk, (both the wrestler and the green guy), or the Rock.


My personal preference is for clays that are white in color because it makes it easier to see any contaminants coming off the paint PLUS in some cases, diagnosis the source of the contaminant.

The only white clay I've used recently was a beta clay and I love it. Meguiar's also has a white clay in their Consumer Line, I think it works kneads well too...

[AKT]

Ooohh... what is that beta clay? Sneak peek please?