A disappointed newbie looking for advice (washing & claying)

J

JonJeffman

New member
Hi All,

So after reading a ton of info on here, buying my products, and waiting till I had time to detail my car (my first proper detail), I wound up fairly disappointed. So I'm looking for advice on what I did wrong: am I using the wrong product, poor technique, or just have too high expectations? (sorry for the long post, trying to include enough detail for people to comment).



To the non-enthusiast, I'd say my paint would be considered very good. But once you get right up there I started to realize how many little scratches, nicks, chips there actually are. Also, under bright light, you can see lots of swirl marks, but I don't really know what's considered 'bad' or 'mild' swirl.



So my plan for this first detail was to not do anything too aggressive, until I get the hang of it. The plan was:

- wash wheels (P21S wheel gel)

- wash car with sheepskin mitt (P21S shampoo)

- dry (cobra waffle weave)

- clay (Riccardo yellow clay, ONR clay lube)

- Klasse AIO

- Klasse SG

- Natty's blue paste wax, never got to this step yet



My biggest questions are what should I expect from the washing step, and the claying step? In several spots I had things stuck to the paint (sap, tar) that didn't require a 'baggie test' to feel. I could have used a finger nail to scrape off but figured that might scratch it. So, I scrubbed hard with the wash mitt, to no avail. Figured I'd wait for the clay to get it. But then I could clay it over & over & over, and it would barely reduce the size of the glob but not completely remove it. Even on other areas, where I needed the 'baggie test' to feel any grit, claying seemed to do very little. I eventually gave up on it and moved on. I found the AIO removed a lot more tar than claying did. At first I used light pressure as instructed, but I tried using more pressure even to the point where the clay would eventually squish out of shape under the pressure, yet I rarely had any dirt showing up on the yellow clay, and the baggie test wasn't much better after claying than before.



So: is the Riccardo yellow too mild? Do I need to go over the same spot over & over & over (I watched some youtube examples of claying and I went over it much more than they did). More pressure? And should claying make it feel perfectly smooth with the baggie test? Or am I expecting too much of the clay and I'd need a polishing compound?



My other question is regarding logistics of doing several coats. I got the SG on, but then it's supposed to wait 24 hrs. Do you usually rewash the car before the next layer? My problem is if I'm at my place with a garage, the city bylaws don't allow washing on the street. Or I can go to a friend's in the neighbouring city that doesn't have that bylaw, but then I don't have a garage.



Then, after all this work, and I was hoping to get the Natty's on top of the SG, I got rained on and now have water spots. Do you think ONR as a wash or QD is enough to remove this and prepare it for Natty's or do I need a full blown wash?



Any advice is hugely appreciated.
 
You need 30x LIGHTED MAGNIFIER so you can actually see what you are working with.

Then you can move to the proper products and processes.

Grumpy
 
You did well to use the KAIO on stuff the clay wouldn't remove. Clay is meant for small particles, not huge blobs of stuff stuck to your paint. Your biggest mistake was trying to tackle the whole car, especially after you noticed things weren't going well. Always test a small area first, then proceed. The way I see it, you have two issues:



Stuff stuck to the paint.

-For sap, rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol usually works

-Stoners tarminator works great on tar.

-If those don't work, you may need to move to an abrasive.



Washing location/type is an issue.

-ONR should resolve your issue, you can wash inside the garage.
 
Dan said:
Washing location/type is an issue.

-ONR should resolve your issue, you can wash inside the garage.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the advice. Should I use ONR at the 'wash' concentration, or at the QD concentration in a spray bottle, to get rid of the water spots? Would I be good to put the Natty's on top after that or do I need to start the whole process over again: AIO, SG, then Natty's?
 
I would just re-wash using it as a no rinse wash using a regular bucket. Using it at QD concentration to just wipe the car down might bother KSG as it is finicky. I would strive to get at least three layers of KSG on before you reach for Natty's. KSG is one of the few products I have noticed gets better after a few layers. Then study the finish for a while and try Natty's if you want a different look.
 
I think the biggest issue is that you need to polish the car with a DA polisher and something like Optimum Hyper Polish, Uno or Meguiars #205 (at least as a starting point) to reduce or eliminate the swirls and scratches. AIO is a good paint cleaner but it isn't meant for defect removal.
 
For stubborn stuck-on grime, I used Professional Strength Goof-Off on my car. Wrapped my index finger in a soft microfiber cloth, applied the Goof-Off to the tip, and lightly rubbed the spots. There was a brown splatter that wouldn't come off with washing or clay, so this was the next step I took. Removed all traces of the stuff and all it did was eat through my LSP.



I'm not saying this is what you should do unless Scott or another professional can provide their input - does Goof-Off burn through clear coat? Those spots on my car were taken off months ago and the areas still seem very clean, though I haven't propped up a halogen to check for marring, which I suspect is the only thing it did.



EDIT: I also used it to remove the residue from the GM chiclets on my quarter panels. Same story: took off the LSP but left a beautiful shine. No paint transfer with either cleanup.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I figured I'd eventually need to use a polish and DA polisher to remove all the defects as per Scott's suggestion, but didn't want to jump straight into the deep end on my first detail.



I think for this go-round, as the weather's turning cold in a hurry and I'm tight on time, I'll do the ONR, try to get a 2nd or 3rd layer of KSG, then Natty's just to see how it looks. Then come spring I'll tackle all the remaining stuck on grime, probably start with rubbing alcohol as I have some, then move to the tarminator or goof-off, whichever is easier to find. Then, maybe on the 3rd go, I'll look into the polish and dealing with the swirl.



But I do have to say the swirl is noticeably better than before so I'm guessing it's what would be considered mild swirl.
 
Keep stackin the KSG, awesome product for protection. AIO is certainly an acceptable step if you have limited time or resource as it allows the paint to accept wax/sealants better than just clay or nothing at all.
 
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