Can clay barring cause scratches on a new car?

[rkelmy]

I have a brand new black Dodge Charger which I detailed this past weekend by:

1. wash and dry
2. Iron X
3. rinse and dry
4. clay bar
5. Pinnacle advance finishing polish - orange pad
6. Pinnacle wax - red pad

I see ALLOT of scratches in the paint after following this process and it bugs me!!! the scratches are not isolated to just one area but are over the entire car.

They are not swirls as all of the scratches have a pattern of front to back which is the manner in which I used the clay bar. I used a new clay bar kneading, folding and keeping it well lubricated after each time I completed a section. The clay bar was new, clean and not dropped.

The scratches do not appear to be deep as I rub my finger nail over them and it does not catch.

What can I do to remove these scratches????

Thanks in advance....

[swanicyouth]

Your clay marred the paint. You didn't say which clay you used, but it's common on black. There are different grades of clay. On a new black car, you may want to start with Fine Grade Clay. The only way to get rid of the scratches is to polish them out.

[yakky]

Common on cars with soft paint. Also the problem gets worse if you don't use lots of lube and knead the bar frequently. The fix is to polish the paint.

[rkelmy]

What type of polish would I use? I have pinnacle advance swirl remover would that work with a DA?

[Wors]

What kind of clay and lube did you use?

[swanicyouth]

The Pinnacle should take care of it, but it's all in the technique. Do you have any marrying on your hood or trunk? If so, mark off a test spot and see if you can polish the scratching out. If so, repeat the technique on the rest of the car. If not, you need one of the following:

1. More aggressive pad
2. More aggressive polish
3. More aggressive technique
- more aggressive can be achieved the following ways:
1. Slower arm speed
2. More downward pressure
3. Smaller work area

Hope this helps!

[rkelmy]

What kind of clay and lube did you use?

I used pinnacle ultrafine clay

[iceman978]

I had the same issue when I first started detailing my cars. I found that I wasn't using enough clay lube while claying. Once I got my technique down I got great results. I would suggest just starting the process over making sure that you inspect your results carefully after each step. If you need a more aggressive pad/product combo try the Meguair's MF correction discs and compound. They worked great for me under similar circumstances.

[Wors]

I used pinnacle ultrafine clay

What kind of clay lube did you use?

[Madness87]

Very few can clay an entire vehicles without inflicting some type of marring or fine scratches. It all depends on how careful you work, how much clay lube you use, grade of clay etc.

The trick is to knead the clay often so you do not drag any stuck particles over. You'll also notice them more on dark colored or black cars.

A simple polish once done claying, should remove the marring/scratches.