Official Claying Tips and Tricks: Share your techniques here!

~One man’s opinion / observations ~
And now back to the clay tips, hints etc...


When the detailing clay becomes somewhat soiled from using it on the paint surface, set it aside for use on glass surfaces only, then when it becomes very soiled use it on the wheel surfaces. After this cycling discard it (do not use clay on class or wheel surfaces and then paint as it will contaminate the paint surface)

If you drop the clay do not try to clean it, discard it or it may cause micro scratches in your paint film surface.
To avoid wasting detailer’s clay because you probably will drop it, place a towel on the ground under the area you're claying so the clay will fall onto the towel without picking up gravel etc.

~Hope this helps~

Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/ Jon
justadumbarchitect *so I question everything*

Originally Posted by TOGWT

When the detailing clay becomes somewhat soiled from using it on the paint surface, set it aside for use on glass surfaces only, then when it becomes very soiled use it on the wheel surfaces. After this cycling discard it (do not use clay on class or wheel surfaces and then paint as it will contaminate the paint surface)

[...]

To avoid wasting detailer’s clay because you probably will drop it, place a towel on the ground under the area you're claying so the clay will fall onto the towel without picking up gravel etc.

Excellent tips!

I was very skeptical about this whole 'claying' the paint. I've heard of other people talking about it in the recent past & had the deer in the headlights look. Never heard of a real detailer using clay on a car. Thought it was one of those late nite info-mercial products. Then I read about it on proper auto care's website. Turns out, that it is actually a fairly recent discovery in cleaning paint. So, I picked one up for my 4 year old 4-Runner (Black). All it took was a pass on a 2x2 portion of the hood. What came off the hood looked like grease! I am now a firm believer in claying a car.

You shouldn't have any fears of using clay, as it is virtually idiot proof(as long as you follow the directions).

I have yet to set aside enough time to do my 330i. Still need to get a deal of Menzerna for some minor swirl removal.

As a side note, I used Pinnacle Souveran paste wax on my Imola Red 330i,...Oh MAN! I spell it M-A-N. That's everything man!

Johnny

I have read post about the baggie test or the cling wrap test to see (or feel) if clay bar is needed. All I feel is cling wrap draging on a painted surface. Perhaps my finger tips aren't as sensitive as others on this post or I'm still not doing it right. Aside from that I hear that even new cars direct from the factory need clay bar but part of me feels that this is from people that want to sell clay bar.

Originally Posted by Brad4221

I have read post about the baggie test or the cling wrap test to see (or feel) if clay bar is needed. All I feel is cling wrap draging on a painted surface. Perhaps my finger tips aren't as sensitive as others on this post or I'm still not doing it right. Aside from that I hear that even new cars direct from the factory need clay bar but part of me feels that this is from people that want to sell clay bar.

I'll be doing mine today (tree sap) but when I did my last car, the difference was really obvious.

I dunno about the baggie test but the car surface feels like, well, really really smooth when you run you hand over it. There's nothing you can see, its just amazing the difference between "done" and "not done yet" surfaces on the car.

Brad4221 - -
Have some lubricant (soap/water mix) between the baggie and the paint, and use a very light pressure. If you don't feel any bumps on your paint, then do the baggie test on another (less cared for) car.

Originally Posted by alee

This is the official thread for sharing your claying tricks, techniques and ideas. This is critical car care step that many people skip because it is either misunderstood or because people are afraid of trying it. Sharing your techniques and ideas here may encourage more people to try claying.

Rules of the thread:
Let's keep it constructive! There is no single right way to clay your car! If you have a technique that works for you, share it with the group. If there is a particular product you like, let everyone know what it is, and more importantly, why you like it. If you have questions, ask away.

Anyone caught claiming to be the sole authority on clay techniques, or anyone caught bashing another person's technique because it isn't like his/her own technique, will have their post removed, no exceptions.

