Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay

[Bobby G]

July, 2005 -- San Diego, CA -- Sonus USA is please to announce the immediate availability of SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay, the latest in a series of new paint care products for car enthusiasts.



Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay is the result of more than a year of development effort. Our new clay is the finest (least abrasive) clay ever made, and the best choice for car enthusiasts who clay their cars frequently.



I’d like to share with you a synopsis of more than a year of detailing clay education. I guess you could say it was a year of “a passion for excellence,� because that’s what I believe we have achieved.



First, I’d like to debunk a common myth about how clay works. After all, how can you fully understand and properly use a product if you don’t have all of the facts?



I keep reading clay marketing information that reads something like this: “…clay pulls contamination off of your paint...â€� This statement sounds pretty ridiculous when you realize that you must lubricate the surface you’re claying. How in the world do you pull on something that’s super slippery? This myth was born from a fear of telling people the truth. Clay is an abrasive.



Oh my goodness… did I really say that? You bet I did.



Read the patents on clay and they describe very clearly that detailing clay is a mixture of a “clay base� and various abrasives. Detailing clay is an abrasive system. If not used properly, detailing clay can cause light surface marring. There’s no need to fear if you use proper lubrication.



So, now the word is out; detailing clay is an abrasive. The best way to think about it is simply this: detailing clay is a “selective polish� with a built-in applicator. Its job is to “polish away� dirt and surface contamination from paint, glass, chrome and plastic. A pretty simple concept, isn’t it?



Detailing clay works by hydroplaning (floating) over the surface you’re cleaning on a thin layer of clay lubricant. When the clay (polish) encounters surface contamination, it abrasively grinds it away.



Those are scary words to a car enthusiast, but that’s what detailing clay does. You can see the end results of this “grinding� work by inspecting your clay. Does your clay have large particles sticking to it or does it have what appears to be a dirty film? It’s the later, of course, and it’s proof that your clay is doing its job gently polishing away contamination.



A big part of our [Sonus] detailing clay education this past year had to do with what makes one formulation of clay different from another. As it turns out, there is a lot that goes into each formulation of detailing clay. Although most of the clay made today comes out of a single factory in Japan, the formulas can be significantly different, including:



- Clay density (firmness)

- Abrasive particle size

- Type of abrasive

- Abrasive density (ratio of abrasive to clay)

- Color



Detailing clay formulation determines the optimal function of the clay and its potential to do damage when used improperly. As an example, professional grade clay that’s designed to remove paint overspray is very firm and contains abrasives equivalent to heavy rubbing compound. Used properly it will remove heavy overspray without damaging the paint. Used improperly, it can leave some pretty significant surface marring. That’s why it’s a professional product.



Most consumer grade detailing clays are designed to be used as an annual or semi-annual paint maintenance tool prior to polishing and waxing. At this frequency, these detailing clay products work great. Simply use the clay as part of your major detailing regimen. The problem we were beginning to see is that many car enthusiasts wanted to clay their vehicles frequently; as often as monthly. At this rate of use, some consumer grade detailing clay can begin to dull clear coat finishes. After all, it is an abrasive!



At Sonus, our goal became clear. We needed a detailing clay system that can be used as frequently as necessary to maintain smooth paint without reducing clear coat gloss. At the suggestion of many, the system should also do its job without removing paint protection (wax or sealant). This is what we achieved with Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay and Glyde Clay Lubricant.



The final critical lesson we learned in the development of Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay is the importance of proper lubrication. It’s important to both your paint finish and to the detailing clay itself.



Most clay retailers recommend using their detailing spray as a lubricant. Detail sprays work as a clay lubricant because they contain chemicals that prevent scratching when wiping away dust and light dirt. The problem is that most detailing sprays also contain some form of alcohol. Used in heavy concentration (the surface must be thoroughly wet with lubricant), alcohol removes wax protection and causes most clay formulations to break down and get mushy. Once this happens, your clay is dead, and it will make a smeary mess. We also discovered that some car wash soaps will cause the same problem when the clay is allowed to sit in the bucket of soapy water.



The solution was to create a glycerin-based lubricant. Glycerin offers plenty of slip, yet it’s mild and does not react with any surfaces on the vehicle, including most waxes and paint sealants. The feedback we received from some of our panel of testers was “… that’s great, but I want to clay after I wash, while my car is still wet…â€� We went back to work and created a concentrated version of Sonus Glyde that you can mix-to-strength in a bucket of water. We expect this new product to be available in August.



So now you have basically the same knowledge we gained after a year of hard work. If you like to clay frequently, and you don’t want your clay to remove your wax or reduce final gloss, try Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay.

[imported_drg]

im gonna clay my body with it if its that safe

[MattZ28]

Nice post David...



BUT, this has me wondering - if clay is abrasive, why won`t it remove any swirls/scratches or oxidation?

[Bill D]

My understanding is that clay pulls contamination off of paint by abrasion but doesn`t work in the abrading way that a polish does as to actually remove a minute part of the clear coat to level out the area where paint defects were.

[MattZ28]

Gotcha...so it doesn`t remove any paint, correct? If it does, then it should be able to remove surface imperfections...



I think the only way clay will dull paint is from frequent improper use (rubbing dirt/sand/etc particles into the paint, rubbing too hard, not enough lube, etc).

[Bill D]

Yes, that is correct AFAIK.

[chevyguy28]

The layer of lubricant seems to buffer the clay somewhat from the paint. When I was a newbie I once tried to clay by spraying my lube on a wet car after washing and it was a big mistake. Since there was so much beading, it left the false impression that the surface was lubed and after I dried the car I found haze in certain areas that needed to be polished off.



