No Clay?

[DesioMedia]

Hi,



I`m going to be doing my first real detail on my new Audi Lava Grey A3. I`ve only had the car for 2 weeks and its been raining every other day during that time. I purchased some Jeffs Prime Strong and Acrylic jet to do the job. My original plan was to wash, clay, Prime, Jet, but I cant seem to get my hands on any clay. Jeffs was out and the nearest place that would sell it is autozone and about a half hour away.



Will prime strong be a good enough cleaner to remove most of the ground in stuff that the clay would remove? The paint feels pretty smooth even when dirty. Is there any thing else that I could use as a substitute? Should I just order some good clay and wait?

[Bert]

Will prime strong be a good enough cleaner to remove most of the ground in stuff that the clay would remove? The paint feels pretty smooth even when dirty. Is there any thing else that I could use as a substitute? Should I just order some good clay and wait?



I can`t see Prime Stong being abrasive enough to remove surface contaminants that clay could. Keep in mind, many Walmarts sell the Meguiars consumer version so if you have a Wally World near you, that should work.

[brwill2005]

Is your paint rough? If not, do not worry too much about claying. I only find it useful on cars with obvious contaminants. I polish cars every day without claying with no ill effects. A good polish will clean the paint as it polishes.

[Imatk]

I would clay it if it was me... but like Brad said if it`s not rough anywhere it`s probably fine.



I`m just anal :)



I`ve used Mother`s clay and it`s very nice.

[KnuckleBuckett]

I would definately clay!



Most auto shops have clay these days, as does Wal-Mart (noted above), and you might be able find detail shops in your area that could help you out.