Clay bar weekend project

[hazardous06]

I 'm planning on using a clay bar on my bright red 04 audi this weekend. As far as I know it has never had it done. I plan on using mothers clay bar, followed by meguiars cleaner paste wax and the finishing with meguiars carnauba paste wax. All of this by hand. I know I need to have a professional paint correction done at some point. My goal of me just doing this is just get rid of the contaminants, smooth paint, to get rid of some of the water spots and a deeper gloss. Is what I'm looking achieve do-able with what I'm using? Also are there any risk? I do not own a DA nor do I feel comfortable trying to use one.

Thanks in advance.

[Mantilgh]

There should not be much risk of using a cleaner wax by hand other than maybe some sore muscles. There is not to much risk using a DA either, just a little. I would think you should see some improvement, but don't expect mind blowing results if you are doing it by hand of course. The water spots might prove to be a bit more difficult, depending on what type they are.

You could divide the car up in to sections and work one per day if trying to complete the whole car in one day is too much. It will make it a little less stressful for you knowing you are just trying to complete one section, like the front end, instead trying to finish the whole car in one go, then realizing half way though the day that you are not going to be able complete it. That way you can relax and take your time and enjoy the process and results.

The amount of time it is going to take you depends on how long you decide to work a section. And how long you work a section will affect your results. If you do a simple wipe on/wipe off, it won't take long but your results won't be that noticeable.

No need to be to afraid of a DA. After you try this by hand you will realize how much you will want one to help you out. Just keep reading around here and you will have the info you need to ease those fears.

Oh, and try your cleaner wax out on a test spot as many on here recommend. Tape off a two foot square, or smaller, or just one simple line of tape. This will give you an idea of the results you will get for the amount of time you have worked the product and allow to compare it directly to an unworked area. With out the tape your test spot will blend into the uncorrected area and not show the true contrast of worked vs. unworked. It will also give you an idea of how hard it is to buff out the wax residue. Some products are meant to be wiped off fairly soon after working and can be really hard to remove if you leave it on there until you finish the whole car. Temperature and humidity can affect products too.

I have not used Meguiars Cleaner wax, but I would assume it is no too temperamental.

[hazardous06]

There should not be much risk of using a cleaner wax by hand other than maybe some sore muscles. There is not to much risk using a DA either, just a little. I would think you should see some improvement, but don't expect mind blowing results if you are doing it by hand of course. The water spots might prove to be a bit more difficult, depending on what type they are.

You could divide the car up in to sections and work one per day if trying to complete the whole car in one day is too much. It will make it a little less stressful for you knowing you are just trying to complete one section, like the front end, instead trying to finish the whole car in one go, then realizing half way though the day that you are not going to be able complete it. That way you can relax and take your time and enjoy the process and results.

The amount of time it is going to take you depends on how long you decide to work a section. And how long you work a section will affect your results. If you do a simple wipe on/wipe off, it won't take long but your results won't be that noticeable.

No need to be to afraid of a DA. After you try this by hand you will realize how much you will want one to help you out. Just keep reading around here and you will have the info you need to ease those fears.

Oh, and try your cleaner wax out on a test spot as many on here recommend. Tape off a two foot square, or smaller, or just one simple line of tape. This will give you an idea of the results you will get for the amount of time you have worked the product and allow to compare it directly to an unworked area. With out the tape your test spot will blend into the uncorrected area and not show the true contrast of worked vs. unworked. It will also give you an idea of how hard it is to buff out the wax residue. Some products are meant to be wiped off fairly soon after working and can be really hard to remove if you leave it on there until you finish the whole car. Temperature and humidity can affect products too.

I have not used Meguiars Cleaner wax, but I would assume it is no too temperamental.

Thanks for the info. Yea my intent was to try and to it in one day tomorrow depending on how the weather is. I had used the meguiars cleaner wax more than 10yrs ago. It was the liquid and it was a pain in the ass to get off. I'm trying the paste this time so hopefully it will be different. I wanted the mothers cleaner wax and the full carnauba, but I can only find the cleaner wax. That is why I went with the meguiars. If it takes me 6-8 hrs and all get to do it was wash, clay and use cleaner wax I'll be happy with that tomorrow and just wax on sunday. I just don't want it to look like crap and worse than when I started. Thats my only fear. I do have a regular buffer so that should help, even though its not a DA.

[MIsnowman]

I've used the Meg's cleaner wax on a couple occasions and was not really impressed with the results either time. It was easy to apply and wipe off, but I didn't think it did a whole lot of "cleaning". I had much better results using Meg's Ult. Polish topped with Ult. Wax. Since you plan on topping the cleaner wax anyways, you might be better off using a fine polish vs the cleaner wax. It will take awhile working by hand, but shouldn't be much worse than the cleaner wax and your results will be much more noticeable/satisfying IMO.

[hazardous06]

Well it took me 7 1/2hrs from start to finish. That was wash, clay, cleaner wax and then ultimate wax. I wasn't impressed with the cleaning power of the cleaner wax myself. It did help, but not a whole lot. Honestly the car is almost 12yrs old and my daily driver, so I don't want nor do I expect it to be a show car. I saw that the sandy dirt down here in nc gave me way more road rash, than living in nyc ever did. I plan on getting some dr colorchip to address that at a later time. For never being clayed I was surprised by the lack of dirt I pulled with the clay bar. I do have some water spots and swirl marks cleaner didn't help with that too much with. A polish would have helped more I'm sure. Ultimate wax did help blend them in though. With the car being a bright red you can't see them unless your in direct sun and about 4ft over the body. I love the butter smoothness of the paint now, I may get a basic paint correction in the future. overall I'm happy with the outcome and its an improvement over what I started with.

[MIsnowman]

Good deal. As long as you're happy with it, that's all that really matters.

[WaxMaster1]

Well it took me 7 1/2hrs from start to finish. That was wash, clay, cleaner wax and then ultimate wax. I wasn't impressed with the cleaning power of the cleaner wax myself. It did help, but not a whole lot. Honestly the car is almost 12yrs old and my daily driver, so I don't want nor do I expect it to be a show car. I saw that the sandy dirt down here in nc gave me way more road rash, than living in nyc ever did. I plan on getting some dr colorchip to address that at a later time. For never being clayed I was surprised by the lack of dirt I pulled with the clay bar. I do have some water spots and swirl marks cleaner didn't help with that too much with. A polish would have helped more I'm sure. Ultimate wax did help blend them in though. With the car being a bright red you can't see them unless your in direct sun and about 4ft over the body. I love the butter smoothness of the paint now, I may get a basic paint correction in the future. overall I'm happy with the outcome and its an improvement over what I started with.