a clay question

[dontsleeponit]

I was wondering, If I wanted to detail a car, and I planned to polish it, is it ever acceptable to skip the claying?

Im not talking about getting paid to do a detail, just to do as quick of a job as possible for a friend while still getting good results. Can you damage the paint, or not get favorable results if there are contaminents on the paint due to skipping the clay?

How about spot claying areas where there are visible contaminents?

I know claying the surface to prep it is important, just wondering if its "necessary" all of the time, and on a vehicle that has never been clayed, but is still relatively new (25-30k miles)

thanks guys

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

You do not have to clay, but it will make polishing alot easier. By the time you clay and polish, it will take as much time to just straight polish because the surface is going to be a little harder to correct. It will not hurt the finish if you do not clay. I just think there will be no time saved and you will feel better about the results.

[TOGWT]

If I’m going to polish the car with an abrasive, do I still need to use detailer’s clay?
One good reason to clay before you polish; polishing can result in smoothing and rounding the surface contamination it making it significantly harder to remove later. Although a polish / compound will remove the contamination there is a risk is that the abrasive particles will become embedded in the foam pad, which will cause surface scratches / marring by making the foam /polish more abrasive than necessary