The clay from hell.

[Excessive Detail]

Okay, so I finally got aorund to polishing my car out agin, I mentioned before that I had did something stupid and caused major marring everywhere. So I washed, then while it was still wet went to clay with sonus clay, the gray bar. I used a peice I had used earlier that day on another car, it was pretty clean, but seemed like it was starting to fal apart, but not enough to worry about, or so I thought. I used a soap water mix in a 32 oz spray bottle, like 2 oz of megs. GC and water, this has been working for me, anyway, after just a few pases on one panel the clay started to make a horrible sound, almost like sand paper and it was quicly falling apart which felt like tiny particles of sand. OF course I chunked the clay, but it was to late, The paint looked like it had been wet sanded in one spot and straight line maring was everywhere, agggggghhhhhhh. Luckly a few passes with my d/a and they were gone. But the earlier mentioned marring is still there and causing me fits, I've tried almost every pad combo. Maybe I'm expecting results to quickly, but I've used ssr 1 with white, blue and orange pads at speeds of 4 to 5, still nothing. My questions are:
What do you guyz think happened to my clay and what would try on the marring, any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guyzs.

[Kelso]

use a stronger polish like ssr 2.5 if you have it or xmt 2/3
no idea why the clay would become sandy like that?

[P1et]

Excessive, the same thing happened to me the other day. I have some Zaino Z-18 that I use on cars I detail. I used it once on my wife's Explorer, and it started falling apart. Used it on a car I detailed, worked just fine. Then used it this weekend on the Explorer, and it was falling apart again. I also go the dreaded particles everywhere and it also sounded like sandpaper. Did a fine job on the paint, but SSR2.5 and SSR1 took really good care of it. No clue what caused it, but I think it might be the Megs Gold Class. The reason I say that, is that when I clay other cars I clay whilst washing and it works fine. Seems that when I use too much lube, it falls apart and starts crapping out on me.

Thoughts?

[Excessive Detail]

Excessive, the same thing happened to me the other day. I have some Zaino Z-18 that I use on cars I detail. I used it once on my wife's Explorer, and it started falling apart. Used it on a car I detailed, worked just fine. Then used it this weekend on the Explorer, and it was falling apart again. I also go the dreaded particles everywhere and it also sounded like sandpaper. Did a fine job on the paint, but SSR2.5 and SSR1 took really good care of it. No clue what caused it, but I think it might be the Megs Gold Class. The reason I say that, is that when I clay other cars I clay whilst washing and it works fine. Seems that when I use too much lube, it falls apart and starts crapping out on me.

Thoughts?

I was thinking that too, maybe I used to much soap and it was making the clay fall apart, when you say when washing do you just use the soapy water from your bucket or just the water left on the car, also I often find that clay leaves marring no matter how careful I am with it, maybe I'm doing something wrong, what your take on it?
Thanks for the help.

[Excessive Detail]

use a stronger polish like ssr 2.5 if you have it or xmt 2/3
no idea why the clay would become sandy like that?

Maybe I should try xmt 2, what pad would you suggest and at what speed, I think I'm not putting enough time in to final polishing, I tend to rush that part, sometimes it works. That actually something I've always wondered about, to you treat a final polish like the initial polishing. Like I said sometimes I can get away with quick passes and light passes, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks for the reply.

[Kelso]

well without seeing it im gonna say #2 with an orange pad then follow up with #1 on white pad. i do all polishing on speed 6, and when i try to go down to 5 it just doesnt feel right...like its not enough power to do the job, but thats my opinion...

i think you might want to try some different lubes and less pressure with the clay maybe. ive heard that incompatible lubes will make a messy bar.
on the subject of clay i was always under the impression it was completely non abrasive but i always get marring and stuff even with brand new bars and such. so it is abrasive right?

[Excessive Detail]

well without seeing it im gonna say #2 with an orange pad then follow up with #1 on white pad. i do all polishing on speed 6, and when i try to go down to 5 it just doesnt feel right...like its not enough power to do the job, but thats my opinion...

i think you might want to try some different lubes and less pressure with the clay maybe. ive heard that incompatible lubes will make a messy bar.
on the subject of clay i was always under the impression it was completely non abrasive but i always get marring and stuff even with brand new bars and such. so it is abrasive right?

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try, I think some clays are just stronger than other from brand to brand, I've even had problems with light clays like, pinn ultra poly clay, maybe it is my technique or lube/clay combo, I'm not sure. I quess it depends on the cars paint. I mean if the car has a lot of junk in it your gonna get marring to get it all off, cuase a light clay won't work.

[supercharged]

I do not recommend using soap as a lubricant, yes it dries out your clay quickly.
Proper clay lube should do the job fine. I use Pinnacle clay lube on my own car, and DP 4-in-1 for bulk detailing. DP is cheap, works very well, and does not dry out your clay.

[ScottB]

it is likely a chemical or ingredient in the wash or qd'er that is not compatible with the clay. Thats why we suggest using the clay lubricant whenever possible.

[FloridaNative]

I agree. I've had that happen to me too with wash soap and water. I always use a dedicated clay lubricant now. I agree with Kelso about using the #2 with the orange pad. You shouldn't need to go to 1 though. The #2 will finish down enough. When you are claying do you apply pressure? I only let it glide back and forth gently with just the weight of my hand and I've never had an issue with it.

[Frugle]

Now for z18, they still recomend using just z7 and distilled water... do you think that is still a a good idea?

[P1et]

I was thinking that too, maybe I used to much soap and it was making the clay fall apart, when you say when washing do you just use the soapy water from your bucket or just the water left on the car, also I often find that clay leaves marring no matter how careful I am with it, maybe I'm doing something wrong, what your take on it?
Thanks for the help.

Yes, I just use the soap/suds from washing the car to clay at the same time. It's very time efficient and the results were excellent. If I just fill up my spray bottle of Megs Gold Class and water, there is too much lube and it ruins the clay... NOT GOOD!

And yes, claying leaves TONS of marring when I do it. No matter how soft I work, not matter how much or how little lube I use, it's always very noticable. But I'm not worried, SSR2.5 and SSR1 have always taken care of it 100% to leave it smoother than all hell!

:D

[Surfer]

Some people use clay while washing, personally I wouldn't as the soap produces almost to thick a layer of lubricity causing the clay not to grab a lot of the contaminates. But also the soap will cause the clay to dry up and fall apart. Some people don't have it happen, but if you look on other forums the majority have their clays crumble when using car wash.

Use a good qd'er and you'll be set.

[Excessive Detail]

I agree. I've had that happen to me too with wash soap and water. I always use a dedicated clay lubricant now. I agree with Kelso about using the #2 with the orange pad. You shouldn't need to go to 1 though. The #2 will finish down enough. When you are claying do you apply pressure? I only let it glide back and forth gently with just the weight of my hand and I've never had an issue with it.

I do the same, using the weight of my hand. How quickly do you usually move back and forth with the clay and how often do you fold it over?

[Frugle]

Some people use clay while washing, personally I wouldn't as the soap produces almost to thick a layer of lubricity causing the clay not to grab a lot of the contaminates. But also the soap will cause the clay to dry up and fall apart. Some people don't have it happen, but if you look on other forums the majority have their clays crumble when using car wash.

Use a good qd'er and you'll be set.
now I haven't had that issue... I clayed the expedition last week while washing with dawn (before polishing,, see thead in show and shine) and going over it with a plastic bag, it left hardly anything behind. (Feeling my camry, which was clayed 3 months ago, feels like sand paper, even though the wax makes it soft to the touch.) (BTW: could someone PM me how the plastic bag technique works to feeling out the contaminates?)