A few questions on claying - Took 2 hrs to do my car today :(

tradertt · 03-15-03, 08:53

Hi guys .. I tried claying my car today

A few questions for you all ...

1) When claying you will run the clay over the lubricated surface till there is no bumps when running the clay over right?

2)Usually how many passes you all do ? I had to go back and forth for like 10 +++ times and sometimes I still feel a bit of grit on my surface and had to do many more times...

3) How fast do you slide the clay over your surface? 1 sweeping motion from the top of your bonnet to the bottom?

4) Any tips on how to do claying faster? Took 2 hrs to do my 1st claying today

5) Even after claying and I use a plastic bag to run my fingers over my paint .. it still feels a little bit gritty

very sad on that .. thought it will be like glass ;p

I dunno the brand of the clay because it is in Japanese.

Any help here?

Thank you in advance.

DavidB · 03-15-03, 08:58

Better to take your time than it is to have a bad experience.

In general, my experience has been that 3-4 passes with clay is all that's need to get most contaminates off the surface. Some take more, but you should not be using clay to remove large areas of junk, like dried on bug. These areas should be pre-washed first with an appropriate cleaner. Otherwise you will load up your clay with crap and shorten its life or scratch your paint.

db

tradertt · 03-15-03, 09:04

I did a wash with dishwashing soap and got rid of as much dirt as possible ... But shouldn't clay when runned over be smooth running (if you get what i mean) instead of bumpy? If its bumpy we should continue running passes over the surface right?

COEX-PILOT · 03-15-03, 09:30

Wow, two hours is a long time! But better safe than sorry.

With most clay bars, usually two to three strokes are all that's necessary. After that, unless you have some very difficult overspray, it's not going to do much.

We did a car with terrible overspray. The surface felt like sandpaper and after a few (3-4) it was as smooth as new.

Usually takes me about 20 minutes to run the bar over my cars.

hondaguy2582 · 03-15-03, 09:51

why not get some tar and bug remover also? I would use that and rinse it on certain parts of the car if you can see bugs and such on bc i think it will make claying much easier. Also, make sure you wash you car afterwards too, it takes off the clay residue and gets the surface nice and clean!!!!!!!

tradertt · 03-15-03, 10:00

How often do you all do claying? Wonder if its because of my clay that I still feel gritty after claying ...

hondaguy2582 · 03-15-03, 10:10

depends on how bad the car is. Make sure you wash it afterwards like i posted above. Sometimes a car has to be clayed more than one time bc you can only get so much with one application if a car was not previously taken care of. A mild polish afterwards can help too.

socaltiger · 03-15-03, 11:53

It is common to take a long time if your car has never been clayed before and has a lot of tough contaminants on the paint.After claying a little you'll start to see what strokes work best for your car.Just make sure you do not go in circles.Use front to back strokes for the hood,trunk,and roof and up and down for the side of the car.

Lowejackson · 03-15-03, 01:00

Dont worry about the time taken first time, Socaltiger is right, it can take a long time if the car has not been done before. Remember to keep turning the clay to aviod scratches. Also clay the glass and all the panels. Finish by rewashing the car.

Steven

Dr. Jones · 03-15-03, 02:46

I think the trick to claying is getting the right ammount of lubricant over the right surface area. It takes a bit to get the hang of it, but you want it to be just enough so that it slides over easily, but has a little bit of a grip to it. (at least from my expierence). If you don't use enough the clay will leave marks on your paint very close to swirls, if you use way to much then it doesn't seem to work as well.

Also for the brand, do you happen to have a digital scaner or camera? If you took a picture of the packaging i might be able to tell you the brand, if not I know someone who can.

wrpeterson · 03-15-03, 03:14

I think Dr. Jones hit it on the head - plenty of lubricant (either a QD or, as I tend toward, water and car wash liquid).

I don't have a ton of experience with a car that is heavily contaminated, but 2 hours seems like a long time to clay. I would guess that most of the folks here would probably take 20-30 minutes to clay and then follow that up with a quick re-wash.

tradertt · 03-15-03, 07:01

Nope 3 things to say lolz

1) My car is not heavily contaminated hehe (its a new car about 2 mths old)

2) I am slow

3) I think I applied TOOO much lubricant .. once I feel it gripping hehe I apply more ... So it should be JUST nice and not too much ... a slight tugging feeling is good?

PS I have a dig cam ... will try to get the picture posted by tonight for identification lolz ... thanks a lot !!