clay bar = scratchs ?

M

MelHal74

New member
I clayed my car a couple weeks back and after I got done with it I found a few small clear coat scratches. I know it says to spray the lube and then drag the clay across the paint.. but sometimes there are tiny particles that get into the clay and mess things up.. what can I can do to keep this from happening? as soon as I notice the clay getting dirty I re work it.. I'm going to start cleaning cars on the side and I don't want to mess up someone else's car.



thanks
 
Well try to clean the surface during the wash as much as you can. This will remove all the big particles that are on the paint. (I hope you are indeed claying the car directly after you washing it) If you notice a lot of "big" particles in a certain area such as the lower panels where tires kick up the most crap, cut SMALL pieces of the clay (enough to actually use) to clay those area where it will be sucking up all those nasty particles. Once done with those area then you can throw the small pieces of clay away. When claying the rest of the car. Check periodically the clay to make sure that it doesnt have big particles stuck in it. If you drop the clay on the ground....say bye bye to that clay!!
 
Also make sure that there is plenty of lubrication between the surface and the clay, if there isnt then the clay will "drag" on the paint causing marring. Keep in mind that clay is still a VERY VERY VERY VERY fine abrasive. If used wrong it can scuff and marr the paint.
 
yeah, i made sure the spray the lube very liberally so it didn't drag at all. I washed the car before I clayed it and left it way to make sure it was easy for the clay to slide. Next time I do it I'll just have to pay close attention to it and always keep a rag handy to wipe off any extra dirt that I didnt' originally catch.
 
also... look at the clay periodically to see if there are any visible particles and wipe clean the section (do small sections at a time) you did, and look/feel at it from an angle (if possible) to see if there are any/more scratches that weren't there before.
 
Even though I always use small peices of clay and toss them after doing one panel, I'll sometimes knead them after *every* pass if I'm working on soft paint or worried about abrasive contamination. Yeah, it takes a while, but IMO it's better than marring the surface. Rember that the contamination sticks to the clay- some of it is *in* the clay, but not all of it. The part of the contamination that's sticking *out of* the clay can act like the grit on sandpaper.



The "wipe off any dirt I didn't catch" thing makes me nervous, IMO that would be *very* likely to cause marring. Most of the time, you "rub dirt in" (at least to some extent) rather than "wipe dirt off" whe you do things like this ;) I'd rather let the clay do all the cleaning.
 
Clay-marring is pretty common actually.



I knead the clay everytime I see a little discoloration on the massaged surface. Also, once it starts to get really dark overall, toss it for a new piece.



Since most of us here go straight to polishing after claying, the marring isn't that big of a deal.
 
Clay + plenty of lubrication + inspecting clay for grit etc (and removing) + kneading (folding) the clay often = zero scratching

JonM
 
Last month I clayed my car and was not happy with the results of the clay. The clay began to ge really mushy after almost half the car was done. I was using the Pinnacle clay bar with their dedicated clay lubricant. I just recently bought the Zaino Z18 clay bar and reclayed just yesterday. I must say that the difference was night and day. I am pretty sure though that during my first claying I used too much lubricant, which probably caused the bar to fall apart. This time I used less lubricant and the final results were awesome. Feeling how smooth the paint was brought a smile to my face. Oh the wonders of claying. To anyone who says that claying is not important (probably nobody on this site) they are wrong. It is amazing!
 
I will admit after I clayed the car it seemed to have a much deeper shine. I liked the results and I'll be sure to be extra careful next time I do it. Which will probably be a while unless someone I know wants it done.
 
too much pressure (as well as not enough lubricant) can also cause the clay bar to smear, just gently glide it across in my experience.
 
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