Clayed my car and scratched the hell out of it

[BobbyG]

It will vary based on you paint type, clay grade, an clay lube you are using....but I find most cars will see at least some amount of marring from claying. Because of this, I never clay unless I plan on polishing too.

Of the many clays I've tried, this Pinnacle clay (http://www.autogeek.net/ultra-fine-poly-clay.html) seems to be the most mild. A good slick clay lube is also a must and Meguiar's Last Touch is one of my favorites.

Rasky


This is one step that I rarely seen talked about on this forum, and others. I think people are getting bad advice from a lot of the how to articles that don't advise this. IMO if clay is touching paint you should be at the very least using a paint cleaner with a polishing pad to follow it up. Great advice Chad!:dblthumb2:

Very good advise guys!! :props:

Many of us have routines and sometimes overlook the folks just getting into detailing or learning the proper way and steps to make the finish look great.

Basic steps in order are:


Wash
Clay
Paint Correction & Polish
Seal
Wax

While washing is paramount in maintaining the finish on any vehicle there are additional steps that should follow the basic wash several times annually.

My Take on Things

Compounding is "generally" needed once but polishing once to twice annually providing the finish is properly maintained throughout the year. There are a lot of variables that come into play here so this isn't cut and dry.


Is the car garaged?
Does is see a lot of hot sun?
Does it see snow, ice, sand, salt?
Is the environment dusty?
Is it driven daily?
Is the color dark?

Using a good sealant is a nice way to keep that freshly polished surface looking great. Adding a an additional coat will only help and if you're inclined a Carnauba wax will add depth and warmth.

Some of the new hard coatings will also protect a lot longer than any sealant or wax. Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0, CarPro CQuartz, Element 119 are fine examples of the new hard coating available today.

Hmmmm, I may have gotten off track....:laughing:

[CASH XRS]

See, people like myself are glad I am on this forum. I did not know you NEEDED to polish after you clay. I was just going to wash, clay, hit it with a pre-wax cleaner and then wax. So I should clay, then polish, but with what, I plan on using Meguiar's SwirlX down the road when I get a DA, is ColorX a good option for now? I would be doing this all by hand for now.

[sportscarhiatus]

It will vary based on you paint type, clay grade, an clay lube you are using....but I find most cars will see at least some amount of marring from claying. Because of this, I never clay unless I plan on polishing too.

Of the many clays I've tried, this Pinnacle clay (http://www.autogeek.net/ultra-fine-poly-clay.html) seems to be the most mild. A good slick clay lube is also a must and Meguiar's Last Touch is one of my favorites.

Rasky

Good point Rasky and I 100% agree. I too do this. Esp after a long winter. To the guy saying he clays a car in 10 minutes, that has to be when the paint is already glassy smooth. Either that or he does a poor job claying. LOL. After a long winter with all the grit on my car's paint? It takes about a good 4 hours to clay. And yes, my paint is MARRED to hell, despite good kneading, good lubing, and warm temps. I just have to buff it with a gray pad and M205 or Super Finish after. It's a given.

[theparmachine]

When you say you've never noticed the scratching before...

Was this with the same car or other car's you've clayed?


:)


It was with other cars. This one has a silver metalic finish so that may be it. Usually I do go from clay right to compound and polishing and this time I did not. Boy, I won't do that again.

[shoeless89]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, I've never seen any marring from claying

[sportscarhiatus]

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, I've never seen any marring from claying

I would agree with this statement, provided the vehicle that is being clayed is never driven in snow/rain/dirt, etc...

In other words, what I'm saying is, in my toy cars, that only see sunshine and probably 5k miles a year, when I clay it, it's very easy, and I can get it done in under an hour. No marring whatsoever.

But on my minivan for example? or my civic? That sees the harshness of salt and sand along with the brake dust for 4 months out of the year? That crap is EMBEDDED in my paint. So when I clay, I have to go over the same spot, over and over and over and over, till everything comes off. So what happens from repeated rubbing? You guessed it, marring. That's even if the temps are warm and repeated kneading of the clay bar.

