How long between claying and polishing?

[HuJass]

Hi all,
I'm ready to clay my T/A but I'm not ready to polish it yet.
How long can I wait between claying the car and polishing it?

It might me 1.5 to 2 weeks before I can get back to it for polishing.


I would think that it's not a good idea to clay a car and then let it sit unprotected with the paint pores open. Is this a correct assumption?

The car is in a garage.

Thanks.

[Kamakaz1961]

IMO you are correct. I would just wait and clay and polish at the same time. If you clay and then wait 2 weeks another way to see if it is ok is the baggie test.

But if it were me I would just wait until you can do both at the same time. Claying may take 15 - 30 minutes.

[2black1s]

If your car will be garaged entirely during the wait time I see no concern. If you're going to drive it in between the claying and polishing, then I'd hold off and do it all at once.

If a lack of time is the reason for not doing the entire job at once, consider claying/polishing/waxing a section, or even a panel, at a time over a few or several days.

[asianisafish]

You can wait however long you want. May it be 1 day or 1 year. Depends on how where and what the paint is exposed to

[HuJass]

The car stays in a finished garage that's part of the house.
It won't come out until the detailing is finished.

[2black1s]

The car stays in a finished garage that's part of the house.
It won't come out until the detailing is finished.

Then there should be no problem claying now and polishing later.

[asianisafish]

If it's going to be protected from the elements, you can clay now and let it sit until polishing. Just be sure to wash the car before polishing though

[HuJass]

I washed the car this past Friday and then it went right into the garage.
Do I need to wash it again before I clay?

I thought I could just use my duster on it, then use the detail spray on it, then clay bar it.
Then the next day, repeat the dusting & detail spray, then polish it.
Then the following day,repeat the dusting & detail spray, then wax it.

[kecko]

I washed the car this past Friday and then it went right into the garage.
Do I need to wash it again before I clay?

I thought I could just use my duster on it, then use the detail spray on it, then clay bar it.
Then the next day, repeat the dusting & detail spray, then polish it.
Then the following day,repeat the dusting & detail spray, then wax it.

I would definitely rinse it off first and then go straight into claying. Are you using actual clay or a nanoskin type mitt or towel? If you are using a nanoskin type mitt or towel some members wash the car and then use the suds for lubricity and go right into the clay process. Essentially cutting down time since they will be correcting paint afterwards.

[HuJass]

I'm using actual clay.

[2black1s]

I washed the car this past Friday and then it went right into the garage.
Do I need to wash it again before I clay?

I thought I could just use my duster on it, then use the detail spray on it, then clay bar it.
Then the next day, repeat the dusting & detail spray, then polish it.
Then the following day,repeat the dusting & detail spray, then wax it.

Your plan is absolutely adequate in my opinion. No need to do another actual wash prior to claying under the conditions you've described.

[HuJass]

I think I'll proceed with my plan.
I'll try an inconspicuous spot first.

It's very difficult for me to wash vehicles at my house.
The house is west facing and the driveway is in direct sunlight from about 9 AM thru sunset (8:30ish nowadays).

There's no time in the morning to wash because of work. And I can't do it at sunset due to the mosquitoes (they carry EEE and West Nile Virus around here).

That only leaves a weekend early morning or a cloudy day.
Even though this is CNY and we don't get as much sun as the rest of the country, during the summer, it's either blazing sun or pouring out.

Because of all that, I don't have many opportunities to wash a car.
That's why I was asking if I had to wash it again.
It helps TREMENDOUSLY if I don't.

[DBAILEY]

Since you are going to polish anyways, blow off the car with compressed air and then you can give it a wipe down with something like ONR.