Looking for suggestions on my clay technique

[imported_jaobrien6]

All,



I`ve been here for a little over a year now, and my technique in most respects has gotten much better. My older car looks a *lot* better than before I found Autopia, and the new car I got last summer still looks great thanks to all the help and tips I`ve found from reading here. I got a PC, and have been able to really bring my older car up to speed. It`ll never look perfect due to the neglect it got in my pre-autopian days, but it looks far, far better than it did.



However, there`s something wrong with my clay technique, and I don`t know what it is. Whenever I clay, I get marring... no matter what. I`ve tried two different clays (blue clay magic and gray autopia), and several varieties of QD and shampoo/water mixture to be used as a lubricant. I`ve tried using a *lot* of lube, as well as less lube. The marring is less frequent with a lot of lube, but I used about 16oz of lube for 1 small car and still got marring. The marring is definitely from the claying... it`s not there before I clay, and it is there after... and it`s in the same direction as my clay movement.



I`ve read bunches of posts on claying, read the article from bettercarcare.com (http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=14), and I honestly don`t know what to do differently.



If you check out this picture (http://www.bettercarcare.com/imageview.php?imageId=54) from the Better Car Care article, I don`t let my clay get nearly that dirty, and it still mars.



I`ve just about given up and thought about investing the $60 or so in the ABC system instead, but if everyone can clay successfully, why can`t I?



Any suggestions?



Thanks,

John

[THECLEANER]

I too feel your pain.I have tried too clay the proper way but also get marring and light scratches.If you find a cure let me know.

[TW85 HHI]

I detailed a black truck last weekend. It is a 2002 model and has never been clayed so needless to say, the paint was quite contaminated. I used an entire bottle of Sonus Clay Glyde (or Lube?) and did not notice any marring caused by the clay bar.



How hard are you rubbing and how frequently do you knead the clay bar?

[04MysticCobra]

I have been using Clay on my vehicles since 1993 and have not experienced any marring of the paint surface over the years. I use only Clay Magic from Auto Magic and feel that this clay works the best for me. the only things that I feel would cause any marring of the paint surface would be that the clay is being rubbed too hard on the surface or the clay is dry when you go to use it on the lubricated paint surface. I would always wet the clay first before using on the lubed vehicles paint surface and knead into a flat pancake shape about 3 inches round. this insures that the clay is flat on your paints surface and will reduce marring. Before any claying I always check the surface contaminants by using the plastic glove that clay magic supplies. this way I can guage the amount of contaminent and see if I need to make another pass. I always glide the clay over the surface with minimal pressure applied. the clay does all the work. Always knead the clay to a clean area! I have never heard of any of the clays reacting with certains types of paint finishes but it might be possible. If that was the case then I would use a fine polishing compound like 3M has and skip the clay procedure.





Later, 04MysticCobra





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2004 Mystichrome Cobra coupe

2004 Majestic Blue Maxima SE

[imported_jaobrien6]

Wetting the clay beforehand, that`s something different to try, I will give that a shot and see if it changes anything.



I definitely don`t use a lot of pressure. One thing I found interesting in the picture of dirty clay from the better car care article, is the fact that the dirty surface is completely flat. Flatter than you can get it just by using your hands. That indicates to me that whomever was claying pressed the clay into the paint surface, at least initially, to get it completely flat. I don`t do that as I`ve been trying to use as little pressure as possible. Therefore, my clay surface is only as flat as I can make it with my hands. How does that compare to the way others do it?



I do knead the clay pretty frequently, and I replace my chunk with a new fresh chunk fairly often. The first time I clayed my car (first time in 6 years since the car was new), I used a whole clay magic bar on an Acura Integra (not a big car at all). I did this out of fear of marring from using dirty clay... didn`t work, obviously ;).



Thanks for your help so far.

John

[l33]

It also depends on your paint. My black BMW has very soft paint, next to impossible to clay with marring. I only clay when i`m going to do a full detail including polishing.

[04MysticCobra]

Originally posted by jaobrien6

Wetting the clay beforehand, that`s something different to try, I will give that a shot and see if it changes anything.



I definitely don`t use a lot of pressure. One thing I found interesting in the picture of dirty clay from the better car care article, is the fact that the dirty surface is completely flat. Flatter than you can get it just by using your hands. That indicates to me that whomever was claying pressed the clay into the paint surface, at least initially, to get it completely flat. I don`t do that as I`ve been trying to use as little pressure as possible. Therefore, my clay surface is only as flat as I can make it with my hands. How does that compare to the way others do it?



I do knead the clay pretty frequently, and I replace my chunk with a new fresh chunk fairly often. The first time I clayed my car (first time in 6 years since the car was new), I used a whole clay magic bar on an Acura Integra (not a big car at all). I did this out of fear of marring from using dirty clay... didn`t work, obviously ;).



Thanks for your help so far.

John







What I do to flatten the clay is make a ball first then flatten the ball in the palms of your hands and then pull out around the clay to make that round flat pancake shape. I always have my hands and the clay with lube on when I do this. also make sure the clay is warm too because it will flatten easier to your cars surface when its warm. hope this helps.



Later, 04MysticCobra





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2004 Mystichrome Cobra coupe.

2004 Majestic Blue Maxima SE