New Sonus/Autiopia/Dave Clay

[audipower]

Used it Saturday and like it alot! No azz kissing but it`s very very nice. I have 3 coats of SG and wanted to add another coat of wax. Honestly I normally just wash the car twice. I had a very important client meeting to detail a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Porsche Boxster S.

Anyways, I used Sonus Shampoo as lube also. I would use a chennile mit to put soap on car and then use the GLYDE. It worked awesome on getting dirt, brake dust, tar and bird shizel. The clay breaks up easy when you rub but that`s how you tell it`s not as harsh. You have to rub little harder to get tar off. The thing is look at all dirt you got off your vehicle by looking at the clay. It`s just made me drop my jaw noing I would of put wax over that!!!! Dang when I was done claying you can tell! Plus, when I washed all the Glyde off the water was still beeding.

I`m going to use it on all my details now. I hate abrasive products. BUT now there`s an less abrasive clay that works awesome.

Thanks Dave for letting me try it! :bigups

[ScubaStevo]

I hope you know that you probably removed the 3 coats of SG from the car when you clayed.

[audipower]

Have you ever used this new clay? I`ve been using SG for 5 years and I know when it`s on my car. I had 3 coats on it and yes there might be only 2 on it, but there is. I diliuted the "Glide" so the alcohol wouldn`t remove it, I do that everytime I use clay anyways.

[Accumulator]

Audipower- Glad to hear you liked the clay, me too. Heh hey, I knew somebody would beat me to posting about it! We even used vehicles with the same LSP and about the same number of layers :D




I hope you know that you probably removed the 3 coats of SG from the car when you clayed.



If you remove an appreciable amount of LSP with clay you`re not claying right ;) Really, I`ve been spot-claying at *every* wash (and always claying before refreshing LSP) ever since detailing clay came out over ten years ago. That makes for a *lot* of experience with clay, on many LSPs from Souveran to Klasse. Proper claying cleans [stuff] off the LSP, not the LSP off the paint. Just gotta be gentle. When I`ve intentionally "clayed through the LSP", the only way I could do it was to clay incorrectly- i.e., far too aggressively. Only need to reapply the LSP on the rare occasions where the contamination made it through the LSP.



Back on topic- I too tried the new green clay this weekend and my test vehicle (the MVP)*also* had a few layers of KSG on most of it. The rest was fresh paint with Meg`s #5. Of course, the #5 was gone after the wash. There was still some [stuff] on the paint after washing that I used the clay to remove. Regulars here know that I`m quite "clay-centic" in my detailing and that my "extreme wash technique" is too mild to remove certain contamination (no scrubbing :nono ).



The green clay worked great for me, too. I only used the Glyde, as I`ve found that Sonus clays tend to break up a little in wash solution. Maybe that`s what happened with Audipower, as my clay was still fine when I was finished using it. Did not leave any residue on the panels, but I rewashed after claying as I don`t like leaving the "soapy-seeming" Glyde on my paint. I wash, rinse, inspect, spray Glyde, clay, rewash/rinse.



This clay is the softest, most easily kneaded, that I`ve ever used. Sorta sticky, so wear gloves.



The green clay easily cleaned tar and bug remains and some who-knows-what off the surfaces that had KSG on them. It did *not* remove the contamination on the freshly painted panels. This contamination had apparently got through the #5 and was adhering directly to the *paint*, rather than to a LSP. As I won`t clay "aggressively" (i.e., with any pressure), I switched to the *gray* Sonus clay, which removed this stuck-on stuff easily.



The areas that I clayed were, per usual, not visibly or tactilely affected by the claying. There was no indication that the clay had, in any way, compromised the LSP. But that`s no surprise as it hardly *ever* affects my LSP.



As an experiment, I left a little contamination on the freshly painted rear bumper cover, behind the rear wheels. I applied a little #5 over this, being careful not to dislodge the contamination or otherwise grind it into the paint. This left some contamination with a light layer of *very* fragile LSP over it (#5 isn`t very tough). I then used the green clay on this area. My usual gentle claying took quite a bit of work to cut through the #5, and I ended up claying more aggressively than I would normally do. This is one *mild* clay if it won`t readily cut through #5; I would`ve expected the Glyde and *any* contact to be enough to remove the #5 right away. I kept using it until it not only cut through the #5 but also removed the contamination. IMO I had to clay *far* too aggressively to accomplish this, but I`d bet that this is how *most* people use clay. But again, I was using green for something that called for gray.



So the green is probably the clay I`ll reach for most of the time. It`s perfect for my frequent, gentle claying. But I`m gonna keep the gray stuff on hand too, since the green is too mild for the sort of claying that I think most people usually do.