What camera phone did you use to take that picture?

i was skeptical about all this claying stuff so i first washed and then used a light paint cleaner (einsZett) on my car. used the paint cleaner first just to make sure that the clay bar wasn't doing the same thing the cleaner would do. i then simply ran my fingers lightly across the surfaces (no baggies or similar) to find the telltale junk left in the top layer. i took the clay bar to those areas and sure enough, it removed the contaminants and left the surface smooth as silk!

while one might have used a more abrasive cleaner to rid the paint of the contaminants, the clay bar provided quick results with a lot less work. i'm sold! i'd still recommend using a light cleaner first just to save your clay from picking up all of the stuff the cleaner removes.

I've had my car for 3 months now and am about to take the plunge and do the clay bar thing. After reading all the posts in this thread all of my questions have been answered, I think. There are a couple of things I want to get straight in my mind before I proceed.

1) How much pressure do you apply to the clay, if any?

2) Can you use any dish washing detergent to remove the old wax, or does it have to be Dawn? I've been told using the clay removes the wax, so why do you need Dawn?

3) After I clay the car, do I need to polish it before I wax it? THis is probably a stupid question and I guess the answer depends upon if there are any swirl marks or scratches.

I bought one of these and can't wait to use it

Edit: What is the advantage of washing the sides of your car vertically?

My answers are in bold below:

Originally Posted by zentenn

I've had my car for 3 months now and am about to take the plunge and do the clay bar thing. After reading all the posts in this thread all of my questions have been answered, I think. There are a couple of things I want to get straight in my mind before I proceed.

1) How much pressure do you apply to the clay, if any?
Not very much. Allow it to glide over the surface, with a small amount of pressure. The key is to use plenty of lubricant.

2) Can you use any dish washing detergent to remove the old wax, or does it have to be Dawn? I've been told using the clay removes the wax, so why do you need Dawn?
I recommend not using any detergent on your car. It will remove the wax from the paint, and also dries out the paint, and there will be parts of the painted surface that you won't be able to wax, that will be left unprotected.

3) After I clay the car, do I need to polish it before I wax it? THis is probably a stupid question and I guess the answer depends upon if there are any swirl marks or scratches.
Not necessary, unless the surface requires it.

I bought one of these and can't wait to use it

Edit: What is the advantage of washing the sides of your car vertically?

Just wanted to add: Had these funky little dots of what looked like honey, stuck to the finish of my F250 pick up truck. Wouldn't come off with anything BUT claybar. Cleaned it up real good! I believe it may have been some sort of tree sap from one of our many camping vacations last year.

For years now, I ALWAYS clay first before using a porter cable.

i clayed my car the other day thanks to you guys. i mena my car is old and was obviously not cared about before i owned it. after i was done claying my brother came outside to tell me that i am a loser and need to stop cleaning my car bu tthen froze and told me wow that paint looks new, then he felt it and said "wow you just waxed it?" and i told him no i just clayed it. (i was happy) any way i really appreciate your guys info and love to be OCD with cleaning my car claying is the way to go!!

hey, how do i clay when i am washing? After I hose the car down and soap the car off and rinse it off, then do i clay and rinse and then dry or what is the procedure???

Use ADAMS PRODUCTS!!! Go to www.whipappeal.net if you want to see how to really clean your car.
Go to the gallery and check out some of the before and after stuff
Dawn will make the car spotty and you'll end up having to do more work than you need to.
http://www.adamspolishes.com/

1)WASH IT! (Adams car wash) ooh it smells good and it works
2)CLAY IT! ( Adams Clay Bar with detail spray for lubrication)
3)POLISH IT! (Adams Polish)
4)WAX IT! (Adams Butter Wax)
5) GLAZE IT! (Adams Brilliant Spray glaze)
or
Let www.whipappeal.net do it for you!!! OC CALIFORNIA STYLE

My Brother and I have detailed over 30 cars since 2005. We prefer Adams Polishes ( www.adamspolishes.com ) products simply because we have spent thousands of dollars on all the other stuff and adams for some reason IS the the BEST in our opinion. We turned a 20 yr old egg white mercedes back to bright white with claying and lots of elbow greese.

As for a clay bar I Recomend without a doubt the clay bar from ADAMS... We have used most of the clay bars out there and Adams claybar takes the cake. I beleive its from Japan and probably the best in the world. Clay Magic, Mothers, Mcguires have nothing on this clay bar. It is super sticky when you work with it.

