Claying but not polish and waxing??

[Turbofree]

At a car event I was at recent someone was demonstrating the use of a clay bar.



What was worrying was that they were claying parts of the car to demonstrate the smooth finish but they werenâ€â„¢t polishing or waxing the car before they left.



What damage would that do to the paint as I always believed you should then polish and then wax?

[Accumulator]

The polishing isn`t always necessary, but yeah, they should`ve put a LSP on it to protect the "bare" paint. That`s assuming they clayed so aggressively that they took off any LSP that was on there.

[gav'spurplez]

was it just a "demo car" that they were claying ??



i have clayed my car and waxed before. some people spot clay every wash. i would think it was ok if the clay was not aggressive and that they paint was already waxed/sealed.



claying and them some quick detailer should be ok for a car that already has a final product on it :nixweiss

[Black240SX]

I understood that clay would not remove wax or sealant. It might depend on the type of clay, however.



Usually if a car needs to be clayed, it also needs cleaning and polishing so you would normally do all the steps but I don`t think it is necessary.

[Turbofree]

Thanks for the comments.



The car they were using was an old Porsche Turbo and the front was covered in stone chips.



I have seen them do this demo at several shows and I am not sure they are doing much polishing or waxing between events!

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Black240SX

I understood that clay would not remove wax or sealant. It might depend on the type of clay, however.

Yeah, it doesn`t remove it if you clay "correctly"; I do it all the time. But it seems that most people clay a lot more aggressively than that.

Usually if a car needs to be clayed, it also needs cleaning and polishing so you would normally do all the steps but I don`t think it is necessary.

Guess it just depends on the vehicle and all the other situation-specific stuff. I spot clay at every wash but I only polish once a year or so (if that often). I`m absolutely sold on the idea of "claying your LSP", where you pick the contamination out of the LSP very gently. But IMO the people who don`t know about claying probably have vehicles in pretty dire need of all sorts of attention

[White95Max]

Maybe they purposely don`t polish or wax it, because they want the paint to be full of contaminants again for the next demonstration. They want to show the HUGE difference the clay can make. If the paint was polished and waxed, then it would already be very smooth before the next demonstration.

[Black240SX]

Hmm, maybe they are just claying because that is just what they are demonstrating.

[audipower]

Use LUBE, clay lube not that lube. It won`t leave no marks.

I never not clay when detailing. I only use light non abrasive polish once a year, after winter (sonus SFX-3 or Mezerna Finish Polish). I AIO two to three times a year.

I have classic cars that haven`t been polished and only washed 3 times if that a year. I believe the clay helps in preventing swirls and oxidation. When you have 13 coats of clear coat you don`t like polish.