Over Claying?

[shadow85]

My daily driver is parked near grass and under tree`s so it sees dust, pollen and bit of tree sap. I do a monthly ONR wash (Grout Sponge) and find that I need to clay every time (else the drying process (WW) is a little tough). I try to choose the lightest clay (Pinnacle Ultra Ploy Clay).



Is monthly claying too much? Do you think it`s too harsh for Wolfgang DGPS 3.0 (I do OCW spay every month as well in hope that it will prolong the Wolfgang)?



Thanks.

[Accumulator]

Noting that I spot-clay at *every* wash...



IMO if you`re not a) marring the paint, b) claying away your LSP, or c) causing any other issues, then there`s no need to worry.



IMO#2 you need to wash more frequently so the contamination doesn`t bond to the vehicle so tenaciously. And if your LSP doesn`t shed said contamination very well (and/or hold up to the claying), then I`d rethink that too.

[Tony1]

Noting that I spot-clay at *every* wash...



IMO if you`re not a) marring the paint, b) claying away your LSP, or c) causing any other issues, then there`s no need to worry.

I don`t see how it`s possible to not remove you LSP when claying. Claying can remove over spray so it will eat through was/sealant no problem. I think not removing LSP while claying is another Autopia myth.

[Rtom]

I have always compared claying to polishing, the more you clay, the more clearcoat you take. As miniscule as that may be, I`d prefer to just keep my car clean and avoid over claying.

[spotter]

I am no expert, but IMO a light claying that does not induce any marring is not going to remove any more clearcoat than washing your car.

[eyezack87]

^^You have to remember that any time anything physically touches your paint, it has the chance of marring



That is, unless you have Jet Black, in which just looking at it marrs it

[shadow85]

I`m starting to feel that ONR+Grout Sponge is not providing me enough cleaning power for a monthly wash in my situation.

[Accumulator]

I don`t see how it`s possible to not remove you LSP when claying. Claying can remove over spray so it will eat through was/sealant no problem. I think not removing LSP while claying is another Autopia myth.

Different clays, and different techniques, can yield different results.



If I were removing a significant amount of LSP, the areas I clay regularly would need redone a lot sooner than the areas I don`t clay. As it is, the areas I clay the most often (like, the areas that get clayed almost every time) *do* need redone a bit sooner than the areas that never get clayed, but it`s not anything drastic unless I`ve had to clay more aggressively than normal.



I`ve been doing this spot-claying since detailing clay came out in the early `90s, and I`m confident that I`m not somehow failing to notice anything.



I`ve posted before about my experiments with clay vs. LSPs, including how much I had to work at it just to cut through Meguiar`s #5 (!). That was with Sonus green ultra-fine and Glyde lube, with my regular (very gentle) technique.



I`ve also been able to clay without killing the LSP using some slightly more aggressive clays, but there definitely is a limit to what the LSP can withstand. And different LSPs respond differently too.



And sure, I`ve cut off heavy overspray with aggressive clay, and I`ve marred the [crap] out of very hard paint with aggressive clays too.



But with a very mild clay, gentle enough technique, and enough lube that it barely contacts the paint at all, there shouldn`t be a problem; the clay glides (heh heh, or "glydes" :chuckle: ) across the LSP on film of lube until it bumps into some contamination, which it then shears off. It never gets through the LSP (hardly even touches it) so it never contacts/abrades the paint.



IME this is one of those topics where you can only generalize soo far.

[Accumulator]

Rather than take my word for it (or somebody else`s either, for that matter), try testing your clay against your LSP yourself. Here`s how I did it:



Find a spot of relatively smooth contamination that you`d normally clay off. I say "relatively smooth" because I don`t mean some blob like a piece of tar. Stains from leaves/etc. would be a good choice, or even some minor rust-bloom.



Apply your LSP over the contamination until you get it smoothly covered up. Heh heh, watch you don`t end up wiping the contamination off in the process! You should end up with a smooth, LSPed surface, contamination sealed under a layer of LSP.



Then use your clay/lube/technique on that area, but work slowly so you can see what`s going on. Keep checking your clay until the first sign that it`s cut through the LSP and started working on the contamination (you`ll see staining on the clay from the contamination, if you keep going you`ll eventually clean the contamination off the paint). That`s what it takes for your claying to cut through the LSP.



You could further experiment by being more/less gentle and see what kind of diffs that makes. With a little practice, you can learn how to match your claying to the desired result. I use all sorts of different claying techniques (and three or four different clays), just depends what I`m trying to do (or *not* do).



IIRC, it took over a half-dozen light contacts with the Sonus green clay to cut through my Meguiar`s #5, and that`s more than I`d normally expect to do when spot-claying. #5 is one very fragile product too, whole lot different from some LSPs that can resist even abrasive polishes (at least for a little while).