Product Review: GLARE Liqui-Clay - Page 3

Mmmph · 05-20-05, 09:52

Quote:

Originally posted by AlexRuiz
Textual directions taken from the back of the bottle:
....Apply liqui-clay by rubbing small amounts into paint by hand with a clean terry cloth in VERTICAL motion.

How do you apply something in vertical motion on a HORIZONTAL surface?

AlexRuiz · 05-20-05, 11:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Mmmph
How do you apply something in vertical motion on a HORIZONTAL surface?

Front to back

Mmmph · 05-20-05, 12:40

Quote:

Originally posted by AlexRuiz
Front to back

That's still horizontal, eh?

mochamanz · 05-20-05, 04:55

hey Mmmph, I am soooo glad we have such great proof readers here on Autopia.... Thank you for clearing that up for me, I had no idea how to proceed before your clarification ....

...

Good sense of humor.... It is nice we can have a little fun now and then.....

Kenney · 06-02-05, 09:26

Well, I ordered some of this liquid clay and I am disappointed.

I applied the clay with a meg foam pad on a section of my clean hood which was wet with distilled water ( this follows the actual instructions with the exception of using a foam pad instead of a terry towel). When I was applying the clay, it felt like it was scratching the paint, I ignored this and continued. After I had covered the section with clay, I let it completely dry. Then I removed the dried substance with a damp microfiber to see large swirls all over the treated paint. These were the type of swirls you could see in all angles of light and were very noticeable (The paint on my car is World Rally Blue, a dark mica blue). I do know that the bottle states that the clay might cause some "miscoloration" that will be removed with their polish. I hope that they do not mean that the very noticeable swirls are the mentioned "miscoloration."

The section was not even that smooth to my recollection of what a clayed surface should feel like.

The swirls were not that big of a deal in my case because I am going to get my hood repainted today due to massive rock chips.

I know this review goes against the review from Alex, I hope he can apply the clay and show pics. I was very gentle and applied the clay in a "up and down motion", like the bottle states. The swirls were vertical and followed the motion of the way I applied the liquid clay.

Also I QEWed my car before this. I double checked my hood for any dust/dirt before doing this.

Hamilton

AlexRuiz · 06-02-05, 09:51

Quote:

Originally posted by Kenney
Well, I ordered some of this liquid clay and I am disappointed.

I applied the clay with a meg foam pad on a section of my clean hood which was wet with distilled water ( this follows the actual instructions with the exception of using a foam pad instead of a terry towel). When I was applying the clay, it felt like it was scratching the paint, I ignored this and continued. After I had covered the section with clay, I let it completely dry. Then I removed the dried substance with a damp microfiber to see large swirls all over the treated paint. These were the type of swirls you could see in all angles of light and were very noticeable (The paint on my car is World Rally Blue, a dark mica blue). I do know that the bottle states that the clay might cause some "miscoloration" that will be removed with their polish. I hope that they do not mean that the very noticeable swirls are the mentioned "miscoloration."

The section was not even that smooth to my recollection of what a clayed surface should feel like.

The swirls were not that big of a deal in my case because I am going to get my hood repainted today due to massive rock chips.

I know this review goes against the review from Alex, I hope he can apply the clay and show pics. I was very gentle and applied the clay in a "up and down motion", like the bottle states. The swirls were vertical and followed the motion of the way I applied the liquid clay.

Also I QEWed my car before this. I double checked my hood for any dust/dirt before doing this.

Hamilton

Wow, hhmmmmm, I am thinking. For one, I noticed you used a damp microfiber, I only removed it with dry microfibers. Another one, quite subtle but very important is to make sure the water is present at the time of application. What I mean is that if you spray several panel and then apply the liquiclay, depending on the previous LSP most of the water can sheet or bead leaving basically the liquicaly to rub against the paint.

Let me take pictures this weekend. I have gone as far as using the PC to apply it and I find it very easy and user friendly.

Thanks for the comment.

Alex

Kenney · 06-02-05, 10:14

To my eyes, the hood was not beading. I sprayed a crap load of water from a standard trigger sprayer, maybe that was not enough. But lets say I was doing a door on my car, how do you get water to stay on it to prevent damage from using the liquid clay? Do you think I would have better luck using some clay magic lube to keep the panel wet/prevent marring?

