clay bar usage and UPP application

Hey, I`m new around here...boy, I thought I was anal about cleaning my vehicle...LOL. Great forum.

I`ve always been the wash and wax type of home detailer, but lately I`ve wanted to see what the results of a bit more effort would be. My product of choice has been the Meguiars Gold Class wax, clear coat polish and their tire gel. Recently, I purchased the Blue Magic clay bar from the local parts store and the UPP cleaner, sealant and spray from premiumautocare. My vehicles are a 2000 Silverado Ext Cab Z71, Light Pewter metallic and a 2002 Protege5, Dark Blue. Paint is in good shape on both.

Here are my questions:

1. What is the "stroke" pattern for the clay bar? I think I read on here somewhere to move the clay from front to rear of the vehicle on the top surfaces, more or less in a straight line (no circles). What about the sides of the vehicle?

2. Same question for the UPP cleaner and sealant.

3. I do not have access to a garage, so can I do all this outside? I was thinking that if I used the bucket of soapy water for the clay lubricant, it would prevent any inadvertent scratching from wind blown particles. Not sure about the UPP application.

4. What about tire dressings? I`ve used the Meguiars gel with lasting results, but it tends to sling off a little bit. Tried a new Meguiars aerosol spray product the other day. It was gone the same day with the rain.

rtbrick,

Welcome, and yes we are anal! :D

Anyhow, you will find that everybody has a little bit different way of achieving the same results. I`m sure some others will be by with equally good suggestions....... here are mine:

1. I like to use the clay in a back and forth (top to bottom) manner as you descirbed. Clay is a bit abrasive, and using it in a circular manner might cause some unnecessary swirls.

2. If your paint is clean, and the applicator you are using is good, it probably doesn`t matter which way you apply the products. However, I usually apply my cleaners/abrasive polishes in a circular motion to get a bit more cleaning/polishing action, and apply my top-coats in a back and forth/top down motion. Again, it`s probably just being "anal", but its worked for me.

3. I like using the car wash as lube for the claying, partly because of the reason you mentioned, and partly because I belive it`s a better lubricant than QD.

4. I`ve used the Meguiar`s gel with pretty good success. I like to let it dry, and then wash the tires lightly to remove any excess. Then I put Zaino`s 16 on top of that. I`m going to be trying some of Poorboy`s Bold & Brite soon to see if works as well as I`ve heard. Still, it will be pretty hard for a water based product to match a gel for durability.

One last thing. You might want to work a polish into your routine after the claying to remove any previous swirls, or any that might have occurred during the claying process.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

I just used a clay bar for the first time yesterday, and am extremely happy I did..........my car is 3 years old, and as well as I have taken care of it, I was still getting PLENTY of stuff off the paint that I couldnt see.

First, I used a LOT of clay lube..........used up the whole bottle of stuff that was included with the Clay Magic clay bar, and then moved on to a bottle of Meguiars QD. I really was paranoid about scratching the paint with the clay bar, so I didnt mind using up the extra liquid. From now on Im going to stick to soap and water mix, because its cheaper and a lot easier to come by :)

Second, I did a pass from front to back of each panel (I pretty much did the whole car following how the wind passes by the car). Then I lubed the same area again, and went over it lightly. You can automatically tell the difference: the clay doesnt even feel like its pressing on something once you`ve done it once. I used the second pass to get some of the more stubborn spots off.

Finally, I wiped most of the excess QD/clay lube off with a clean terry towel. Then a complete wash right after to make sure all of the lube stuff was gone.

I agree with Charles: a good polish would work pretty well right after claying a car. I used 3M Hand Glaze, because I happened to have some around, and at 3 years old I have some minor scratches and swirls. It definitely made a difference. Then I followed the whole thing with a coat of Meguiars gold class liquid wax.

That was for my "old" car :) my new car will be using clay, AIO, then UPP. I dont have any swirl marks to contend with, so I dont really need to put much effort into that aspect. And from what I hear about the ease of use of AIO and UPP, it will turn out even easier than my 3 year old car.

As far as tire dressing: Ive used the Meguiars Tire Gel for the last 5 or 6 years and love it!! Ive actually heard that the newer product doesnt work as nice (Ive never tried it myself though). Ever since I got my first bottle of it Ive stayed away from any spray type, because no matter how careful I was I always ended up with at least a little splattered on my fenders. Not a big deal when I had a black car, but with my silver car it didnt look great.

Other advice: everyone here is correct.......most of the time you need is to prep the car, after that the polish and wax steps are simple. And it definitely pays to do the prep-work the right way: after claying my car, it felt like I had a fresh coat of wax on it........perfectly smooth.

Good luck!!!
-Chris

Which polish should I use? I have some of the Meguiars clear coat body scrub. Is that acceptable? I`ll be using the UPP products I just bought. So I guess my sequence should be like this:

1. Wash with Dawn to be safe
2. Clay
3. Wash
4. Polish
5. Wash again to get polish residue off?
6. UPP pre cleaner
7. UPP, maybe a couple of coats

I`ll be doing everything by hand...

I used to use the clearcoat scrub, but the clay pretty much takes the place of it (with a lot less scrubbing!!!)

Dont wash after polish...........depending on the product, you either wait for haze or just remove it right after you put it on. I take most of the haze off with a flannel polishing towel, and then a quick go-over with a microfiber towel.

Ive used a full Megs system before (soft wash gel to wash, clearcoat scrub to clean, Deep Crystal Polish, and Gold Class liquid wax) on my light colored car, and it always looked nice (like I said, the car is 3 years old..........but when I drive it to my wife`s parents house, their neighbors still think its new :) ).

My new regiment will be Dawn wash (to remove whatever "inferior" product the dealer used ;) ), clay, Klasse All In One cleaner/Polish, then UPP (2 coats a day apart). Its a dark colored car, so I want a really deep wet look that will stay for a while (hence the UPP.........I can sacrifice a little depth and wetness for a product that will stay on longer than 3 weeks) without having to take major care of it.

Good luck!!!
-Chris

Hello -

This is just my opinion (well, actually it is shared by quite a few of us here), but the Dawn belongs in the kitchen, not for washing cars. The detergents in it are so strong that it could remove vital oils from the paint itself. Stick to a quality car wash shampoo, such as Platinum Ultimate Car Shampoo - it is great.

Also, if you are using Klasse AIO, it is not necessary to use Dawn to ensure that you have removed all the crap the dealer may have used, as this will remove anything on your paint by itself.

Some good paint polishes include Hi Temp`s Light Cut, Menzerna Intensive and Final polishes, and Meguiars # 9. There are some good 3M ones from what I have read, but you will get the results you are looking for with any of the first three I mentioned.

Good luck!

Brian

Thanks for the info.............I was also leaning away from the Dawn, because the AIO has cleaning capabilities built in anyway. Plus the car is "old" enough now that if the dealer used Carnuba (Im sure they did), its pretty much gone anyway.....especially with all the rain we`ve had lately.

As far as polish, I might tap the local auto store to see if they have anything that catches my eye (i.e. is on the list you mentioned), but I think Ill be OK with a couple coats of AIO topped off with a couple of UPP.

Thanks again!!!
-Chris

Thanks for all the help. I`ll shop around for a good polish to use with the UPP. All I have to do now is wait for a day that it doesn`t rain, that I`m off from coaching little league baseball, one that my wife has not programmed a honey-do-list for and I`m off from work....wish me luck...:rolleyes: