After washing and drying your vehicle place a plastic sandwich bag over your hand or fingers, gently pass over the surface. Does the surface feel silky smooth or rough and gritty?



If the paint surface has a rough ‘textured’ feel this roughness is most probably due to surface bonded contaminants, these contaminants come about due to exposure to industrial fallout, paint overspray, brake dust, etc. While they usually accumulate slowly over time, it is possible for a single event to cause them. Detailer’s clay and a surface lubricant will generally remove them



Surface contamination comes from a variety of sources, and can be categorized based the typical size of the particles and what they are made of, they are either organic such as bird excrement, honeydew and bug carcasses or inorganic such as brake dust, bituminous asphalt, etc . Brake dust is sharp fractured metallic particulates that embed themselves in the paint along with brake pad adhesive, which is sticky and adheres to the surface



A ‘brand new’ vehicle is at least a month old the day you sign the papers and drive off with it. Most vehicles, once they are produced, sit in a giant parking lot outside the factory for at least one month. When they are ready to be shipped it can take one to two weeks.



If the vehicle is to be imported it may take more time shipping by boat, rail and then by road transporter. Once they arrive at the dealer, it can take up to another two weeks for the dealer to remove shipping items and have it ready for the lot. Finally, it`s just a matter of how long it takes for somebody to purchase it. It could be three days, it could be four months. As you can see from the above a ‘brand new’ vehicle is actually three plus months old



Even new cars that have been sitting on a car dealerships lot for a few weeks can accumulate contamination that bonds to the paint surface; it shouldn`t be assumed a vehicle that looks good is contamination free. Here’s a simple test that will indicate whether or not you need to clay.

Wash and dry your vehicle, put a plastic sandwich bag over your hand and lightly rub your fingertips over the paint The plastic film between your fingers and the paints surface greatly heightens sensitivity.



If it feels rough or you feel little bumps or protrusions every snag you feel is a surface contaminant that the clay bar can remove but you may not be able to see, especially on white or light colour vehicle surfaces.



Detailing clay has made a huge impact in paint finish care because it removes oxidation and allows the paint to remain healthy, longer. Applying a coating over a paint finish does not stop oxidation; it only slows it down. Using a chemical paint cleaner is better for your paint finish; because they strip away some oxidation and allow the coating to obtain a better hold (anchoring to the micro-fissures of the surface) and lasting longer to retard oxidation



Using this product was one of my first ‘Eureka Moments’; there have been a few others (ONR, Nanotechnology coatings, and etc) but this was the first and to-date the most surprising, insofar as ‘how could something be so simple and yet so effective. Prior to clay we used a razor blade or chemicals to remove paint over-spray.



Detailer`s clay was formulated to remove paint surface contaminants like paint overspray, when it’s used to remove brake / rail dust it abrades the top section of the sintered (heat fused) iron particle ( it doesn’t ‘pull’ the particles from the surface, if this were so it would not need to be abrasive) leaving what is below the paint surface to remain. Once water and heat (reactivity) is added the corrosion process is started





Relevant Articles



1. “Detailer’s Clay” - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...ml#post1459468

2. “Environmental Damage” - http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...l-damage.html#

3. “Nanoskin Surface Prep Towel” - http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...rep-towel.html

4. “What will decontamination remove that washing / clay will not? “ -

http://www.autopia.org/forum/guide-d...-will-not.html