Wearing Through Clearcoat With Microfiber?

[jeremy283]

I just picked up a new car recently and the black bodywork had some white specks on it. Clay didn't remove it so I used really warm water with car wash and a microfiber towel. I spent about 15-20 minutes scrubbing a 2 foot by 2 foot section with pretty good amount of force and using the edges of the towel to assist catch and pick up of the specks but it came off. It looks great now but does a large amount force like that wear on the clearcoat much?

[Mike Phillips]

so I used really warm water with car wash and a microfiber towel. I spent about 15-20 minutes scrubbing a 2 foot by 2 foot section with pretty good amount of force and using the edges of the towel to assist catch and pick up of the specks

It looks great now


but does a large amount force like that wear on the clearcoat much?





Does the area you scrubbed look great in full sun?

Or when you look at the paint in a shaded garage?


If you have not inspected the scrubbed area in full sun I'd recommend doing so to make sure you didn't leave any scratches in the paint.

As for wearing off the clearcoat by scrubbing with a microfiber towel? That would be the least of my worries. You should apply some wax, sealant or a coating however to seal the surface.


Since this was your first post to AGO...


Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:



By the way... what are you working on?



:)

[jeremy283]

It's a new 2015 Corolla. I doubt I could tell now on that paint although I'll check. I washed, clayed with a Mothers clay kit using tons of lube (only like 1-2 passes per section of paint, washed again, waxed with Meguiars Gold Class wax. It looked great but at that point I was just in shop lighting.

The rinse after they clay bar... well the lube definitely left some residue (couldn't feel it though) still slightly visible after a rinse and dry. Which was weird. After the wax though of course it all looked great and nothing was visible from the clay process. I was surprised the instructions didn't even say it needed to be washed/rinse after the clay bar.

Thoughts on my process?

[swanicyouth]

My guess is you didn't buff through your clear coat using a MF towel. However, given a will - there is a way... So, I'm sure it's *possible* to burn clear just using a MF towel and water.

My guess is your mystery "specs" that took so much scrubbing to remove were some type of sap or insect deposits. I recommend always keeping a solvent based tar remover, like Tar X on hand for this. I recommend solvent based because they work better than APC style bug n tar removers for sap, plus they seem to have more lube to them. They will strip wax as well. In a pinch you could simply use mineral spirits.

After claying the car, wipe it down with a waterless or rinseless wash - no need to re wash (unless it was FILTHY with contamination) IME.