[embolism]

have you tried Iron X before claying?

Might make things a bit easier, and save your clay to boot...

[Pagani Zonda R]

It would make some sense that if someone tried to clay his or her car, that some issues would happen if the paint is really dirty (snow, salt, combination of the two).

I live North of Maine and we have winter conditions from December to March. My car is a daily driver (no exception) and it sees a lot of crap of the roads. Today, my charcoal car is brown and white (a crust), I only see charcoal on the roof and the top of the trunk... :awman:

I wash my car every 2 weeks and I must use 3 Cobras washing mits to not "destroy" my paint. The 2 buckets system is really helpful (I change the water and soap 2 times at least). Pre-rinse, wash with care, rewash and dry really gently. I have a heated underground parking at my in-laws. :xyxthumbs:

I have not clayed my car since November but it is still pretty good. I had a good coat of wax from November but it goes pretty thin right now. (I always end my washing with Meguiars Ultimate Quick Detailer, it helps a lot).

I would never clay a car if the paint was really dirty... If you can't wash a car for 4 months in the winter, I'm really sorry for you... I almost cry at the end of my 2 weeks...

Now, it is time to update my inventory for Spring! Bring the Menzerna paint scelant! :props:

[SkateForGirl]

I did this with Wolfgang clay on a little bit of a panel. I threw that crap in the garbage after.
I'll stick with Zaino and some no name brands.

[Laura]

Their's a huge variable that is a HUGE factor in the kind of results you get no matter what product you're using on a car and that is the PAINT SYSTEM on the car. Cars painted on the assembly line use different paint systems between manufactures, models and even the same model can have a different paint system used today than was used last year.

Body shops spray "paint systems", that is a brand and type of paint and paint companies, just like computer companies, are continually improving and changing their formulas, so the PPG "paint system" sprayed today can be different than the same PPG product code/paint system sprayed 2 years ago.

Some paints can be marred or scratched, called clay haze by claying while others are not affected. It all has to do with the characteristics of the paint and paint systems are huge variables when it comes to working and detailing your car.

One thing a person can do before claying an entire car, especially if it's the first time they've worked on this particular car, which is a another way of saying, worked on this particular paint system is to do what I call a Test Spot.

Test the clay and clay lube you're using to one small area and then inspect the results in good lighting and even two different kinds of light. If the results look good then keep claying the car. If you see any kind of problem then stop and evaluate the situation, even come to this forum and describe what you're seeing.

And I agree with Chad that a safe practice is to only clay if and when you were already planning on polishing the paint. That's a safe practice but it's not necessary for everyone and for every paint system.

Here's an article I wrote recently that talks about different paint systems...

Hologram Free with a Rotary Buffer (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/43684-hologram-free-rotary-buffer.html)



:xyxthumbs:

I experienced this last weekend with my car. I finally got around to buffing out all the body shop damage. I hadn't clayed it in a while and it really needed it. The hood and fender that the body shop painted marred something terrible, but the rest of the car was ok. A few places had some haze, but nothing at all like the hood. I was using the Megs clay.

[kimchiboi777]

I was going to clay my car, but now this thread scared me since I know nothing about polishing...

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Speaking of clay, I'm going to order the medium nanoskin clay wash mitt. I'll still wash and rinse the car before claying, I don't like the idea of claying just by rinsing off the loose dirt. There will still be some residual dirt left on the car.

[glen e]

The griots clay is also very mild - always works and never mars..

[sportscarhiatus]

Speaking of clay, I'm going to order the medium nanoskin clay wash mitt. I'll still wash and rinse the car before claying, I don't like the idea of claying just by rinsing off the loose dirt. There will still be some residual dirt left on the car.

You need to change your name to GTizzlin'. :hungry:

[freddie46]

Sorry that happened to you. I use Griot's produsts, Paint Clay and Speed Shine as a lubricant, plus I follow the directions that come with it. It works great and have never had a problem. Glad you were able to get your paint back in good condition.