To clay or not to clay, that is the question..

[JSFM35X]

Weather dependent, I am considering adding a coat of Untima Paint guard this weekend. If it is above 45 degrees I would like to very much. I do not want to run out of protection in mid winter.



I washed it last weekend and I notice some slight paint contanination that cannot be seen, but can be felt with the "baggie" test. If I clay the car (its black) will I induce micro marring? I do not have the time to polish it now, and do not want to remove the existng protection. So:



1. Will Claying induce Micro Marring?



2. Will Clay remove the existing 3X of Ultima Paint Guard Plus?



3. Will applying UPGP over the contamination cause Micro Marring?





When will someone invent spray on and walk away products (SOWA)

[Downgear]

Claying in my experience, especially on black WILL introduce micro marring. I have made the choice to leave any kind of detailing until the spring. No point having a showcar in the witner, especially in a snowy climate. Just last weekend I added a few more coats of klasse sealant over my minor stuck on contaminents. This will not introduce any kind of marring and will be fine. (maybe it could if you have not clayed in years) The car is dirty most of the time in the winter and those stuck on contaminents dont matter imo. Springtime however I will do a full clay and go over the whole car with Final Polish II to get rid of any winter induced blemishes. I have done this system for many years and it has worked perfectly. They key is to not polish more then you need to, and for the winter months....you dont "need" too, just make sure the car is well protected!

[imported_themightytimmah]

I would personally live with it. Under the right circumstances, with the right clay and technique, it is possible to remove light contamination without stripping the LSP or inducing marring. The contamination is not really hurting anything at this point, I`d add another coat of PGP now and then clay and polish in the spring.



Also, prepsol the whole car before you polish in the spring. PGP is *that* durable, and in my experience it will make polishes work less efficiently if is not stripped from the surface first.

[JSFM35X]

Claying in my experience, especially on black WILL introduce micro marring. I have made the choice to leave any kind of detailing until the spring. No point having a showcar in the witner, especially in a snowy climate. Just last weekend I added a few more coats of klasse sealant over my minor stuck on contaminents. This will not introduce any kind of marring and will be fine. (maybe it could if you have not clayed in years) The car is dirty most of the time in the winter and those stuck on contaminents dont matter imo. Springtime however I will do a full clay and go over the whole car with Final Polish II to get rid of any winter induced blemishes. I have done this system for many years and it has worked perfectly. They key is to not polish more then you need to, and for the winter months....you dont "need" too, just make sure the car is well protected!



Thanks,



I will take that Advice!

[Accumulator]

I just posted the following on another thread where somebody asked the exact same black car/claying Q:



<<Marring from claying comes from one or more of the following:



-aggressive clay

-aggressive technique

-improper technique (not always the same as the above)

-abrasive contaminants getting transfered to the clay

-*very* soft paint



If you use a very gentle clay (e.g. Sonus green Ultrafine, which might be *too* gentle, or Mother`s/Griot`s, or ClayMagic Blue), and you use a lot of lube and virtually no pressure, and you knead/replace the clay frequently...and the fates are smilinng on you then you should be able to clay most any paint without marring.



But that`s a lot of "ifs" and *very* soft paint might pose problems.



But FWIW, I wouldn`t worry about marring at all and I clay all the time without problems. So I say go for it, *with the right clay*, plenty of lube, and careful methodology.



I tear my clay into small pieces and I only knead them once or twice before getting out a new piece (also handy if/when you drop the clay, thus contaminating it). If you suspect the clay has picked up abrasive contamination (thus sorta turning into sandpaper), knead or replace it.



OR just skip it for now as black doesn`t show most of the issues clay resolves. You can always try it later on some other vehicle, and it`s not like people didn`t do OK without claying for many, many years.>>

[razr007]

No brainer here always clay after washing if you can i do an it always makes for a cleaner paint to work with

[Downgear]

I did a ton of research about claying and followed all of the above mentioned steps. The fact of the matter was still on a soft black paint honda you will cause some very minimal marrnig. This is why in my case I prefer to wait until i can polish after claying. With every stroke of the clay bar you are essentially picking up stuck on crap and dragging it accross the paint. However on many other cars following the propper steps, you can clay a car more frequently with no visible problems.



Accumulator, what do you find to be the best lube for claying? Perhaps my sonus lube that came wtih the green clay was not providing enough lubrication? I have read a great deal of ONR concentrated solution being some of the best and cost effective and thought i would give that a try.

[Accumulator]

I did a ton of research about claying and followed all of the above mentioned steps..[but].... With every stroke of the clay bar you are essentially picking up stuck on crap and dragging it accross the paint....

Accumulator, what do you find to be the best lube for claying? Perhaps my sonus lube that came wtih the green clay was not providing enough lubrication? I have read a great deal of ONR concentrated solution being some of the best and cost effective and thought i would give that a try.



IME the Sonus Glyde *does* provide good-enough lubrication :nixweiss I"ve never marred paint with the Sonus green, but I`ve never done really soft paint with it either.



Griot`s SpeedShine can provide even more of a safety net, but its wax content can further diminish the aggressiveness of the clay to where it`s too gentle. Not sure how the ONR would compare.



The dragging-contamination issue is tricky. I sometimes do only *one* light, short contact with the clay, moving it maybe a couple of inches, before kneading/replacing it. Needless to say, this is utterly inefficient (though effective) and best suited to spot-claying.



When dealing with significant contamination on the entire vehicle, I just resign myself to the possibility of marring and plan to polish it out. With *light* contamination I can usually clay without marring, but this is one of those things where there are a lot of fine lines (i.e, between "significant" and "light") that`re easy to stumble across.

[av8roc]

I`m on the Island too and at this point I am just doing an ONR wash with warm water followed by a quick application of Optimum spray wax.



I found this maintains great protection and has been holding me over until the springtime strip and polish.