Always clay before polish?

I

imported_animes2k

New member
Just thought I'd throw this out there to see what folks typically do...



Do you usually - or always - clay before using a machine to polish?



How necessary do you think it is to clay before polishing?



If not, what kind of contaminants would you leave to the polisher and when would you clay first?



Thanks for the input :)
 
[quote name='animes2k']Just thought I'd throw this out there to see what folks typically do...



Do you usually - or always - clay before using a machine to polish?

YES ALWAYS UNLESS PAINT IS BADLY OXIDISED



How necessary do you think it is to clay before polishing?

EXTREMELY



Have rotary buffed before with fallout on a car and it makes life damn hard

I have just begun claying before and after machine compounding or medium polishing

Fallout is not just at the surface with cars, it can penetrate deeper and machine polishing after claying can reveal another sub surface layer

Also find that claying twice makes paint even smoother



That way you get all the contaminants off

I might use sonus ultra fine clay the second time if contaminants are not that bad.



Not only do I wet the panel but the clay bar itself and sometimes use diamondite speed clay as the lube along with sonus glyde, evercoat lubri shine or a mixture of quick and easy wash, purified water and AIO
 
I don't always. The other day I clayed my hood and roof and a few other typical problem areas and picked up nothing to speak of, so I went straight to polish. It really just depends though, and my car had 3 coats of z2 pro and 4 additional applications of p21s over the last few months, and is garaged and not driven a whole lot.
 
I will admit to not claying every time :nervous:



I am sure I read something by DavidB where he talks about clay to often can dull the paint but regrettably I cannot find the thread.
 
Lowejackson said:
I will admit to not claying every time :nervous:



I am sure I read something by DavidB where he talks about clay to often can dull the paint but regrettably I cannot find the thread.
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I was under the impression that the new Sonus Clay was safe to be used more frequently than regular clay.
 
Pats300zx said:
I was under the impression that the new Sonus Clay was safe to be used more frequently than regular clay.
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I found the article on Better Car Care http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=61



"Most consumer grade detailing clays are designed to be used as an annual or semi-annual paint maintenance tool prior to polishing and waxing. At this frequency, these detailing clay products work great. Simply use the clay as part of your major detailing regimen. The problem we were beginning to see is that many car enthusiasts wanted to clay their vehicles frequently; as often as monthly. At this rate of use, some consumer grade detailing clay can begin to dull clear coat finishes. After all, it is an abrasive!"



"... Our customers want a detailing clay system that can be used as frequently as necessary to maintain smooth paint without reducing clear coat gloss. At the suggestion of many, the system should also do its job without removing paint protection (wax or sealant). This is what we achieved with Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay and Glyde Clay Lubricant"
 
I DO NOT clay everytime I polish...I really dont feel it is needed...if the car has no contamination to speak of why do it? :idea
 
Lowejackson said:
"...some consumer grade detailing clay can begin to dull clear coat finishes. After all, it is an abrasive!"..
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IMO the operative word in the above is "can" ;) And yeah, the new Sonus green clay is so mild it takes intent and effort to cut through a LSP. Used properly, it's not gonna cause problems.
 
Accumulator said:
IMO the operative word in the above is "can" ;) And yeah, the new Sonus green clay is so mild it takes intent and effort to cut through a LSP. Used properly, it's not gonna cause problems.
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Completely agree although I must live in a very clean environment as I do not seem to use clay as much as many others or maybe I am just lazy :)
 
Lowejackson- Well, I think that with my ultra-gentle wash regimen I clay more often than most because any truly adhered dirt/contamination/whatever won't necessarily get cleaned off with just the wash. Sorta a case of trading one risk (wash induced marring) for another (clay induced issues). I just always feel I have better control over the claying, perhaps because I deal with very small areas using an intensely focused approach. Somebody who washes more aggressively than I do (i.e., most anybody ;) ) will clay far less often than I do.
 
I'm new to this forum, but have been detailing by hand for quite a while and will start machine polishing this weekend.



I find that it's difficult to say "I clay every month" or 2 months or whatever. There are times when I can go for 3-4 months without needing to clay and there are times when just 1 trip into the countryside after claying will contaminate my paint badly with road tar.



I test first with the plastic bag and if it is bumpy, I will clay. The reason being if you are going to polish anyway, it is better to take out any with the clay and then the polish (assuming you are using mild abrasives) will handle the surface defect from the clay. If you don't clay, there might be some types of contamination such as rail dust that might not be removed with the polisher, and then it will be sealed in by your sealant or wax.
 
There are times when claying before polishing does not make economic sense:



1. Heavy oxidation -- In this case I go straight to polish because the oxidized paint is going to ruin the clay and you still need to polish.



2. Heavy filth -- In this case, I will go over the paint with a pre-wax cleaner first to get that heavy layer of grunge off. Then I hit it with clay to get the paint perfectly smooth.



db
 
I would say it's not necessarily required to clay everytime before you polish. I would suggest spot-claying (mostly horizontal surfaces, the front bumper and the rear bumper) as you see fit.
 
I was doing some research and came across this thread after the fact.



Where I now live, claying is necessary 99% of the time as rust contamination is rampant here near the ocean. Even compounding doesn't get all the rust out (unless you get crazy with twisted wool). I've only detailed one vehicle without substantail rust here in San Diego. When I lived away from the ocean near Sacramento, claying was only necessary 80% of time IMO. You have to get the rust out.
 
It is useful, but it isn't always necessary. As long as you do not have pronounced particles, you could skip that step. The paint cleaning and polishing process is the vital step IMO into getting a clear, clean and deep surface before the wax or synthetic lsp.
 
What I do is clay an area likely to be contaminated, such as the rocker panels, lower doors, or behind the wheelwells. See what comes off and evaluate the need for further claying.



RAG- I'd probably look into a decontamination system in your case. See if the acidic step can burn out enough of the ferrous contamination to keep it from coming back so soon. Oh, and clay while the acidic step is dwelling. I was recently advised that one can use a bug sponge while the acidic stuff is dwelling, but I always worry that those things will mar the paint.
 
Accumulator said:
What I do is clay an area likely to be contaminated, such as the rocker panels, lower doors, or behind the wheelwells. See what comes off and evaluate the need for further claying.

.
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You'd be surprised how much contamination is on the front end of your vehicle too from the exhaust fumes caused by cars in front of you.
 
My car don't get that dirty, garage queen and only gets driven on a car club event once every 2 - 4 weeks
 
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