I clayed my brand new car and left marks all over

JustJesus said:
Welcome

Just saw your other thread. Where in So Cal are you? If you`re close, I can come by with some products and machines for you to "play" with. Don`t listen to these guys, they just want you to get hooked. Join us... huh what?!?! JOIN US... Resistance is futile.

Confession: I`m hooked, too. I`m with these guys.

Joking aside, they`re a good bunch of guys here with crazy levels of experience. And yes, I was serious about coming by with products and machines for you to try out. If that helps. Granted, I`m not a pro, but I`ve done a little work here and there.
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Op definitely consider this option. I can vouch for Jesus.

Why don`t we have our own competition ready day :D.
 
i didn`t know you could have too much detail stuff, but stay tuned for ronkh`s garage detail supplies givewaway. i attended his last one and made out big time. thanks ronkh.:rockon
 
Here are some pictures, mostly from the driver side of the car. The neons don`t illuminate the passenger side all that well.

None of these catch my nail if I try.
The whole glass is smooth as glass.
The "streaks" are hard to capture with a camera.































 
Ronkh said:
I`m starting to think you may NOT have caused most the damage you see.

Dealerships use a heavy glaze wax to cover their problems. IMHO you may have just deconed it enough to see it.
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To my knowledge, no one applied wax to it. The car was still wrapped when I got it.


JustJesus said:
Welcome

Just saw your other thread. Where in So Cal are you? If you`re close, I can come by with some products and machines for you to "play" with. Don`t listen to these guys, they just want you to get hooked. Join us... huh what?!?! JOIN US... Resistance is futile.

Confession: I`m hooked, too. I`m with these guys.

Joking aside, they`re a good bunch of guys here with crazy levels of experience. And yes, I was serious about coming by with products and machines for you to try out. If that helps. Granted, I`m not a pro, but I`ve done a little work here and there.
Click to expand...

This is incredible. Thank you so much. Will def. take you up on the offer if I can resolve on my own with your collective help: would love to make a new friend.

I am hooked on obsessive ideas already: I go once a month to a laundrymat to wash my towels because I didn`t want to use the family washer and dryer after ruling out buying a dedicated washer for the car towels.



The Guz said:
Op definitely consider this option. I can vouch for Jesus.

Why don`t we have our own competition ready day :D.
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Thank you. I appreciate your commenting. Jesus must be great.



TheMeanGreen said:
Weeellllll, I would like to cover something that might not have been said. Lubricity could have caused the marring as well. I too have experienced surface marring from claying, however, that was with using Sprayaway Glass Cleaner for lube (on an already wet panel). For those that have not used Sprayaway Glass Cleaner, you`re in for a treat in the context of the clay`s ability to clean the paint, but surface marring is the trade off. Grade of clay will play a role in surface marring as well, unfortunately any time we touch the paint, we are leaving some kind of mark behind, some are just bigger than the others.

Welcome to the addiction!
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This made me question why I even clayed it in the first place. I created a problem that I didn`t need. :(


Loving the forums so far.

Thank you everyone.
 
That`s not bad. Griot`s 6" Polisher, white Lake Country pad, Poorboy`s Professional Polish. All of that will cost you less than $200 and you`ll use them for years.
 
I think going to a laundromat is worse than using your own machine. You have no idea what`s gone through the laundromat.

As for the pics, you might have just left streaks from the clay. Have you tried wiping them away with an IPA solution?

If not, I`m sure they`ll polish out easy. Tons of great options. I`m a Rupes guy, so I`d recommend a Rupes 15- might be able to find an open box deal and save some money. Some orange HD orbitals and menzerna 2500 or 3300 would probably be all you`d need to have that paint perfect again. So many pads and polishes to choose from, though.
 
jrock645 said:
I think going to a laundromat is worse than using your own machine. You have no idea what`s gone through the laundromat.

As for the pics, you might have just left streaks from the clay. Have you tried wiping them away with an IPA solution?