[Accumulator]

I diliuted the "Glide" so the alcohol wouldn`t remove it, I do that everytime I use clay anyways.



Hmmm....now *there`s* a thought. Not that I`ve ever noticed the Glyde compromising my LSP but it might be a good compromise between using Glyde and using wash solution. Good tip, thanks for posting it!

[chml17l]

Hmmm....now *there`s* a thought. Not that I`ve ever noticed the Glyde compromising my LSP but it might be a good compromise between using Glyde and using wash solution. Good tip, thanks for posting it!



Great info on the new Sonus clay and thanks to all for sharing their experiences with it.



What exactly is this Glyde? Is it the clay lube that comes w/ the Sonus clay? Can it be purchased separately?



From the posts, it indicates to me that it is more than just a clay lube solution as it contains an alcohol, too. Is the addition of the alcohol there to help remove your LSP when you are claying so you can start with a "naked" paint surface?

[Accumulator]

What exactly is this Glyde? Is it the clay lube that comes w/ the Sonus clay? Can it be purchased separately?



Yeah, it`s the lube. Dunno if you can get it by itself.




From the posts, it indicates to me that it is more than just a clay lube solution as it contains an alcohol, too. Is the addition of the alcohol there to help remove your LSP when you are claying so you can start with a "naked" paint surface?



From what David had said, I inferred that the Glyde did *not* contain an appreciable amount of alcohol and that this was why it was better for clay lube than the typical QD. Not sure if I`m correct about this assumption though. I`d like to dilute it a little as I find it kinda "soapy" and I always feel I oughta wash the panel after using it.



It`s not like I`ve ever had Glyde compromise my LSP.

[Setec Astronomy]

So the green is probably the clay I`ll reach for most of the time. It`s perfect for my frequent, gentle claying. But I`m gonna keep the gray stuff on hand too, since the green is too mild for the sort of claying that I think most people usually do.



I don`t think it`s clear that ACC will continue to supply the gray clay once current stock is depleted.

[Alfisti]

From the posts, it indicates to me that it is more than just a clay lube solution as it contains an alcohol, too. Is the addition of the alcohol there to help remove your LSP when you are claying so you can start with a "naked" paint surface?

I think most QDs/clay lubes contain a small percentage of alcohol.



I`ve noticed the clay lubes that ACC have branded (Sonus Glyde and Clay Magic) are soap-based. I make my own now and am happy with the results and cost-savings. :D



Sonus Glyde is available seperately: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/son-300.html

[Accumulator]

I suppose availability is always "subject to change", but last I heard (from Lynn Phillips) they were gonna keep both in stock.

[chevyguy28]

Ever used the yellow plasticky clay from Zaino, Mother`s, etc? Wonder how that compares to this stuff.



My impression from your reviews is that this clay is not really intended for the end of the year type claying, and maybe the grey stuff is better for that.



Since I have added coats of FMJ as recently as last month, I`m not sure the clay will be able to penetrate the layer and abrade the contamination. Though, I can feel some bumpy spots on the paint here and there.



- J

[Accumulator]

Ever used the yellow plasticky clay from Zaino, Mother`s, etc? Wonder how that compares to this stuff..



Yeah, I`ve used the "yellow" clays from several vendors and I like the Sonus stuff a *LOT* better. The green stuff in particular is a *very* different product.




My impression from your reviews is that this clay is not really intended for the end of the year type claying, and maybe the grey stuff is better for that...



Yeah, exactly.




Since I have added coats of FMJ as recently as last month, I`m not sure the clay will be able to penetrate the layer and abrade the contamination. Though, I can feel some bumpy spots on the paint here and there...J



If the contamination is under your FMJ I`d either wait until it needs refreshing or strip it off and then clay. I wouldn`t try to clay through the FMJ as that would be far more aggressive claying than I would ever do. I`ve done this as an experiment and I definitely felt that I was misusing the clay.

[Pats300zx]

Great info on the Sonus clay. I have some on the way and can`t wait to give it a try.

[chevyguy28]

Thanks Accumulator.



Your #5 experiment is very telling about the new green stuff. I`m planning to clay before I polish with Werkstatt Prime this weekend. So I`ll either wait or find a way to strip the FMJ before using the green stuff. Might even try the yellow stuff on stubborn areas.



It`s great that David is getting this clay. Seems to have hit a new niche for clay, if indeed it is more gentle than any other brand.



- J

[Accumulator]

JustinTRW- You`d probably find rubbing alcohol (either straight or cut with water) to be an easy way to strip the FMJ. And yeah, I wouldn`t be surprised if you find some things take the yellow (or gray) clay. I`m reserving the green clay for cleaning contaminants off my LSPs.