If your going to polish, when do you know you need to clay?

[Danforz]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of an up comming detail I may be doing. Its a black lexus, with moderate marring and such. I was thinking:

White/Orange pad Sonus SFX2
White Pad SFX 3
Z5Pro

Now, this car hasn't been well taken care of, and if I was not using a PC I would intend on claying it. However, knowing that the SFX will remove some clear coat, will this remove contaminants from the paint as well?

When you plan on polishing, how do you know when to use clay bar??

[BigJimZ28]

plastic bag test


claying and polishing do different things, no polishing will not remove all the bonded stuff like clay will

clay is cheap & easy just do it!

[Jngrbrdman]

Clay pulls contamination out of the paint. Polish just gets it off of the paint. It just shaves it off at the level of the clearcoat and leaves particles still embeded in your paint. My advice is that if you are ever going to polish your paint, then you should clay the paint first. It isn't going to hurt the paint and it really doesn't take that much longer to do the job right. If you don't clay the paint then all you are doing is just leveling off particles that will continue to cause damage to your finish and appearance. You'll still see the dots and have all the problems that industrial fallout causes. Always clay before polishing.

[beachcities]

do a small section of the trunk or the rear bumper and look for orange color, or any particles on the clay. also listen to the clay, it might sound scratchy. I agree though with what was said, always clay.

[cole]

Originally Posted by Jngrbrdman

Clay pulls contamination out of the paint. Polish just gets it off of the paint. It just shaves it off at the level of the clearcoat and leaves particles still embeded in your paint. My advice is that if you are ever going to polish your paint, then you should clay the paint first. It isn't going to hurt the paint and it really doesn't take that much longer to do the job right. If you don't clay the paint then all you are doing is just leveling off particles that will continue to cause damage to your finish and appearance. You'll still see the dots and have all the problems that industrial fallout causes. Always clay before polishing.

Well said. Claying is so fast and easy. I usually wash the car a section at a time and clay as I go. The car soap usually provides some lubricity which I add to using a squirt bottle. I don't worry about clay debris, but once I Have made the circuit, I wash the car down, wipe dry and then polish.

It' fast and only takes about a half hour to 45 minutes on the Corvette - twice that on the Denali.

Polishing is fun, but I try to minimize polishing to spots where the finish needs some help.