If not, I`m sure they`ll polish out easy. Tons of great options. I`m a Rupes guy, so I`d recommend a Rupes 15- might be able to find an open box deal and save some money. Some orange HD orbitals and menzerna 2500 or 3300 would probably be all you`d need to have that paint perfect again. So many pads and polishes to choose from, though.
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Instead of the lhr15 could go with the duetto


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Like said: those `markings` are VERY fine/minor. A good OTC polish is Meguiars Ultimate Polish, it`s a mild polish that`s available almost everywhere, really though, there are too many polishes to chose from that will work awesome to list here. I`m sure others will chime in with their recommendations. Just to say you are looking at a very minimum of buffer work to "fix the damage."

Don`t beat yourself up about claying vs not claying, in the long run, to clay is 99.9% of the time better than not, you wouldn`t believe the crud it can pull from the paint - it far outweighs the "marring" the clay may cause.

Good luck and welcome to the obsession ... "we have you now."
 
Nothing there looks all that bad, some of it you are going to get anytime you mechanically decontaminate the whole car. The streaking and maybe a few of those wider looking marks could be the same problem I had when I used that same kit about 3 years ago. I found that clay to be grabby no matter how much lubrication i used. Also as the clay got warmer i kneaded it and had it in my hot sweaty hands it got worse and worse to the point it was sticking to my hands and leaving clay streaks on my truck. At that point I pulled out a new piece and put on a pair disposable mechanic gloves and that helped for a while till clay got warmed up from kneading and started sticking to the gloves and truck again. The clay seems to really change its consistency and behavior as it warms up and if its warm out. I have gone over to synthetic "clay" towels (Speedy Surface Prep Towel) or (NanoSkin), does the same job about just as good IMO and its way easier on my hands (mild arthritis). As someone already suggested an IPA or surface prep spray with some alcohol or mineral spirits in it should be able to dissolve and remove the clay streaks before you try polishing (so you dont get that clay in your pad).
 
The scratches on your clear aren`t that bad, I`ve corrected way worse than that. Get yourself a good soap, polishing machine w/polishing pad and finishing pad, polish, sealant...there is a DOWN side to getting all these products. You will find yourself spending countless hours working on your cars because you want to not because you have to. lol
 
Personally, some of those don`t look like clay markings. I think either way your ride could use a polish and it`s never too late to start. As non pressuring as this community is... I think it`s clear (Or not as clear if you`d like) that it`s time to polish.

Griot`s garage 6 inch with some basic pads or a Rupes Duetto with some pads + megs 205 or Jescar and your good to go.
 
Just a note regarding that "don`t catch my fingernail" assessment of the marring- That`s sure good as scratches that *do* catch like that are too deep for safe removal on most of today`s paints (which seem to keep getting thinner all time). Ford`s old recommendation was "remove no more than 2/3mil" and plenty of people take off more than that without even thinking about it precipitating issues.

And when claying, the Perfect Theoretical is that the clay glide across a film of lube, never actually contacting the paint directly. While gliding, it bumps into above-surface contamination which it shears off, said contamination then sticking in the clay. But in actual practice it`s easy for the clay to penetrate the lube film and touch the paint, and IMO it *probably* also does a bit of "grabbing the contamination" as well as the shearing (but not nearly as much as many might think). But the main point here is that (weird situations like overspray notwithstanding), the clay really shouldn`t directly touch the paint. But good luck with that Perfect Theoretical IRL ;)

Gentle clay, used properly, simply doesn`t mar autopaint and I spot-clay at every wash. But it`s a pretty demanding task that I do inch-by-inch, if that (often just do individual specks of contamination). Heh heh, normal people would never go through that, and yes indeed it`d be easier (if less desirable) to just mar it and repolish.
 
And some of us foam *while* doing a 2 bucket wash. I`d never attempt a (conventional) wash without doing that. Never.
 
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