Ipa w/clay bar damage?

[AdrenalineJunky]

I found a solution for ipa on here for taking off unwanted wax. I was clay baring a car, and had some areas that were stubborn. I tried using the ipa instead of the clay lube which did remove a better part of the stubborn areas. Those areas were then dull and showed fine scratches in the pattern i clayed.

The clay was new for this car and clean. I assumed the ipa simply took off the remaining wax on the car and after waxing the car again those areas would disappear and the scratches were noticeable only b/c of the removal of the wax.

After waxing the car with meguiras carnuba wax, the areas of concern remained.

Was this a bad move using this technique?

What is needed to correct this?

[ShineTimeDetail]

Ipa softens the paint.... its easier to mar the paint while using any Ipa mix.

And claying can mar or put scratches in the paint very easily, depends on how dirty the paint is.

[maximus20895]

When you clay you will most likely mar or scratch the paint regardless of what lube you use. The clay is abrading the contaminants so I don't see how it won't scratch the paint as well.

[Blackthorn One]

Neither alcohol nor water have enough lubricity to be used as a clay bar lube. All clay has some degree of abrasiveness depending upon the grade of the clay. Clay will mar paint if not enough of a satisfactory lube is used. The lube prevents the clay from marring at the same time that it makes it slide easily over the paint. The contaminants that the clay picks up will be pulled up into the clay and away from the paint surface, but you still need a quality lube in order to prevent excessive marring. With an ultra fine clay and excellent lube you might not need any polish after, but with a medium to fine clay you will get very slight marring after claying, and so to get the best shine you will need a fine polish after.
To remove excess wax, you can use wax remover, or in a pinch, you can use a liquid cleaner wax, because the solvents that keep the wax liquid in the bottle will soften the wax on the car, thus enabling you to wipe it off quite easily, if done in a few seconds, and in one to 2 square inch areas.
It sounds like you have scratched up the paint with no lube, and so the solution is to polish. You can do it by hand or machine.
Clay with IPA is a bad move, IMO.

[A4 1.8tqm]

I agree with the reply's so far. To correct the marring caused by IPA & Clay, I suggest using XMT 360 on a White/Gray Lake Country Pad with a DA (or with a lot of "passion behind the pad" by hand, LC Euro Foam Hand Applicators pads are nice).

[AdrenalineJunky]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I may have to change my waxing routine. I was under the impression it was standard to clay bar a vehicle entirely after a wash if waxing. It sounds like this would be doing more harm than good?

Do you clay the entire car, polish and wax? Or will you just wash and then wax?

[embolism]

you don't have to clay the car before every wax

If your car is not garaged, parked under trees frequently, or sees lots of highway driving, then contaminants will build up that won't get removed by washing. This usually happens most on the horizontal surfaces like the hood, roof, and trunk. Claying is usually done when the finish feels like it needs it. This could be monthly, or annually depending on the conditions it is exposed to.

If you don't intend to polish then use a milder clay and an ONR based lube to reduce the chances of marring.

[Blackthorn One]

Feel the paint surface with yhour bare hands or with a plastic sandwich bag over your hand. If it feels smooth, there is no need to clay. If it feels a little rough, then you should clay before wax. Most of the contaminants only settle on the horizontal areas like the hood, roof, and decklid, and so in most cases, you don't need to clay the entire car. You only need to clay the surfaces that are rough. When you clay, you use very light pressure across the surface as you glide the clay across. You don't rub like you are polishing, or even as hard as when you apply a wax or sealant. If there is any doubt, you can use an u;ltra fine clay and see how dirty the clay gets when doing a section. If the clay comes up clean, no need to continue. Claying is not a form of polishing or oxidation removal. (Although a heavy duty clay can remove oxidation as wel in order to save time in extreme cases) Claying just removes emedded particles from the paint, as well as removing things that are only on top of the surface that washing won't remove, like overspray. If you get to a car within a couple days, or preferably a few hours, overspray is easy to remove with clay. I would use a medium to fine grade clay for that.

Claying does cause slight marring, and so if you need to clay, you will need to polish afterwards if yiu want the best shine. Honestly, IMO, for a DD, the Griot's Garage clay I have been using which is medium to fine, doesn't leave any significantly noticabl;e marring behind at least on light colors, so I feel no need to polish after I use it.


Contamination= wash, clay, polish if needed, then wax.
No contamination= wash, polish if needed, then wax.
As aside, polishing really doesn't need to be done but every couple years or less if you wash a car properly.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I would think IPA doesn't have near the lubricity needed when claying. IPA also softens paint if used in high concentrations. I stopped using IPA all together.

[AdrenalineJunky]

I've always heard of people telling about how they clayed their entire vehicle before each wax. Is there a different feeling from a vehicle that needs wax and that needs clay? To me it seems like they are similar...

If you have something that looks like a water spot will claying take it away?

After washing and intending to wax a vehicle, what would you say steps would be before coating it with wax? anything beyond clay?

I would think IPA doesn't have near the lubricity needed when claying. IPA also softens paint if used in high concentrations. I stopped using IPA all together.

I made a mixture awhile ago after learning about it from another member. At that time from what they had to say it was 100% safe for paint, but would remove the wax. Now it sounds like IPA is not 100% safe, and maybe better off staying away from it.