Yay or Nay on if I should Clay - detailing poems and haikus

[vaca22]

Car is looking clean,
The paint feels smoother than glass;
Do I need to clay??

Just past year #2 with the coating and I was looking to polish ye olde ride and reapply once again. From what I can tell, my paint is very clean; I'm on it like white on rice and I strongly believe there are no (or very few) embedded contaminants. Certainly I'll do an iron decon but I'm thinking I can skip the clay. Does this sound reasonable?

I will definitely clay the front and rear bumpers, particularly the rear, because I see soot buildup from the exhausts.

Also, I'd really like to get the tires super clean. They're brand new but have already seen tire gel which seems tricky to get off. I have at my disposal Tarminator, TWHS Hyper Foam wheel cleaner, and some Super Clean. I have not yet used Tarminator or TWHS, these are both new purchases. Any advice on getting the rubber its cleanest would be great.

Thanks!

[evo77]

I always clay no matter what when I'm applying new protection.

If the paint is smooth to the touch that doesn't necessarily mean it still can't benefit from a light claying. Rather than a clay bar, use a light version clay towel, it will make very fast work of the clay job.

After the car has been washed and rinsed, and while still wet, use soap from your wash bucket as the lubricant for the clay towel. It should only take 5-10 minutes or so to clay towel the entire vehicle. Well worth the peace of mind knowing that you took the extra effort to ensure there are no bonded contaminants. And it'll make the polishing stage easier too.

As far as your tire cleaning situation, you have good products already, you just need to git'er done with elbow grease man. Tire cleaning isn't rocket science! Spray and scrub with a stiff bristle brush and repeat until tire is clean. ;) I would use Super Clean full strength for pass #1 and #2. Then the rest of the way use TW Hyper Foam.

[WhiteShadow89]

If you are stripping what's left and reapplying you should 100% clay as part of a decontamination wash prior to applying another coating to ensure the surface is prepped properly. By clay I mean use a nano skin fine auto scrub mitt or pad. They will save you a boatload of time over traditional claying.

Super clean with a tuf n shine brush should get your tires plenty clean after a couple of passes. Make sure your tires are completely dry prior to putting any type of tire gel like product on. After application try wiping off any undried residue from your tires as well.

[Bruno Soares]

Baggie test and find out. No reason to scratch the paint if there's nothing to remove. But after 2 years, it's pretty hard to think that no contamination got stuck to the paint.

[evo77]

Baggie test and find out. No reason to scratch the paint if there's nothing to remove. But after 2 years, it's pretty hard to think that no contamination got stuck to the paint.

He said he is polishing. So any potential marring from claying is going to be removed any way.

[MisterSnoop]

If you are stripping what's left and reapplying you should 100% clay as part of a decontamination wash prior to applying another coating to ensure the surface is prepped properly. By clay I mean use a nano skin fine auto scrub mitt or pad. They will save you a boatload of time over traditional claying.


Traditional clay didn't seem to me to be excessively time consuming but I don't do it a ton. I am sticking with synthetic on the front bumper since clay can get stuck in rock chips which are more prevalent there.

[PA DETAILER]

TWHS Hyper Foam wheel & tire cleaner on the tires. Good stuff! Used this myself Sunday on brand new tires. Followed up with a coat of their spray tire coating.

[vaca22]

Glad I asked about this!

I thought the clay towels or mitts somehow ended up marring more than traditional clay. I know when I clay I almost never get any marring. It looks like I'll be claying, which changes my plan - rather than doing it all in one shot, I'm going to do all decon work one day and follow up with polishing and coating the next. If I don't break it down into to separate steps like that, then I'm spending 8+hours in one shot and I'm pretty tired of doing that.

[evo77]

I thought the clay towels or mitts somehow ended up marring more than traditional clay. I know when I clay I almost never get any marring.

In my own personal experience I have not found there to be any ounce of truth to that statement. Using a general grade clay towel (https://www.nanoskinusa.com/products/autoscrub-handy-towel-7-x-7-general-grade?_pos=5&_sid=c78d5074a&_ss=r) on various different vehicles has never marred any of the finishes.

[PaulMys]

In my own personal experience I have not found there to be any ounce of truth to that statement. Using a general grade clay towel (https://www.nanoskinusa.com/products/autoscrub-handy-towel-7-x-7-general-grade?_pos=5&_sid=c78d5074a&_ss=r) on various different vehicles has never marred any of the finishes.

^^^ This ^^^

I have never found any synthetic clays/alternatives to mar. Just use plenty of lubricant.

[Jayfro]

In my own personal experience I have not found there to be any ounce of truth to that statement. Using a general grade clay towel (https://www.nanoskinusa.com/products/autoscrub-handy-towel-7-x-7-general-grade?_pos=5&_sid=c78d5074a&_ss=r) on various different vehicles has never marred any of the finishes.

I’ll respectfully disagree with this. I’ve used both a BF and Nanoskin fine clay mitts and it marred my paint, I was fully expecting it too so I wasn’t upset. Lube was BF lube, griots (forgot which one), ONR, and maybe another that I can’t remember.

I will say my Acura’s black paint is UBER soft, just thinking about it right now my car got pissed and put another scratch on the door!

JF


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[Bruno Soares]

Soft paint seems to marr very easily. My wife’s previous Honda would look terrible after nanoskin but it also polished super easy.