2008 Honda Accord Coupe (Black and Swirly)

J

Josiah

New member
I did a third of my car today with Mother's Clay and the QD they supply in the kit as lub... and it left horrible streaking all over the car. Even when I buffed it off right after I was done with an area, still is was streaking. Is this normal? I plan on washing and finished the car tomorrow afternoon (hopefully before it starts to freeze the clay again like today).



Any ideas on why it is streaking?

Josiah
 
The streaking will probably be fixed when you polish the car. What are you going to use? AIO or PPCL should take care of it...



H
 
<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by RH [/i]
<strong class='bbc'>The streaking is usually caused by claying on a panel that is warm. A cool panel, out of the sun, is best. [/b]</blockquote>
That would be my guess also. I really don't like Mother's clay bar anyway. It is way too stiff for my tastes, and feels real plasticky. The best consumer friendly clay bar system I have found is Clay Magic (the blue bar, not the professional strength red bar).
 
I was in the shade, and it was pretty cool today (high was 60 something) so... I am going to Klasse with it when I get my stuff, probably on Tuesday... I am going to wash with Dawn before I do the 3M stuff anyway so that might get rid of it...



That clay stuff is pretty cool :D Made my paint smoooooth. Looks a little cleaner too.



Josiah
 
I have used it with great results a few times. I am not fond of the QD that comes with the clay bar though, it appears to be loaded with some kind of oil, and I am not surprised if that is causing your smearing. I would use some car wash and water in a spray bottle as lube. Try that and I bet you will be fine....
 
I did the rest of my car with the clay, and the lub that came with it. I was very dissapointed with that QD... It took two or three washes with Dawn to get it all off, but now my car looks and feels great - smoother than it has ever been.



Off to write a review....

Josiah
 
What color was the clay you were using?



How much lube were you using? (A mist or was the panel well flooded?)



Did you use much pressure with the bar?
 
Mother's Clay Review

See the above post, forrest. I thought the clay was a little stiff, but maybe that is the way clay is supposed to be?

I wonder if I can make my own... our soil is so full of clay I could make a fortune.... :rolleyes:
 
Josiah - I read the other post - thanks for the link.



I'm a bit confused, though. The MOthers clay bar is yellow as indicated in your post, but AutoZone doesn't stock it (they stock the Meguiar's bar). The reason I asked about what color the bar was, was to make sure it was a Mothers bar instead of the Meguiar's one, which many folks have had streaking problems with. Both company names start with "M", and they get interchanged all the time by accident.



We have had 3 different version of clay since introducing it - the first was very pliable, the second was a little too plasticy to suit me (sounds like the one you had), and the third was between the previous 2, and a pretty good bar in my opinion. We started shipping the 3rd version about 10 weeks ago.



The comment about the QD streaking sounds directly related to your comment about it drying on the paint - I'd guess it was a darker color, and you indicated you were doing it out in the sun. Try working a smaller area or in the shade. The streaking should be easily removed with more detailer and a good towel.



It's a rare day I hear of our bar leaving streak marks. Usually it's the result of using water as a lube.



I passed the url of your posting on to our chemists.
 
When I used dawn as a lube, the bar streaked a bit, but zaino car wash did fine with MOTHERS CLAY. I guess it has to do more with the water, though, per forrest's post. Anyhow, a quick wash took all the streaking off very easily.
 
:cool:



I've been having trouble with Mother's Clay Streaking too. Also it seems very tough to knead the clay when necessary. Another option is to use Blue Magic Clay. I found when using this clay it was a breeze to use it on my car. Hope this helps.
 
I never had any streaking. The surface was cool, and I sprayed enough lubricant so the bar glided on the surface. Then I wiped off the excess stuff with a MT.



I think I had the third version. Oh, and I got it from Pep Boys if that will help.
 
Autozone doesn't stock it? Perhaps I got it at checkers then... they are right next to each other here, and I visit both them if one doesn't have what I need.



I want to try blue magic clay... I will give it a go next time, although the Mother's seemed acceptable. I might try it with a different lub to avoid streaking.

Josiah
 
Ah, that would explain it - Checker does stock our kit.



Try another lube, in the sun, to see of the streaking reoccurs. I'm thinking it was more a function of the sun than the lube that caused the streaking.



Maybe I missed the point entirely of your original post - was it the BAR that was leaving scuffy looking marks on the paint, or streak marks from the DETAILER?
 
It was the detailer leaving streaks, I am pretty sure. Not really a haze, but a streaky film all over the car. I used it in the shade and sun with the same results. I tried to buff it out before it dried, but didn't do too well with that, plus I don't have my MF towels yet, so I didn't get too agresive with buffing it out.

Josiah
 
Thanks for the info. Most detailers will leave streaks like you described from the product loading up on a towel.



If you're using cotton, make sure it's a thick, soft fluffy towel of 100% cotton. Old t-shirts, diapers, etc, won't work. The towel should not be laundered with fabric softener in ther washer or dryer.
 
Gotta disagree (partly) with Forrest - yes, the stuff leaves streaks if it has feeder oils or waxes (some do, some don't.) However microfiber towels will solve the problem. Many of the board members here (myself included) really like the Meguiar's Final Inspection QD. exception - if you use Zaino use their Z6.
 
I believe you see these streaks no matter what system you use if you overload it with oils...........





Using too much oil containing QD will cause this and it is not hard to ration through what actually happens. Say the QD has a small amount of oil in it and uses water as the carrier. Well, when you use it properly, the oil stays behind (the proper amount ), and the water is removed. When too much product is added, you are adding more oil/water over the oil, kind of diluting the water out of the system and overloading it with oil. The same thing will happen if you don't turn your towel enough. The oil stays behind on the towel so for each wipe, you are adding whatever you are spraying on the car, plus the oil on the towel. Again, overloading the system with oil, and that = streaks...........
 
Wax Shop's Slick Stuff is a pretty good QD, you might want to try that with the clay.



One really good thing about the Clay Magic blue is that you can use it when you wash the car, using the soapy water as the lubricant (after washing the excess dirt off the car first). Much cheaper than QD, and works just as well, IMO.
 
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