alright, I give up, I'll clay it....

S

Surfer8210

New member
No matter how many posts or comments people made about the positives of using a clay bar, I always stayed away from it.



Why you ask? Well, its because I have been so darn afraid of messing up my paint. I mean, the idea of rubbing a clay bar against my black paint seems like I'm just ASKING for the introduction of new swirls and micro-scratched.



BUT, I think I've reached the point where I have to give in. Too many of you guys are using this clay with success. I think it's my turn to try.



So now, after some research on these forums, I have decided to use the Mothers clay bar (though there were other good ones).



Question: Applying this thing, do i have to keep turning it over? Or can I literally just use one side of the clay bar for the whole car, and not even have to rinse it periodically to get off the dirt it captures? In essence, what is the best way to minimize scratching or messing up the paint?



thanks alot

Shant
 
You want to do a small section, and then knead or "massage" the clay so that fresh section is exposed. Do not use the whole clay bar. Tear off a small piece, do a section, then fold the clay and use the clean side, then knead the clay again.



With Mother's clay's or any light coloured clay, it's easy to tell when it's time to knead the clay, because it is yellow, and you will see the brown and black specks.



When you can no longer expose a fresh surface, throw that piece away, and tear off a new one and start the process again on the car where you left off. If your car is in good shape, you should not need anything close to a full bar. I would guess that you may need a 1/4 to a 1/2 bar to do the whole car.



Note: What a terrible post. Full of typos. Couldn't resist, so I edited it. :)
 
thanks...well, okay...



whats the point of kneading/massaging the clay? Isn't all that gonna do spread around the dirty specks into other areas of the clay?



Also, how small is small? for example, on say the hood, how much clay should be enough. Thus far, I think small as a "quarter size amount"



thanks
 
adding some swirls while claying is actually part of the risk. Normally the next step is to polish your car to remove the swirls. Since swirl removal is the next step after claying, it is genearally accepted that some small swirls may happen, but they don't matter much because they won't be there very long. That's no excuse to be wreckless with the clay though. 2wheelsx2 gives some very good tips. I'd follow those and you should be satisfied with the work when you are done. :xyxthumbs
 
I would be a bit generous and waste a bit more clay in the beginning, until you get the hang of it. For the amount, just grab a small bit, try working with it, and if it's too difficult to hold on to, grab a bit more and add it to the first lump.



Kneading it folds the contamination inside the clay, exposing a fresh surface.



Remember not to use much, or any, down pressure. Just slide the clay back and forth like you are playing air hockey (remember those? I guess I am dating myself). Let the clay do the work. After all, you are not polishing, you are letting the clay "pluck" out the contaminants.
 
i use a mixture of mothers california gold car wash and water.. and spray it liberally over the area u are working with...saves your QD.



Then i get the clay roll it into a ball then flatten it down to a roundish shape.. do one small section and then flip the clay, or whenever it starts to sound rough, like scratching rough, then once both sides are flipped.. roll it up into a ball, and make sure u get out all the creases in the clay then flatten it again, so the surface of the clay is smooth and has no creases and wrinkles in it.



ALso cut ur clay up into little size blocks to start with.



I normally have two bars around, put one in the sun and then work with the other, when it comes to changing i can just flatten the clay which has been sunbaking, it makes it much easier to work with.
 
Shant said:
thanks...well, okay...



whats the point of kneading/massaging the clay? Isn't all that gonna do spread around the dirty specks into other areas of the clay?



Also, how small is small? for example, on say the hood, how much clay should be enough. Thus far, I think small as a "quarter size amount"



thanks
Click to expand...
Personally, I don't do any kneading at all, and just fold it once and reshape it to avoid what you mentioned. You get a whole bunch of layers of dirty clay, and when the clay is at the end of its usefulness you'll find it hard to expose a clean (or semi-clean) surface and you'll be no worse off than if you'd kneaded it.



With the Mothers clay, I cut it into 3rds and use one third at a time. That way if you drop it, you still have some left.



Something I might try next time is cutting some QD with water in a bottle because I've found this lubes almost as well as straight QD. On some warm days (not now though :p) it could dry so fast I was using up too much QD and I had to wake it up with some water spray.
 
4DSC:

Why spending expencive QD as lube for claying?

I've used a solution of carwash (Z7 : one capfull ) in a spritz-bottle (about 16 ounce) with verry good results .



Christiaan
 
I've used car shampoo in the past with good results. Instead of mixing a solution in a spray bottle, I'd mix a solution in my wash bucket like I was going to wash my car. I would then use a big sponge, load it with the solution, place it above the area I was working on and gently squeeze it so a stream would flow over the work area. I switched back to using OGSO, mostly because I like the way it smells :p and by buying it by the gallon, it's pretty cheap.
 
You are likely to induce some swirling, but as long as you pay attention to the 'feel' of the clay it'll be cake to remove with SMR or whatever.



As an excercise in getting the feel, get a small section wet (I use car wash soap/water mixed stronger than normal) and glide the clay over a section about 8" long and as wide as your piece of clay. Don't push down, just glide the clay over the soapy water/qd. Make 10 or 15 passes and feel how it's nearly frictionless at the end. That's the sign of being done with a section.



Now move to a fresh wet are that you've not clayed- feel the difference? That's how it feels when you're _not_ done- you can feel the clay catching on the gremlins in your paint.



There are two other things you need to watch for that are recognizable by feel- dragging and scratching. Dragging is what I refer to the feeling that not enough lube is present; you can check that out by going off of your wet area. The clay just slows down and doesn't slide as nicely. Scratching is what happens when you pop a big piece of something out of the paint but it protrudes down out of the clay surface and scrapes across the surface as you move. The clue here is that the feel of the friction doesn't change with the location of the clay on the car. This feel does change if the whatsit is still in/on the paint. If you get the scratching feel, immediately examine the surface of the clay for big bits and remove them if you can. If you can't see anything, knead or fold as you choose (but get a fresh surface down).



Good luck- it's easier than it sounds and the results are impressive!



hth,

Robert
 
I'm ready too to clay my car. I just picked it up today. I'm hoping for a day in the high 50's so I can wask, clay and klasse. I'm in Chicago so I have my fingers crossed.



Two questions:



1. Can I still clay if it is in the high 50's or should I just wait till spring??



2. When you glide the clay over the car, is it if a back and forth motion? I would think that moving the clay in circles would be a big no no, but i'm a newbie so I will ask first instead of after the fact.
 
Clay is unaffected by temperature. It'll still pick up contamination. However, the colder it is, the tougher it will be to form the clay.



I do it in sort of an arc. The natural motion of the arm. Not in circles. You're just making sure that you get complete coverage.
 
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