Am I claying too hard?

[costo]

I have neglected my poor cars a while and I’m trying to restore some beauty to them. I’m not at polishing yet but the claying is taking a long time and I’m not sure if I’m over working it as there is so much debris on the paint. Should all the debris come off with the clay or is there an easier step? It’s going to take me almost a day to just clay two cars? Am I over claying? Should I just lighten it up and take anything loose off the paint? Or should I continue to scrub the #### out of it?

[Coatingsarecrack]

I have neglected my poor cars a while and I’m trying to restore some beauty to them. I’m not at polishing yet but the claying is taking a long time and I’m not sure if I’m over working it as there is so much debris on the paint. Should all the debris come off with the clay or is there an easier step? It’s going to take me almost a day to just clay two cars? Am I over claying? Should I just lighten it up and take anything loose off the paint? Or should I continue to scrub the #### out of it?

Seems like along time to clay 2 cars. From what I understand should just be just enough pressure to hold onto car. Clay should do most of the work. Maybe try synthetic clay as it usually is bigger size than the smaller pieces of clay. The come in mitts and towels which will cover more area. They’re also pads for DA’s which I’ve never used but I would think they would be more aggressive. Also an iron remover before coating seems to be a step almost everyone is using now before claying.


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[SWETM]

That debris or contaminants you have problems with claying off. How does they look like and the color of them.

Depending on what kind of contaminants you have a decon wash with a chemical that desolves that kind of contaminants. Different chemicals desolves different kind of dirt. So sometimes an iron remover works and sometimes a tar remover works and sometimes aan APC and last an acid based cleaner can work. That's why I try to determind what I have for contaminants on the paint and use the chemical that desolves it. So the claying gets easier to do. But sometimes it's the clay bar that is needed. And there are different kind of grade of clay. If you have alot of contaminants a aggressive clay bar like Meguiars C2100 and 3M perfect it clay bar will shorten the time it takes to clay the paint. But a follow up with a polishing step is often needed.

[mdbenge]

Hard to know for sure but when I see you saying "...scrub the ####..." then I automatically think YES you are overworking clay. Claying is not to be a major workout, as stated above you just need to apply enough pressure to hold it against the car and let it do the work.

Time to do 2 cars is irrelevant, some of us work very fast - have lots and lots of experience and some are beginners and/or work slower so the time to take does not tell me (or anyone) anything.

Another thing I need to ask beings how I am not sure, are you using any clay lubricant? If so, great, if not then you NEED to use some sort of clay lubricant (some better than others).

Claying does not remove everything as is stated above.

[FUNX650]

I have neglected my poor cars a while and I’m trying to restore some beauty to them. I’m not at polishing yet but the claying is taking a long time and I’m not sure if I’m over working it as there is so much debris on the paint. Should all the debris come off with the clay or is there an easier step? It’s going to take me almost a day to just clay two cars? Am I over claying? Should I just lighten it up and take anything loose off the paint? Or should I continue to scrub the #### out of it?

IMO: The following articles provide
the information towards acheiving
success in the art of Claying vehicles:

Using Detailing Clay

The Baggie Test - How to inspect for above surface bonded contaminants

The 3 primary benefits of using detailing clay to clay paint

Tips and Tricks for using detailing clay

Do I need to wash my car after I use detailing clay to clay the paint?

How often do I need to clay my car?

Video: How detailing clay works and how to use detailing clay to remove above surface bonded contaminants

Bob

[camaro2ssblack]

Did you chemically decontaminate before claying (iron x)?

[Coopers ST]

If you are pushing on the clay, you are claying to hard. Just glide it over the paint. Give enough pressure so you won’t drop it, but you don’t need pounds of pressure.

[dpevans]

If you're pushing that hard you must be making a mess. You let the clay glide over the paint with minimal pressure. Start with a good car wash, then Iron X, tar and bug, then clay, then a second wash. Should be no longer then about an 1 - 1 1/2 hrs to do everything. Then you can start paint correction step if you want or wax or sealant. I have tried the pads but I just like the feel of working the clay in my hand and I can see the contaminants come off in the clay.

[Eldorado2k]

Should I just lighten it up and take anything loose off the paint?

You’re claying the vehicle after you washed it, right? If not then that’s the problem. Wash it 1st! Lol. I doubt you’re making that mistake though...

As far as the claying, if your vehicles are as neglected as you’re describing then yea it can sometimes take an extraordinary amount of time to fully decontaminate the paint.

On the car I recently bought, the paint was in such bad shape that I had to clay the paint a total of 5-6 times very thoroughly until it was fully decontaminated and it took a good while but in the end it was totally worth it.

[the paint was in bad shape]



Don’t stop until the claybar comes up clean... As you can see there’s still a long way to go.



This was after about the 3rd or 4th time of me claying the same panel... Almost there.



Finally, after about the 5th or 6th time it was finally clean [no more gunk coming off onto the clay and the paint was perfectly smooth]



Once your claybar shows up clean like that, any visible gunk left on the paint will only be removed by polishing. The clay does alot but there may be some stuff that only polishing can take care of.


As far as iron removers and spray decontamination goes... The honest truth is they’re overrated. Yes they do their job at removing iron contaminants, but the majority of the decontamination will be done by the claybar.

For example, I still had to clay 5-6 times even after doing the iron decontamination Twice.

1st time.



2nd time.



And I Still had to clay 5-6 times... That’s proof that iron decontamination is overrated.


...Keep claying until the clay comes up clean, sometimes it takes a while but it’s worth it.

[pilotpip]

I don't know if I agree with overrated. Overpriced? Yes.

I've done a couple lighter colored cars that no amount of claying got rid of little rust spots. Iron remover: gone. They were embedded in the clear and the clay wouldn't pull them out.