aznwhip
02-14-2011, 06:05 PM
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/autogeek_2143_62368812
Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay, clay bars, auto clay, paint cleaning bar (http://www.autogeek.net/sonus-sfx-detailing-clay.html)
I was lucky enough to win this clay in the Sonus contest and in exchange, had to write a review.
Impressions
This is truely an ultra-fine grade clay. With that comes pros and cons depending on what your goals are. It will NOT remove heavy contaminants, but then again, that's not the purpose of this clay. It is a maintenance clay that can safely be used every wash cycle. It removed most light surface contamination and was gentle enough to not cause any marring or even remove my LSP.
Test vehicles
I had three vehicles lined up. One was a brand new Volkswagen Golf TDI that I had just picked up from dealer, the second was my Toyota Camry DD, and the third was my Mercedes C class show car.
VW: Gave it a good wash and inspected the paint. There were lots of embedded rail dust from transporting which were very obvious under close inspection. Some road tar was still there. And there was hard water deposits in a few panels as well. Gave the clay a go using clay lube dilution of OPT ONR. The Sonus clay did a good job removing the road tar and some of the surface water marks, but didn't make a dent on the rail dust unfortunately. I had to kick it up a notch to my DP clay before I was able to make some progress removing. Even then, it took more passes than normal to remove and I was kind of debating moving up to an even more aggressive Clay Magic. Sonus stood no chance against that heavy level of contamination unfortunately.
Toyota: I've got two layer of Collinite 845 on her as my DD and keep her washed every few weeks as my daily. Did a ONR wash on her then proceeded to use the Sonus clay on her. Whenever I do an ONR wash, it never feels as clean as it usually gets when I bring out the pressure washer, but does a fairly good job. However, with this clay, I was able to pick out all the remaining contaminants that wasn't washed out very nicely. Clay didn't get super dirty, but just dirty enough to confirm what I always felt was left after an ONR wash. After rinsing her off, it was also obvious that the clay didn't harm the 845 much if at all as the water still beaded wonderfully.
Mercedes: She's a garage queen so doesn't get out much except for shows or the occasional meets. However, I just got her back from the Chemical Guys show and needed to prep her for upcoming Wekfest. I washed her down with my pressure washer/foam cannon with DP Xtreme. She has a layer of Blackfire Wet Diamond with a layer of Fuzion on top. I took the clay to her and obviously, not too much was picked up, but this was more to see how it would effect the look and performance of the LSP. She still beads like crazy, but there was definitely a noticable lack of shine to her. Don't get me wrong, she still shone, but just not as brilliantly as before. I'll probably end up either putting in another layer of Fuzion or just stripping her down and starting the LSP process again.
Conclusion
All in all, a good maintenance clay. I have no problem using Sonus clay on my daily when I feel the need to remove some slight contamination without really compromising my LSP. Those of you who want to work it into your maintenance cleaning once every week, two weeks, or even month will probably enjoy it for well maintained vehicles. Those who are working on cars that get beat up alot and left to the elements for a while will need something of a higher grade. For me, this clay fits in nicely with my DP medium and Clay magic heavy grade clay for ultimate flexibility.
Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay, clay bars, auto clay, paint cleaning bar (http://www.autogeek.net/sonus-sfx-detailing-clay.html)
I was lucky enough to win this clay in the Sonus contest and in exchange, had to write a review.
Impressions
This is truely an ultra-fine grade clay. With that comes pros and cons depending on what your goals are. It will NOT remove heavy contaminants, but then again, that's not the purpose of this clay. It is a maintenance clay that can safely be used every wash cycle. It removed most light surface contamination and was gentle enough to not cause any marring or even remove my LSP.
Test vehicles
I had three vehicles lined up. One was a brand new Volkswagen Golf TDI that I had just picked up from dealer, the second was my Toyota Camry DD, and the third was my Mercedes C class show car.
VW: Gave it a good wash and inspected the paint. There were lots of embedded rail dust from transporting which were very obvious under close inspection. Some road tar was still there. And there was hard water deposits in a few panels as well. Gave the clay a go using clay lube dilution of OPT ONR. The Sonus clay did a good job removing the road tar and some of the surface water marks, but didn't make a dent on the rail dust unfortunately. I had to kick it up a notch to my DP clay before I was able to make some progress removing. Even then, it took more passes than normal to remove and I was kind of debating moving up to an even more aggressive Clay Magic. Sonus stood no chance against that heavy level of contamination unfortunately.
Toyota: I've got two layer of Collinite 845 on her as my DD and keep her washed every few weeks as my daily. Did a ONR wash on her then proceeded to use the Sonus clay on her. Whenever I do an ONR wash, it never feels as clean as it usually gets when I bring out the pressure washer, but does a fairly good job. However, with this clay, I was able to pick out all the remaining contaminants that wasn't washed out very nicely. Clay didn't get super dirty, but just dirty enough to confirm what I always felt was left after an ONR wash. After rinsing her off, it was also obvious that the clay didn't harm the 845 much if at all as the water still beaded wonderfully.
Mercedes: She's a garage queen so doesn't get out much except for shows or the occasional meets. However, I just got her back from the Chemical Guys show and needed to prep her for upcoming Wekfest. I washed her down with my pressure washer/foam cannon with DP Xtreme. She has a layer of Blackfire Wet Diamond with a layer of Fuzion on top. I took the clay to her and obviously, not too much was picked up, but this was more to see how it would effect the look and performance of the LSP. She still beads like crazy, but there was definitely a noticable lack of shine to her. Don't get me wrong, she still shone, but just not as brilliantly as before. I'll probably end up either putting in another layer of Fuzion or just stripping her down and starting the LSP process again.
Conclusion
All in all, a good maintenance clay. I have no problem using Sonus clay on my daily when I feel the need to remove some slight contamination without really compromising my LSP. Those of you who want to work it into your maintenance cleaning once every week, two weeks, or even month will probably enjoy it for well maintained vehicles. Those who are working on cars that get beat up alot and left to the elements for a while will need something of a higher grade. For me, this clay fits in nicely with my DP medium and Clay magic heavy grade clay for ultimate flexibility.