Clay disaster??

[raysaint]

So our new Soul Red mazda, 2 days ago it was time to clay, as part of my winter protection project. I bought a $40 clay towel from Rag Company, and I had some yellow regular clay from a while ago. I used ONR as a lube, sprayed the paint liberally, and sprayed the towel.

Did the sides and the hood first; once done, the sun was shining on the hood, I'm standing on the opposite side, and the hood paint looked like it had a gazillion little scratches. I nearly cried. I realized it's probably straight swirl type marks from the back & forth wiping of the towel. Don't think the paint was like that from the factory.
I used the good old regular clay bar on the roof, and it didn't seem as bad.

Reading some old threads here and on another forum, lots pf people say that happens after claying, and that's why they polish after claying. I don't have weather on my side, so after claying I wiped the car off, then wiped with Eraser, and applied the Klasse Sealant.

So is this normal for clay? did I use enough lube? Will this buff out easily in the spring?

[Setec Astronomy]

Did you break in the clay towel on glass first?

What was your ONR dilution for use as clay lube?

[KirkH]

Clay is an abrasive. If you don't want scratches, you must polish after claybar. There are times when I don't polish after claybar. Like when the car is already marred up, but the owner wants some bonded contaminants removed.

[raysaint]

Yes, lubed and rubbed it on the side windows. Not sure of the exact dilution but it was probably more than recommended. A one litre spray bottle and added at least an ounce.

[PouncingPanzer]

As always, I will forever enforce the belief that clay is for POLISH PREP ONLY. It is not and should not be treated as a stand-alone service.

I have had bad marring from the towel clays. I use standard clays now as I have never had bad marring(still some, obviously) from a standard clay just wipe the butter off your hands and don't drop it. That said I always have a couple extra bars around, just in case.

[Bill D]

I couldnt agree more. I clay strictly before polishing only and its been a mighty long time since I clayed last

[Desertnate]

As always, I will forever enforce the belief that clay is for POLISH PREP ONLY. It is not and should not be treated as a stand-alone service.

Totally agree too. Regardless of whether you use a clay substitute or an actual clay bar and a huge amount of lube, it will leave some marring you'll have to polish out.


I have had bad marring from the towel clays. I use standard clays now as I have never had bad marring(still some, obviously) from a standard clay just wipe the butter off your hands and don't drop it. That said I always have a couple extra bars around, just in case.

You bring up a good point. I think my worst clay marring was from a "clay substitute" Nanoskin pad. It left horrific marring on paint. Clay bars tend to be much better for me as well, though the Blackfire Clay Mitt I've used a couple times isn't too bad either.

[PouncingPanzer]

Totally agree too. Regardless of whether you use a clay substitute or an actual clay bar and a huge amount of lube, it will leave some marring you'll have to polish out.



You bring up a good point. I think my worst clay marring was from a "clay substitute" Nanoskin pad. It left horrific marring on paint. Clay bars tend to be much better for me as well, though the Blackfire Clay Mitt I've used a couple times isn't too bad either.Nanoskin was my bad experience as well thankfully it was just the roof and only one 1/4 of it only I knew it was there.. still pained me though. I did the windows of the car and my wife's car prior. Did great on glass no complaints there. But it touched about 2'x2' section of my GTIs black roof and that was enough for me lol. Waste of $40 from my perspective I use Chemical guys clay bars and no complaints. Strictly use the blue one. With ONR at liberal dilutions.

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[Setec Astronomy]

You guys are making me happy I had accumulated a lot of clay and so never felt the need to buy a clay substitute. Like Bill D, I haven't clayed anything in a long time, but boy one of my cars really needs it in the rocker area. Well, I guess I'll see in the spring after a good tar remover bath.

[Desertnate]

Nanoskin was my bad experience as well thankfully it was just the roof and only one 1/4 of it only I knew it was there.. still pained me though. I did the windows of the car and my wife's car prior. Did great on glass no complaints there. But it touched about 2'x2' section of my GTIs black roof and that was enough for me lol. Waste of $40 from my perspective I use Chemical guys clay bars and no complaints. Strictly use the blue one. With ONR at liberal dilutions.

Too funny. My Nanoskin nightmare was on my black GTI too. Sadly, I did the whole car and when I rolled it out into the daylight to wash off the lube before polishing I was appalled at the appearance of the paint. I think it doubled the amount of time I spent polishing that year.


You guys are making me happy I had accumulated a lot of clay and so never felt the need to buy a clay substitute. Like Bill D, I haven't clayed anything in a long time, but boy one of my cars really needs it in the rocker area. Well, I guess I'll see in the spring after a good tar remover bath.

I'll typically clay every 2~3 years when I polish and recoat our vehicles. Most of the time, they probably don't really need it, but I do notice the paint feels a bit smoother and I do see some discoloration in the clay when hitting rocker panels, lower door areas, and rear hatch/trunk lid. I could probably get by with doing those areas, but will normally do the whole vehicle anyway.

[briarpatch]

As always, I will forever enforce the belief that clay is for POLISH PREP ONLY. It is not and should not be treated as a stand-alone service.

I have had bad marring from the towel clays. I use standard clays now as I have never had bad marring(still some, obviously) from a standard clay just wipe the butter off your hands and don't drop it. That said I always have a couple extra bars around, just in case.

My experience has been the same with clay mitts. I've gone back to traditional clay....Griots (mild) and 3M Perfect It (slightly aggressive). I've always used Griots Speed Shine as a clay lube.

[02whitetundra]

If you watch the DIY Detail youtube channel, they claim their clay towel, even though they call it a ridiculous name, doesn't marr the paint. I call BS everytime I hear it.

[raysaint]

Thanks for all of this. Sure wish I had this info before wasting $45 on the clay towel. I had a fresh bar and a half of regular clay, but my research told me the towels were mild. And with the car being brand new, it probably needed a claying once. And I'll assume that with all the marring, I can be sure most of the contamination and microscopic bits have come off; so no clay in the spring.

But from all that you guys have said, I feel better knowing a polish in the spring will fix this hopefully. I'll seek your advice then, on product and technique.
Thanks to all. I can breathe now.

[dlc95]

I had the Nanoskin clay blocks, mild and aggressive. I couldn't tell a difference. They both scratched up the paint really thoroughly.

I use the Meguiar's clays, mostly the fine C-2000. The aggressive will mar the paint. The fine doesn't seem to impart damage on it's own.

[Setec Astronomy]

LOL, this seems to be universal dislike for the clay substitutes.