Our Procedure www.whipappeal.net
1.After washing you car.

2.Dry it with Adams detail spray and always use a clean microfiber towel. We never use terry clothes.

3.Flaten out the clay bar. Then pick a section of a car and spray it with detail spray and rub the clay on the paint. The clay bar should glide right over and you should feel the contaminents catch onto the clay. Keep it lubed with detail spray. After rubbing through out the section, detail spary again and wipe with a microfiber cloth. Move to the next section until complete. Start from the top of the car cuz it is cleanest. Be sure to work the clay bar between each section so the clay is clean & fresh.

4.Then always polish it with Adams Polish & Adams scratch remover. This brings out a luster that you guys who only wax will never see. We use a High power machine with this step this. (Porter Cable w/ clean pads from Adams) Then wipe with a clean microfiber towel and detail spray.

5.Then we use the butter wax with a microfiber applicator and wipe with a clean microfiber towel and detail spray. (by now your calling all your friends to check out the colors that you've never seen in the paint)

6.This is our secret use the brilliant spary glaze to finish it off with a clean microfiber applicator and remove with a clean microfiber towel.

Start in the morning. This definetly is something that will take you 4-8 hrs. Did I stress to use a CLEAN MICROFIBER towel? Clean is the KEY anytime you touch your paint, if its not clean it will swirl. Dont wash your car too often either... Use adams detail spray and a clean microfiber towel as needed (weekly). Trust us everyone jocks how clean our cars look and their dirty to us. We generally wash our own cars once a month depending on if the detail spray just wont cut it. In Southern Cali you just cant roll dirty. We recomend this process every 6 months if not garaged.

We have detailed Brand new cars off the lot and brought out color in the paint that the dealer have never seen with our process. We recomend to do an exterior detail immediatley after purchasing your car because there are already contaminants and you want to seel it with a wax ASAP... That dupont stuff from the dealer is cool but it falls off within a year.

If you are in the Los Angeles or Orange County area www.whipappeal.net does full details starting at $225.00. Mention this Forum.[/COLOR][/I] We do exterior only starting at 125.00. We will go to your home or you can bring it to us.

Any further questions www.whipappeal.net Tell a friend about our special and check out the website!

Oh Sh**.. I forgot IF YOU DROP THE CLAY BAR ON THE GROUND IT IS DONE!!! THROW IT AWAY OR YOU WILL SCRATCH THE CAR! Try to use half of the clay bar until you get comfortable (it saves it)

You will not be disappointed. I was like others on this board that did not think a new car needed this treatment. We purchased a new 2006 Monaco Blue 330i last week and after reading this thread, I decided to give it a try.

First of all, the BMW dealer did a fabulous job of detailing the car for delivery. I did not think it could get any better. But, after rubbing my hands over the horizontal surfaces, I could feel the tiny particles stuck to the finish. Purchased Meguiar's Quick Clay kit ($10) and went to it.

The hardest part of the clay process was getting the bar separated from its plastic wrapping without dropping the thing! I was paranoid about a game-ending "fumble."

After the first treatment with light pressure, I could still feel some spots so I repeated process with more pressure. The clay instantly lets you know if you don't have enough lubrication by sticking to the car. The little "skid marks" left by the enounter are easily wiped away.

The clay in this kit was white (as opposed to yellow), so you could easily see the gunk that came off the car. After about an hour, I had hood, roof and trunk lid smooth as glass. The wax job was very easy after having achieved such a smooth surface. All you Zaino/Klasse guys can give your collective "GASP" as I reveal my use of Black Magic Wet Shine Liquid Wax that CR rated #1 this Summer. I will order one of the other products one day, but I achieved very good results with this $6 product. Only complaint was that it required a lot of effort to wipe away the residue (not a dry residue, but rather a greasy one). CR also noted this in their review. I'll use the rest of it on my other cars.

Bottom line is that my initial opinion about claying was wrong and I'm glad I did it.

If any Zaino/Klasse guys want to recruit me to their respective teams, I'm still an "undecided."

Hi. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the Wolfgang brand clay kit. If so, did you like it, or not? Why?