Seems like if you could rub the clay into the paint without a lubricant as smoothly as you could with lubricant, it would basically act like sand paper. Does that sound right?



- J

[Bobby G]

Nice post David...



BUT, this has me wondering - if clay is abrasive, why won`t it remove any swirls/scratches or oxidation?

I hope to find a way to explain how clay really works in a picture so everyone can come to a common understanding.



If you rub dry clay on your paint surface, it will scratch the paint. The level of scratching will depend on the abrasives in the clay.



If you have ever wet sanded a paint panel with a sanding block and wet & dry paper, you would notice that the high spots are knocked down first, then you finally get a level surface. You can think of clay working the same way. The contamination is the high spot on your paint.



The difference between clay and sand paper is that the clay abrasive is in a soft, maleable (sp?) substrate, whereas the sandpaper abrasive is fixed and ridgid. This allows the clay to "gently abrade". Once all of the contamination is gone, the surface of the clay becomes very smooth, and the lubrication prevents further "cutting".



A heavier clay can do a good job of removing surface oxidation, but it won`t restore gloss. You must use a cutting polish to restore gloss. In the case of swirls, this damage is below the level surface of the paint. Clay only works on contamination above the level surface of the paint.



There is no "pulling" action in clay. Take this term out of your clay vocabulary. It is technically incorrect.



db

[MattZ28]

David, thank you for the clarification....that explains it much better. :up

[imported_themightytimmah]

Heh, the new lube sounds a bit like Astroglide , on a chemical basis. Will it make a big difference with other grades of clay, or only on the ultra-fine?

[Bobby G]

Heh, the new lube sounds a bit like Astroglide , on a chemical basis. Will it make a big difference with other grades of clay, or only on the ultra-fine?

I tried our lube with all of the clay brands I could get my hands on. Seems to work fine with all of them.

[imported_memnuts]

From this new functional definition on how clay works means that this step can actually be eliminated by just adding a polishing step with a very mild paint cleanser? :nixweiss



I have always believed that claying had a "wet sanding" effect as one of its functions, but I also thought that clay also "extracted" embedded contaminates from the surface - reason for stickiness of clay. This new definition completely goes against my idea of how clay functions and the change in color hue improvement produced by claying. This is especially apparent when detailing light colors, especially white, and the hue difference after claying. Ever notice that most white vehicles have a silvery-grey tint to them. This the macro-visual presence of dark colored micro-contaminated that are almost impossible to remove by just washing and in most cases chemical cleansing and polishing. :hairpull Claying has been my answer for this problem with clearcoated paints.

By grinding down and not removing these embedded contaminates one would still have the visual impact of these contaminate presents "unless" the contaminated is completely ground away. What is the difference between claying and polishing if both result in the "same" amount of clearcoat removal for complete removal of contaminates? There must be an extraction component to claying.



I understand the need for different grades of clays, most professional paint shops carry such a selection, and the new ultra-fine just adds to this selection possibilities. :xyxthumbs



My questions are:

Why clay if polishing accomplishes the same end-point as conventional polishing (grinding way contaminates) and clearcoat loss?



If there is no extraction component, how does clay reach into the micro-valleys of a painted surface and polish / eliminate these embedded / hidden contaminates?



When should one clay if claying with a ultra-fine bar? Before or after a non-filling final polish (blemishes and swirls have been eliminated by prior more aggressive polishes)?

If so, after final polished surface feels smooth (baggie test) is claying now an option only if smoothness is not produced by conventional final polishing?



Last point of discussion. If claying abrase away contaminates embedded in the CC, how is it possible to preserve the LSP even with a LSP preserving lube?





Old dog finding it difficult to grasp clay not "extracting" particulates from the paint.



Thank you for producing another elite detailing tool to aid us in creating and preserving that "perfect shine". :wavey

[Bobby G]

I needed to prove to myself that clay did not/could not remove "sub-surface" contamination as many have claimed it can. I found two cars with the beginning stages of surface rust (not hard to do here on the beach!). I evaluated the surfaces with a 10X loop to inspect the nature of the rust. I used a fine blade to flick off pin head size bits to determine if the rust was on the surface or sub-surface. What I found is that surface rust appears to "bloom". It is both surface and sub-surface.



I used various clays on the paint surfaces with rust specs, wiped off and reinspected. The clay took the bloom, but left the root. The root is much smaller and can hardly be seen without magnification.



I went over the clayed finish with several paint cleaners, including KIO and Sonus PWC. These cleaners removed the root and left a crater.



My conclusion was that it takes a combination of product to properly clean paint so that it can be sealed and protected. Clay removes the heavy surface contamination without removing paint material. Paint cleaners (low- or non-abrasive polishes with chemical cleaning) remove contamination from the pores of your paint and restore gloss.

[imported_memnuts]

Thanks DavidB for the explaination and layout of the experiment. :xyxthumbs



Even though I have always polished after claying, now I know that I "must" in order to completely remove contaminates that are below the surface (embedded).



Now I see why the ultra-fine is directed towards new / well maintained since new finishes that have a larger percentage of above surface (superifcial or not deeply embedded) contaminates.

Why use dynamite when a firecraker will do the job.



You know David, you just made detailing steps explaination more complicated. It was much easier to explain to people the purpose of claying using the "extraction" theory.



I am sure there will be much discussion about the functioning capacity of automotive clays. This presentation is quite revolutionary and will change how we position claying in detailing.

[Jaymzx]

I`ve always thought of clay on my paint like a razor blade on glass. Once the contaminates are `shaved` from the paint, they stick to the `blade`, more than the clay `sucking` the contaminates off.