Clay to the rescue - thanks to the forum!

karburn · 03-05-08, 11:04

Some time ago I read a post about how fine particles of brake dust or even metal can imbed into clearcoat and if left unchecked, they can start rusting. The tiny specks could eventually get larger and eventually eat into the clearcoat and possibly start damaging things underneath. I mentally filed this under the "nice to know" category and did not give it much thought. Until today.

Due to the crappy midwestern winter, I've been driving my Scion xB more than normal. It's Polar White and filthy as can be. I dropped my keys as I was going to unlock the door and as I knelt down to pick them up, I could see some of these very tiny rust spots sprinkled along the door. It clicked as to what was happening, so I ran back into the house and grabbed some MF towels, my Speed Shine and the clay. [Griot's is what I have right now]. After gently cleaning the areas [both sides of the car had them] with Speed Shine and the mf cloth, I started in with the clay and viola!! The offending particles were removed. I had to postpone cleaning the whole car properly, as a cold front is moving in again today.

If it gets above 50 this weekend, I'm going to try out the new foam gun and do things right. If I had not read about this on the forum, I might not have noticed the potential for damage. Thanks to Autopia.org.

Accumulator · 03-05-08, 11:28

karburn- Glad that worked out for you. While I have my preferences, there's nothing wrong with the Griot's clay and SpeedShine combo; I used it for years. If it's aggressive/mild enough for your application you could do a lot worse.