Confused about frequent claying after a coating.

[Hantra]

All:

i just finished Mike's Show Car Shine book, and it's great. Been reading tons on here, and I'm a little bit confused on one thing. With these silica coatings, like WG Uber Ceramic, which I just applied, how will it be possible to clay frequently?

It it has been said here that claying must be done as frequently as one can feel contaminants, if your daily driver is not garaged. But it's also pretty common knowledge that claying removes waxes and sealants.

Since I just applied the coating a couple weeks ago, I don't know how well it's going to hold up. Are contaminants going to embed themselves in my coating? And if they do, and I fail a baggie test in 2 months, what do I do?

i went with the coating because I wanted to get a year or two out of it. I certainly don't want to clay it off in a few months. But I also don't want my finish at risk. Not sure how many times I can polish this whisper thin, soft Honda paint.

So im wondering what people are seeing with durable silicate coatings, and contaminants.

Thanks very much!

[JeffM]

I clay every 8 weeks or so, real lightly stuff comes right off. ITs not an issue.

[KS_Detailing]

Iron-x every 6 months

[ViperGuy21]

I don't believe claying removes a coating. Coating have to be abraded off with a polish or compound

[antti@561detailing]

All:

i just finished Mike's Show Car Shine book, and it's great. Been reading tons on here, and I'm a little bit confused on one thing. With these silica coatings, like WG Uber Ceramic, which I just applied, how will it be possible to clay frequently?

It it has been said here that claying must be done as frequently as one can feel contaminants, if your daily driver is not garaged. But it's also pretty common knowledge that claying removes waxes and sealants.

Since I just applied the coating a couple weeks ago, I don't know how well it's going to hold up. Are contaminants going to embed themselves in my coating? And if they do, and I fail a baggie test in 2 months, what do I do?

i went with the coating because I wanted to get a year or two out of it. I certainly don't want to clay it off in a few months. But I also don't want my finish at risk. Not sure how many times I can polish this whisper thin, soft Honda paint.

So im wondering what people are seeing with durable silicate coatings, and contaminants.

Thanks very much!

If you used coating, then you have nothing to worry about.
If you used wax or sealant, then you can still use clay, because you will add wax or sealant again.

[Eldorado2k]

I don't believe claying removes a coating. Coating have to be abraded off with a polish or compound

Technically, clay is abrasive. Which coating have you clayed without adverse affects?

[emmjay]

I too am curious about this. I plan on coating my car with PBL v2. Car is parked outisde 24/7 in a busy neighbourhood with 1000's of cars passing each day.

As a rule of thumb I clay every 3-4 months and pick up plenty of contaminants. When coated, how does one maintain the glass like finish(feel) in order to get the 2-3 years that these companies claim on their coatings? If I clayed or polished I would take the coating right off.

Ofcourse I live a few thousand miles away from the US so do no have access to products like iron-x, tar-x and the likes as mentioned above.

My car is a Honda too!

@Hantra - I do not think claying removes all of the waxes and sealants. Clay is supposed to pick up whats on the paint - not whats in the paint...at least that's what ive learned so far. It is debateable but I do remember reading posts that to remove a wax or sealant you would need a chemical cleaner of some sort and that clay would not remove it all.

However here is a quote by Mike Philips:

"Yes (In answer to the OP question of clay removing sealant/wax)

You can minimize the amount of protection ingredients removed by using an ultra fine clay bar and using it gently.

The way I like to answer these types of question is like this,

Does claying add protection to your car's paint?

The answer is "no". And the part to think about is what's the opposite of the word add?"

AND

Here is a quote by Michael Stoops from Meguiars:

"While this is, of course, absolutely true, clay will still remove wax as it is technically a mildly abrasive product. How much wax it removes is going to have a lot to do with how long you work it against the surface. Compare the process to polishing out swirls - a good paint cleaner will get them out, but not if you don't work it long enough. Sure, the QD is there to act as a lubricant to both protect the paint and allow the clay to glide easily, but it's not an impervious barrier."

So yes it does remove it, not completely which is why you polish after (to clean up marring, and to get a fresh clean surface to apply your sealant on).

[Hantra]

I actually read both of those posts, and that's what made me question what to do. It seems paradoxical that one can get 2 years from a coating, AND clay whenever there are contaminants. Seems to me like an exercise in futility.

Maybe coatings aren't such a good idea after all. Especially for the price. I guess I'll know for sure in a few months, when I have to clay it.

[Crispy]

Think of the coating as another layer of clearcoat only tougher.

You can't remove clear coat with clay (best you can do is marring).

Clay pollish and seal (or re-coat) and you are good to go.

[Blackdevil77]

I was wondering this as well. I don't think I'd have to clay that much considering my car is garaged, but I still want to keep the coating as clean as possible without actually removing it.