clay troubles

I

imported_liam

New member
okay here goes...

i have recently decided to clay my car for the first time (yeah yeah - i know...) i used meg's quik clay as its the only locally availble over the counter clay. i decided i was going to do a full detail over the weekend. so i started friday evening with a wash with a particularly harsh car wash i found... CT-18 its called (its a heavy duty wash found in AUS). so that took most of my wax off.

now the problem - the clay.

as i don't have much cash - i thought i would use mothers california gold wash in a little spray bottle. so away i went. spray the area, wipe with clay. but the clay seemed to be grabbing at the paint at frequent intervals. so i would spray more and more trying to keep the area lubed up so as not to cause marring (i used a good litre of lube) . but it would grab on a few more passes - then went nice and smooth, so i just assumed it was doing what clay did.

but after the second wash (this time with the mothers wash) - i noticed a whole heap of marring all over the car!!!! much to my dispare!!!



so have i don't something wrong?? or did my 6 year old subaru impreza just have so much baked in dirt that i couldn't help but marr it???



(sorry about the longwindedness...)



Liam
 
I have not used Meg's clay so i don't know how aggressive it is. Always check your progress, as you go. You could have used too much pressure(use no pressure), had dirt in the clay - did not knead the bar or tried a different lube.

Myself if i feel the clay "grab" the paint, i lift off clay and spray, this is as i'm still moving. Unless the clay had dirt in it, the marring should be very light and will polish out quickly.

Do you have a PC?
 
That CT - 18 is made by Chemtech and is pretty strong but is not an autopian quality shampoo. Probably a very high Ph level

Prior to using Clay Magic bars, I had to put up with meguiars mirror glaze overspray clay. This is the white colored stuff that is like bits of blue tack stuck on house walls. Extremely hard to knead and use and did not remove all the fallout off the car I used it on.
 
Ive used th megs clay and megs quick detailer with no probs on my impreza...coming up for 10years old.



I could be technique or you need to get a QD and try it.



Mark
 
I used the sonus clay and knead or lost consistency but not marring with the sonus libricant. My preoccupation is the clay is making its work although knead or lost consistency.
 
Ye it happens a few times to me using the megs white clay, it will sometimes drag straight out of your hand and if your lucky will stick to the car and not fall on the floor! However, all I do is apply some more lubricant and it will glide again. If it leaves a greasy marring behind, then you would be best to apply the QD and clay over that area again. Remember if you do use the megs Quick Detailer, that you must wipe it off immediatley do not let it dry on the car.
 
It sounds like you had a lot of contamination on the vehicle. Remember that the clay picks this up and basically turns into sandpaper. Some people knead the clay, others (myself included) get a new piece after every few passes. But whatever you do to keep fresh/clean clay on the surface, you gotta do it quite frequently. Sometimes this means you'll go through a lot of clay.
 
I agree with Accumulator, it sounds like the clay is doing it's job. It will grab if the surface has contaminates. Depending on the amount, it should glide freely after a couple of passes with little or no pressure. Make sure you hang onto the clay so you don't drop it is it does grab.

The first time is always the hardest.
 
Are you sure itâ€â„¢s actually marring?



I have an old bar of Megâ€â„¢s clay that also does the grab thing (Iâ€â„¢ve heard rumors that they have fixed that now but I havenâ€â„¢t tried a new bar).



When it sticks it leaves a smudge of clay residue. The residue sticks pretty tenaciously and doesnâ€â„¢t wash off with soap or QD.



Bug and tar remover takes it off easily and I find no damage left behind.





PC.
 
well thanks for your replys

@ SVR - i was primarily trying to get rid of LSP before claying with the CT-18, which i think worked ;) - it is not my normal shampoo



@ m4xmw - i wish i had a WRX



@axe - i might try another lube in the future, but using a QD my bit a bit rich for my small budget.



@the other pc - yep - definitely marring.



@Accumulator & bunker - yeah - maybe it was just first time use - the clay did get dirty quickly. hopefully second time round it will be much easier and produce better results.
 
Mmm come to think of it, I remember claying a pretty dirty Audi 100 a while back, and the clay was certainly more difficult to use.

It had lots of contaminants on the paint and the clay was very dirty.

2nd time around it was easier



Mark
 
Clay Magic always seams to glide with good lubrication. I've never had any problems with grabbing with CM. Clay Lube is also an exellect lube that is very cheap, but can also be used as QD. Too bad you missed the sale on Autopiacarcare that had it on sale for 28 bucks a case or 2 dollars and change per bottle.
 
I'm very new to detailing and car washing, so I thought I'd ask about claying here. I am about to go and buy a bar of Clay Magic, but had a few questions. What is the proper way to clay? I know you do the initial wash and then clay, but I also saw talk of using a lubricant, what do you guys recommend and how do you do it? Thanks alot.
 
I've got a few CM clay bars now and at the end of each day, I get out the bread board and the rolling pin. Cut the bar in half which exposes a fresh, untouched section. Use the rolling pin to get it to a perfectly flat, square shape.



Can only do this so many times though.
 
Quote: i might try another lube in the future, but using a QD my bit a bit rich for my small budget. EOQ



a 5:1 solution of car wash shampoo /water will work (better IMO) than a QD.



The polymer clays seem to be the most problematic, which will soon go away as a recent court hearing found components of the âہ“Polymer clayâ€Â� is a patent infringement and the judge ordered sale of the product to be halted. As a result, all of the clay being manufactured now comes from the same factory in Japan. There are many variations in the formula, but all are based on the same plastic clay technology.



JonM
 
My Zaino clay would do as you described when it was too cold. I kneaded it and warmed it up to the temp. of my hands and it stopped sticking to the paint. This was in roughly 45 deg F weather.
 
splattj said:
My Zaino clay would do as you described when it was too cold. I kneaded it and warmed it up to the temp. of my hands and it stopped sticking to the paint. This was in roughly 45 deg F weather.
Click to expand...



I think that is an interesting theory, and the next time I take my clay out in the cold british winter I may warm it up first. I was bought a novelty gift at xmas of a hand warmer, basically a chemical in a plastic case, which when a reaction is created with the case it gets hot, not red hot but hot ... I was thinking I could place the clay onto this for a minute or so, and voila .. HOT CLAY :bounce
 
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