Clay choices, least agressive to agressive?

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imported_RedlineIRL

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I have looked around and couldn't come up with a whole lot, but I was trying to find a chart or list of the most common clays available and how agressive they are compared to one another. With choices such as Clay Magic, Zaino, Mothers, Meguiars, Sonus, etc., which ones rank from the least agressive to the most agressive? I have got a few vehicles I will be working on that don't really need machine correction, so I want to use the lesser of the agressive clays to remove contaminants before applying LSP. Any help is appreciated
 
RedlineIRL- Well, for starters you could put Sonus SFX (formerly known as "Sonus Green" before the color change) at the top/bottom of the list as "most gentle". Not that I've tried every clay out there by a *LONG* shot.



Griot's and Mother's (unless they've changed one/both of them) would be in the middle of the range.



Sonus gray (do they even make it any more?!?) got *VERY* aggressive in its last incarnation (or at least the last one I tried), and it's almost as abrasive as "overspray clays". Mars up even very hard clear no matter how gentle I am with it.



For what you're doing, I'd try the Sonus SFX and see if that's sufficiently aggressive before trying anything more potent. The SFX doesn't even remove light LSPs for me unless I deliberately get aggressive with it.
 
Seeing that 99.9999% of all clay found in the US is sourced from Auto Magic/Auto Wax, I've always found the original version (Clay Magic) to be not only the best, but the most consistent. You'd think that the "manufacturer" would utilize the most effective strain for their own line, which in this case would be Clay Magic.
 
David Fermani said:
...You'd think that the "manufacturer" would utilize the most effective strain for their own line...
Click to expand...



Ah, but "most effective" might not be a, uhm....universal standard :think:



I sure do agree with you on the consistency issue though; when the Sonus gray suddenly got so aggressive it was quite a surprise (to put it politely).
 
Yeah, got semi-burned one time using Zaino's version from what I'd consider an inconsistent batch. And that stuff is marketed to people not doing paint correction. Ouch!
 
I wish these things were color-coded to match aggressiveness so at least there is some consistency no matter the brand. Alas, if pads can't be color-coded...neither can clay...
 
MCA- Heh heh, guess that'd be too easy, huh?!? Everybody wants to be "different" or "special" or something.



At least Griot's color-codes their three clays and I must say that I liked the change when they switched their regular one from green to yellow.



That reminds me, I wonder if anybody's tried Griot's Glass Clay...
 
This was compiled a year or more ago-





Riccardo Clay is mild clay that will effectively remove contaminants without harming your paints surface. This unique Polyelastic formula sets this clay apart from other clays; It is very flexible and will not crumble! Comes with a Plastic flip top case for storage. Due to patent laws, this product can only be sold outside of North America



Clay Magic® Blue is a medium - fine abrasive, whereas the Red is a medium - heavy abrasive, it is also very effective for the removal of paint over-spray, if the over-spray is particularly heavy, you may want to seek the assistance of a professional.



1. Fine clay - abrades or shears light surface or embedded paint contamination and encapsulates it. This grade of clay can be used on a regular basis for paint surface ‘maintenance’ Sonus SFX or Pinnacle Ultra Fine Detailing Clay or Pinnacle Ultra Clay or Swissvax Paint Rubber



2. Fine - Medium-clay - is used to remove heavier surface contaminants (bird excrement and bug reside) it is slightly more abrasive than the fine grade and abrades the paint surface, while the clay encapsulates it Clay Magic -



3. Medium to Heavy duty Clay - that is used to remove paint over-spray; it contains slightly stronger abrasive or larger particles that abrade the paint, while the clay encapsulates it.



4. Detailer’s clay not available in US (erazer™, Opti-Clay ) Based on a cross linked polybutene resin which is more durable, more elasticity, and has a great deal more tack than the resin used by Auto Wax Company Inc.



Abrasive Ratings (on a scale of 1 to6)



1. Hi-Tech Body Spongeâ„¢ - most surface marring 6/6

2. Clay Magic® - Red- very aggressive; a lot of surface marring - 5/5

3. Top of the line purple - slightly less aggressive - 4/5

4. Clay Magic® Blue less aggressive; less marring - 3/5

5. Mother's - Yellow- 2/5

6. Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detailing Clay Bar– 2/5 ( use with Sonus Glyde Clay Lubricant)

7. Bilt-Hamber. (1/5) it uses water as a lubrication

8. Pinnacle PolyClay - 1/5 very mild abrasives (will not remove wax / sealant)
 
TOGWT said:
This was compiled a year or more ago-





Riccardo Clay is mild clay that will effectively remove contaminants without harming your paints surface. This unique Polyelastic formula sets this clay apart from other clays; It is very flexible and will not crumble! Comes with a Plastic flip top case for storage. Due to patent laws, this product can only be sold outside of North America



[/COLOR]
Click to expand...



You might want to edit that .. unless you don't concider Canada as part of North America. We can buy it up here and I have .. :)
 
Thanks for the info everyone. I'll start off first with something like Sonus or Mothers. I didn't want to end up buying a clay that will cause a ton of marring.



Since clay is basically clay for the most part, how do the Meguiars clay kit and the Mothers California Gold clay system compare in terms of agressiveness to each other? I'd imagine they should be on the softer side since they can be found over the counter just about anywhere. I'd like to try the softer of the two if there is any real difference between them
 
RedlineIRL said:
I have looked around and couldn't come up with a whole lot, but I was trying to find a chart or list of the most common clays available and how agressive they are compared to one another. With choices such as Clay Magic, Zaino, Mothers, Meguiars, Sonus, etc., which ones rank from the least agressive to the most agressive? I have got a few vehicles I will be working on that don't really need machine correction, so I want to use the lesser of the agressive clays to remove contaminants before applying LSP. Any help is appreciated
Click to expand...



My favorite before LSP clay is Griot's - you get a bunch of it and many local Advance autos carry it. Detailers domain gray is also nice although I find it to be a bit more agressive than Griots.
 
Yeah, that Ricardo/SMART clay is really great. I didn't mention is as it's kinda hard to get in the US, but it's my overall fave for real/significant decontamination without marring. I bought a lifetime supply when David B closed it out.



RedlineIRL- The Sonus SFX might be too gentle to really decontaminate things. I consider it pretty much a "clean the LSP without stripping it" sort of clay, for use when I'm wondering if I really need to clay at all.



I've never used the Meguiar's, but the Mothers I tried was so similar to my Griot's that I couldn't tell them apart in any way and it was something I wouldn't worry about.



Ditto for the Claymagic Blue, though I've never tried it.
 
I list these from softest to firmest (I am not sure that I can always assume that firmer always equals more aggressive, but maybe I can). I've used the below in the last year. The Pinnacle is almost soft to a fault, crumbles/breaks easily, but I guess it's neat stuff. I actually like the Meg's quite a bit, happy with the Mother's, and was quite surprised by how firm the "least aggressive" DI clay was (which makes me wonder how hard the other two grades they offer would be). However, I've only used the DI this winter, when it's been cooler. I've never tried an aggressive clay, though I think about purchasing some every now and then.



Pinnacle Ultra Poly

Meguiar's C-2000 Mild

Mother's

Detailed Image Ultra Fine
 
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