Clay experiment

:xyxthumbs Fixed the title for ya. Its a good idea for the experiment. Obviously automotive clay is different, but its pretty creative to perform the test. I'm sure you aren't the only one that has tried it or thought about trying it. Good job. :)
 
And I thought I was the only one...a couple years ago I did a test with a art-store grade modeler's clay. It definitely was not the same as "real" detailing clay--although it worked ok it tended to smear if the surface wasn't totally wet (less forgiving about this than say, Clay Magic). Basically it seemed softer, especially when warmed from your fingers.



I think it was a cool experient, even if unsuccessful. Like some others have suggested, it would be nice to have a super budget alternative for doing lower body panels, etc.



-Charlie
 
Next month or so I have to clean up a car I don't care about and has been sitting collecting moss for a few years. It's kind of a heap. Since I want to spend as close to $0 as possible on this, guess what I'm going to try? :D



I save my Mothers clay (:up) for "real" cars.
 
I told my father-in-law about this thread, and the experiment- he is a retired chemist.



He seemed to know what the abrasive would be in the 'real' clay and had ordered some before for some lab something or other..



Of course, the minimum order was more than ten people would use in home-made custom-mixed clay in a lifetime of daily supertanker detailing-.





I think there are really finely refined bulk abrasive powders used in the field of amature telescope mirror grinding. It's gotta be some good stuff to make a mirror smooth finish on a MIRROR! ha!



If I can find some, I'll be posting the result here.. but i'm not in a big hurry to



I can imagine it now- detailers sharing recipies for home-mixed clay.. 'In a base of three packs of handi tak, add 2g of xxxx aluminum oxide and 7g 6x pumice- and to make it stick less add a pinch of un-perfumed talc'



I doubt anyone is hell-bent enough to save a fist full of dollars on some clay by tediously mixing optical grade abrasive powder into some packs of handi-tak- but you never know. If it worked, may be a good cottage industry for a shut-in.

"Earl's hand-mixed custom abrasive car clay-- In color-specific blends!"



:p -class war breaks out between those who detail with 'premix' and the purists who blend their own.



Think there is no market for such a crazy thing?

1995.jpg
(700$+ little jar of zymol)



:rolleyes:
 
clint said:
I think there are really finely refined bulk abrasive powders used in the field of amature telescope mirror grinding. It's gotta be some good stuff to make a mirror smooth finish on a MIRROR! ha!
Click to expand...

LOL! I actually have looked into this process. It sounds very appealing to six-feet-from-the-edge detailers like us, until you realize this is GLASS they are talking about, not delicate paint.



I like the idea of Foucalt testing our detailing jobs! If you're interested in reading more about this exotic (and tedious) process, check out this link: http://www.scopereviews.com/make1.html



Here's an excerpt:



"If the 30 and 12 micron grits seemed finely-ground, the 5 micron stuff is even more so, almost like a white liquid. It's so fine that the only way I can use the stuff is to mix it up in a slurry in the water bottle. Then I just shake up the bottle and squirt the white liquid on the mirror. While grinding, it feels like it's not doing anything at all, but the microscope tells me otherwise - real progress is being made here, and in about 2 hours I'm done."



Apparently the ultimate stuff is cerium oxide suspended in pitch...



Enjoy the insanity!

-Charlie
 
Limestone? calcium carbonate? I guess that's abrasive- but to some things water is abrasive..



That reminds me of sodium bicarbonate--



If it's good enough for teeth, then maybe it's good enough for clay?



Could handi tak with soda added be this mysterious clay? Did Emillia Airhardt manage to land her plane on Easter Island? What are crop circles trying to tell us? Was the ancient lost world of atlantus acutally the continent we now call south america?



Seriously-maybe soda/tak would make a good glass cleaner or something-

definitely not going to run outside and 'test' some baking soda as abrasive on my hood just yet..:p



Wish i could get that link goin..
 
Handi Tak is excellent !!!!! I like the fact that it's mild! Some people feel they need to spend "MORE DOLLARS"to justify that it cannot be as good or better that the heavily marketed products. I know as a fact, that some of the professional lines of clay induce marring because of it's aggressiveness. Well, with the handi tak, no worries, it's mild and gentle. It may take a few other strokes for stubborn particles, but that's ok! My vehicles are maintained weekly.



THANK YOU
 
Wow...this sounds like my process!



clay with plasti-tak

polish by hand with mild Soft Scrub

nourish the paint with baby oil

and Pam as an LSP



If I had more time, this would make an awesome Expert Village how-to!



Actually, I can remember using some strange things on our family cars when I was a kid, but I don't remember having so many products to choose from back then, either.
 
At any craft or Office Depot store. If you're a little skeptical, try it on a daily beater vehicle a few times, inspect your work thoroughly for any micromarring, and get used to the process.
 
I like mother's clay, I just wish I can get it at the store alone, without the QD. This is something that most OTC clay's should let you do. They all come packaged with QD! I end up with like 3 bottles of various QD just to look for clay. A lot of autopians just have their own favorite QD already, it'd be nice to be able to buy clay alone at a store :)
 
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