Accumulator
Well-known member
Fordf150- Welcome to Autopia!
Heh heh, your first post here sure stirred things up, huh
Ir sure wouldn't surprise me if an automaker posited some kind of CYA admonishment against doing, well....most anything they don't charge for
Also wouldn't surprise me if they did the exact same (forbidden) things themselves. Cynical? Eh...more like realistic IMO.
Used *properly*, most detailing clay (as opposed to "overspray clay") floats across the paint on a film of lubricant, not even *touching* the paint very much, but rather bumping into contamination, which the clay shears off. So no, it's not the same as sandpaper in the sense of what it's supposed to do and how you use it.
Used improperly, sure, it *can* be like sanding. Even proper-but-aggressive claying can be like that. I've often posted that as soon as clay picks up abrasive contamination it becomes sandpaper (the contamination is the problem, not the clay). But it's a matter of degree- what clay and how it's used.
Gentle clays, used properly, usually do not cause any marring IME (and I've inspected with magnification). If you don't even penetrate the LSP you won't mar the paint. I've been spot-claying at every wash since the early '90s (besides doing regular-sense clay jobs) and I've hardly *ever* marred paint with clay.
Is ABC (or the FinishKare version) easier to use without risking damage, sure. It is better for decontamination, almost always. And yeah, I *generally* get more permanent resolution of ferrous contamination issues with ABC than I do with clay. But Ron K. (of AutoInt) and I have discussed the use of clay *along with ABC* a few times and both of us think it can be a great way to boost the decontamination ability of both approaches. I view them as different systems for different problems and that can also be used together for certain situations.
Heh heh, your first post here sure stirred things up, huh
Ir sure wouldn't surprise me if an automaker posited some kind of CYA admonishment against doing, well....most anything they don't charge for
Also wouldn't surprise me if they did the exact same (forbidden) things themselves. Cynical? Eh...more like realistic IMO.Used *properly*, most detailing clay (as opposed to "overspray clay") floats across the paint on a film of lubricant, not even *touching* the paint very much, but rather bumping into contamination, which the clay shears off. So no, it's not the same as sandpaper in the sense of what it's supposed to do and how you use it.
Used improperly, sure, it *can* be like sanding. Even proper-but-aggressive claying can be like that. I've often posted that as soon as clay picks up abrasive contamination it becomes sandpaper (the contamination is the problem, not the clay). But it's a matter of degree- what clay and how it's used.
Gentle clays, used properly, usually do not cause any marring IME (and I've inspected with magnification). If you don't even penetrate the LSP you won't mar the paint. I've been spot-claying at every wash since the early '90s (besides doing regular-sense clay jobs) and I've hardly *ever* marred paint with clay.
Is ABC (or the FinishKare version) easier to use without risking damage, sure. It is better for decontamination, almost always. And yeah, I *generally* get more permanent resolution of ferrous contamination issues with ABC than I do with clay. But Ron K. (of AutoInt) and I have discussed the use of clay *along with ABC* a few times and both of us think it can be a great way to boost the decontamination ability of both approaches. I view them as different systems for different problems and that can also be used together for certain situations.
