When to Clay bar?!

[andy2485]

I've noticed that some detailers, go and wax or polish without clay baring the surface.. and many have had great looking results. when do you use your clay bar? only when the surface is horrible?

[mjd91]

I use it every time I'm going to wax/seal.

[MrCleanit]

To find out if it really needs it the best way I read and use is the zip-loc bag technique. Put your hand in one and drag it very softly over the paint. If you feel bumps then it's time to clay. My car is my DD and so far I only needed it clayed once so far in about 8 months.

[goodinblack]

I use it every time I'm going to wax/seal.

This. I say screw the bag.

Not literally guys.

[kjk66ss]

I like to go with the every time I wax and seal but I get a little nervous when I maintenance wash, that I will loosen any embedded material and spread it around when drying and when I wipe down after applying my spray wax.

[Andr3wilson]

Well when to clay is a bit of a tricky one for me because recently I haven't clayed any. Why you may ask? I treat the surface with IronX and TarX first to remove a lot.

Then I feel it with my hand and if there is any excess that wasn't removed with the IronX and TarX, I go to clay. Its a good way to speed up the detailing.

[cardaddy]

Well when to clay is a bit of a tricky one for me because recently I haven't clayed any. Why you may ask? I treat the surface with IronX and TarX first to remove a lot.

Then I feel it with my hand and if there is any excess that wasn't removed with the IronX and TarX, I go to clay. Its a good way to speed up the detailing.

Interesting indeed. I've got a CarPro order coming this week with TarX sounds like something I need to try for sure. (Mixing the two)

Back to the OP.....

Personally I would *never* polish without first claying, (decontaminating) Waxing OTOH is something totally different. Customers will want a 'wash and wax' and have no idea what that means, and usually don't even care. The term "wax" can mean pretty much anything these days and more often than not it's a sealant that you can use WHILE drying the car. So.... NO you don't need to clay then because it's something different that is expected of the job.

Will it finish out like if you did it right? Uh.... NO! But that's what some people want.

FWIW, to me it's like a waste of product, but that IS why they make cheap products for those instances. I'll do one this week just like that. Toyota work truck, white with a lot of faded plastic trim and a tonneau cover that really needs some TLC. He doesn't even want me to touch the interior, (GOOD THING as it's trashed!)

My time will be spent bringing the trim and tonneau cover back to life as that's what he wants for $85. Simple spray wax is all he'll get this time around, maybe Duragloss 951. (Which is actually pretty good!)

[hernandez.art13]

This. I say screw the bag.

Not literally guys.

I haven't tried this yet, i've seen detail jobs and have never seen this technique being done. At the end if it's not your own personal car. The customer might not ever know or care about this technique.

A lot of detailers go for the look opposed to the feel.

So in this case I do agree "screw the bag" depending on the result your after.

I go for look and feel though

[y8s]

I was doing a quickie post-winter wash and wax and did not clay. I did see some embedded who-knows-what and feel it in the paint. I wasn't ready to strip and do a full wax however so I didn't clay it yet.

[Detailing by M]

always clay!
If your car has ever been outside it has contaminates on it.
In the day before we had clay, paint was very hard to clean. We always started with a wool pad to "clean" the paint. Now we clay.