I used the damp micro fiber to remove in a left-right motion. the swirls were an up=down motion, so I dont think that be the cause.

Also, try it on a dark colored car, black perhaps

?

Hamilton

salty · 06-02-05, 10:19

I have it and have tried in the past. I didn't notice anything special. I thought claying was better, but i will try it again. Same with the sealant.

AlexRuiz · 06-02-05, 10:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Kenney
To my eyes, the hood was not beading. I sprayed a crap load of water from a standard trigger sprayer, maybe that was not enough. But lets say I was doing a door on my car, how do you get water to stay on it to prevent damage from using the liquid clay? Do you think I would have better luck using some clay magic lube to keep the panel wet/prevent marring?

I used the damp micro fiber to remove in a left-right motion. the swirls were an up=down motion, so I dont think that be the cause.

Also, try it on a dark colored car, black perhaps ?

Hamilton

I don't think I have a good answer. You did everything right. Your comment about the door is correct, and you used a sprayer to avoid a high flow.

Kenney · 06-02-05, 04:44

Salty

Why do you say that regular claying is better? in what regard?

Hamilton

mochamanz · 06-04-05, 05:01

Yesterday, between rain showers, (sprinkles do not mess applying this stuff up, except for the drying stage )

I Washed the car with a dawn/Gold class mixture. I tried the Glare Liqui-Clay on a (POS) beater car, per instructions (except for the Wen Buffer )and it really worked well. There was not a lot of oxidation, but the clear is damaged. Also, there was some over-spray from a botched masking job while spraying the engine compartment.The liqui-Clay greatly minimized, but did not completely remove the baked on over-spray. The product completely removed deep water spots, also deep, set-in soil, especially on the top surfaces, and it made the paint shine even though the swirling and spider webbing ( it reduced the Apparent severity of the swirls, but to be fair, only PG or IP can really get rid of this problem) which are moderately severe when viewed up close.... I used the Wen Cordless Orbital Buffer with the Bogus Pad that came with the PC again (it is enough to do this job ) ....

I worked the Liqui-Clay until it was thick-ish before moving on, letting it dry on the paint. I removed the dried clay with a terry towel... Next time I will use a MF towel. There was quite a bit of residue as you might imagine with a clay-like substance drying out on paint ... I washed the surface off with plain water after the Liqui-clay removal , but didn't do anything else, so its just bare paint. I find this product to be very useful and the cleaning claims to be factual. This 1988 vehicle has many (Original Paint) defects and damage, yet the paint is looking relatively good..... I really need to polish the vehicle,

,

but the Liqui-Clay cleaned it up very effectively, although it still has very visible swirls, it is a world better.....

Here are a couple more shots.....

The small white spots in the hood are defects with sharp edges, I didn't notice them until the car dried....

This pic shows the swirls more visibly, ( shot with direct sunlight reflecting to highlight the defects) still just cleaned paint, no polish at this point..... Note the window, the tint is bubbled and separating from sitting in the direct sun for most of 3 years.....

I am frankly very surprised at the performance of this product.....

Also, sorry about the slow images....

AlexRuiz · 07-11-05, 12:02

Well, I am back with the pictures. Click on them for a bigger image (VGA res at 640 x 480)

1) The team, PC and Glare liquiclay

2) Liquiclay applied over the PC pad. Yes, before you start asking that pad was bigger in size. A while ago PAC had a sale and I made the mistake of ordering a finishing pad.... for a rotary. The seller gladly accepted to change even though it was my mistake, but I realized the inconveniences so I just made it "smaller" by myself. Notice the amount used, which is in the low side for correct usage.

3) Water spray to the panel. Don't try to cover more than a small door with that amount of liquiclay.

4) Buff and work it a little. Mochamanz has a great suggestion "until it starts feeling thicker". See what happens if you apply too much water to the panel OR if you don't work long enough for the amount of water

5) Product drying nicely

Wait until it dries, then remove. Voila, clean surface.