I've read that some people use car wash detergent and water as a clay lubricant. So a couple of months ago when I clayed the car in preparation for a new application of Klasse, I gave it a try. I was very pleased with the results.

Here's what I did:

1. Wash the car thoroughly.
2. Rinse well, but do not dry.
3. Fill a spray bottle with a strong solution of car wash detergent and water (like 1:8).
4. Spray a panel with the solution and start claying.
5. Rinse the panel.
6. Repeat until all panels are complete.
7. A quick wash to assure all the clay residue is removed.
7. Final rinse.
8. Dry.

This leaves you with a perfectly smooth, squeaky clean finish ready for polishing. The car wash solution is cheaper than QD and works better, IMHO. You only have to dry the car at the end and you don't have to worry about buffing off the QD. And for the purists, you can determine the real condition of the paint without the gloss enhancers left behind by the QD. I use DuraGloss Car Wash 901 which has very good lubricity.

Formerly, when I used QD as a clay lubricant, I had to wash the car again before polishing to assure that the Klasse AIO would bind to the surface. So this saves a step for me.

Some interesting how to's on youtube:

- skip about a minute in to avoid the advertising
- skip two mins in to see actual claying
- I don't think this guys technique is the best, but skip to 1:40 into it to see the difference between a clayed and unclayed surface.
- shows just how much lubricant is needed! (maybe a little too much at times, but better safe than sorry!)

Hope its useful for some people to actually SEE claying in action.

Originally Posted by zentenn

2) Can you use any dish washing detergent to remove the old wax, or does it have to be Dawn? I've been told using the clay removes the wax, so why do you need Dawn?

Just a note to this point... From personal experience you should NEVER use washing detergent (the same you wash dishes with, I presume this is what you mean!) on your car.

I used to do it all the time on my old cars, till I had a bad reaction with washing liquid and wax!

The strong alkalis used in washing detergent kills most wax, but in my case, it react under the wax in what appeared as large white smears and swirls.

Its a mistake I'll never make again and hopefully can serve as a warning for anyone else out there

What do you use to remove the old wax before claying then? It was my understanding that the standard car wash soap is meant to be wax-friendly and thus not remove it.

Originally Posted by SiegeX

What do you use to remove the old wax before claying then? It was my understanding that the standard car wash soap is meant to be wax-friendly and thus not remove it.

I use Dawn. I've used Zaino products for years, and it's the standard recommended thing to use the first time before clay and application of the first layer of Zaino. After that, I use Z7 which is polish-friendly.

Originally Posted by MashupMark

Just a note to this point... From personal experience you should NEVER use washing detergent (the same you wash dishes with, I presume this is what you mean!) on your car.

I used to do it all the time on my old cars, till I had a bad reaction with washing liquid and wax!

The strong alkalis used in washing detergent kills most wax, but in my case, it react under the wax in what appeared as large white smears and swirls.

Its a mistake I'll never make again and hopefully can serve as a warning for anyone else out there

Great advice. We have also noticed that black trim dries out and fades quicker when washed with a strong alkali detergent.

So I'm still confused. If you're not supposed to use something like dawn to remove wax, and standard car soap is meant to be kind to wax, what does one use to remove wax and still be easy on the trim?

Originally Posted by SiegeX

So I'm still confused. If you're not supposed to use something like dawn to remove wax, and standard car soap is meant to be kind to wax, what does one use to remove wax and still be easy on the trim?

Personally, I'm not paranoid to use Dawn only once for literally a few minutes over the multiple-year life of owning my car. A good rinse, and it's gone. It appears to do it's job to take off the old wax or polish and allows me to start my own regime with more friendly products as I mentioned above. When I decide to clay again, since I'm into the Zaino products, I just use a little Z7 watered down in a spray bottle as the lube. I've seen no problem from my perspective across 3 new Lexus with stellar paint jobs, a Toyota and a Honda -- both light and very dark metallic colors, and a number of years doing this. Once my new Monaco E93 arrives in October, it will be treated the same way -- the day it arrives home. My take is you're more likely to create a problem if you used something like Dawn as your regular car washing detergent over-and-over-and-over or did a crappy job on the rinse, not with just a single use as I do.