No luck claying! Tried 2 different clay bars now + 2 different QDs!

J

JJH

New member
Both times that I have tried claying my Acura NBP TL type-S, I have had no luck at all. At first I thought it was the Meguiar's clay bar kit but now I'm not so sure. I replaced the Meguiar's kit with a Uber blue fine grade clay bar and ONR diluted to clay lube lubricity per the directions on the bottle.



Today, in about 60 degree farenheit weather, I washed my car with Dawn dish soap via two bucket method and dried with waffle weave micro fiber drying towel. After the car was completely dry, I attempted to clay the car with the Uber blue clay bar and ONR clay lube. No luck. The clay bar just slides across the paint and doesn't pick up any contaminants. I made sure the dilution ratio was correct and that my car was in fact contaminated by doing the sandwich baggy method. I can hear tons of noise and feel all kinds of stuff in the paint.



The best way to describe my problem is that the clay doesn't have any friction whatsoever against the paint. It's not dirty after I clay. It slides similar to the way a wet bar of soap would slide against the bottom of a bath tub.



*** am I doing wrong? Is it possible that I have received two defective clay bars?
 
If you put your hand in a plastic bag, one from a grocery store, do you feel any grit. Maybee there isn't anything for the clay to pick up?
 
Yeah, as stated in the OP I did the baggy test and I can feel all kinds of stuff in the paint.
 
It could be that the particles are just too small for the clay to grab without going to a more aggressive clay. Even after claying with a fine clay, more often than not, the paint will still feel a bit dirty though a baggy.
 
How much pressure are you applying? I used to be a light clay bar guy, until I visited a shop in Ipswich, MA. A friend who owns the shop came over and asked what I was doing with a laugh. He then showed me how he clays...pressure!



Would you happen to know what the contaminants are? I once had a car that I had to tell the owner that it was bondo- it was rough and I figured the texture was not OEM paint and he flipped because he had bought it used with no mention of an accident.



Rob
 
First off, clay doesn't actually pick up contaminants, it essentially sands them off. So that brings me to my first question, how large of an area are you claying and how long are you going at it? I trashed car can take 2+ hours to clay completely.
 
WCD said:
Are there still "acid" washes that get into the pores - ABC from Valug?



Rob
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Yeah, the "B" part of "ABC" is the acidic one. And "ABC" does work well, though I often clay while the "B" is dwelling (yeah it *does* eat up the clay kinda fast).



FinishKare also sells decontamination stuff, not quite as idiot-proof though.



And as regulars here know, I'm a *HUGE* proponent of decontamination systems! Simple as doing a few extra washes, very effective. Perfect for a clean slate approach, and you can then subsequently clay away whatever gets on the car without it being a big deal.



Hey, I'm a big proponent of clay too (spot-claying at *every* wash), but I think clay has sorta been touted as more of a cure-all than it really is.



JJH- Some sorta-random thoughts follow:



-Claying *should* be performed gently and clay *should* "glide across the paint on a film of lube". Then it bumps into contamination and shears it off

-I'd rather use a more aggressive clay (but still one that's mild enough to not mar up the paint) than a more aggressive technique

-Ultra-fine clays (which is what I use at almost every wash) are often too gentle for genuine decontamination; they're more for "claying your wax clean" without stripping it all off

-ClayMagic Blue might be worth trying, or Mothers, or Griot's (but not with SpeedShine as it often renders the clay too gentle for what you're doing)

-Some clays work well/don't with certain lubes and it can be really weird which combos car good/not
 
I've had this problem before (Griot's clay with Meg's Last Touch for clay lube), and it was resolved by using more pressure. I had no problem putting a little elbow into it because I was doing a full correction afterwards anyway, however (knock on wood) I have yet to mar paint with clay. Although, I don't really bring out halogens or inspection lights after claying. I clay until it "feels good" and as said already, a neglected car (coupe) can easily take 2 hours to decon with a clay bar.
 
SpoolinNoMore said:
I've had this problem before (Griot's clay with Meg's Last Touch for clay lube), and it was resolved by using more pressure. I had no problem putting a little elbow into it because I was doing a full correction afterwards anyway, however (knock on wood) I have yet to mar paint with clay. Although, I don't really bring out halogens or inspection lights after claying. I clay until it "feels good" and as said already, a neglected car (coupe) can easily take 2 hours to decon with a clay bar.
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You should give the ABC system a try. On average, Ive managed to decon a car (including any extra claying that might need to be done) in 45 mins to an hour. Now that I have the bug pads, I think I may be able to knock out the claying step all together, albeit, Im probably going to have to adress any possible hazing left over from the pad.
 
Hard to believe a more aggressive clay will be the fix. Try doing a test spot with a compound like M105(by hand) to see if that clears the surface. Or, try reclaying a test spot more extensively and check.



Has the vehicle been in the body shop for any reason? Is there roughness all over the entire car? Can you feel/see in on the glass?
 
Situations and conditions such as this are a prime reason to have a 30X lighted magnifier to "really" see what is creating this condition.

Grumpy
 
Some more sorta-random thoughts follow:





-The source for AutoInt/ValuGard products is http://www.autoint.com . Although they seem like a "pros only!"-type place, they're actually very pleasant/easy to deal with when one is merely a hobbyist

-At Ron Ketcham's insistence, I tried the ValuGard Bug pad when I ABCed the Crown Vic. Didn't do any obvious marring on that medium-paint, at least not what I had expected. But hey, it's a white beater car and we're not talking "perfectly marring-free BMW Jet Black" or anything like that

-The ABC made the Crown Vic look *incredible*, utterly astounded me even though I've used ABC many times before. I had given the car a half-@$$ed detail before, even used FK1119 for the wash, and had clayed/compounded/polished it. Thought it was OK for what the car is. Wow did the ABC brighten it up :eek: Simply amazing what a diff it made

-Trying to do decontamination work with too-gentle clay has been a complete waste of time for me. Even a "minor increase in aggressiveness" has made a world of difference in some cases. I suspect that's because my Sonus SFX clay really is *soooo* mild, at least when used with Glyde lube
 
Ron Ketcham said:
Situations and conditions such as this are a prime reason to have a 30X lighted magnifier to "really" see what is creating this condition.

Grumpy
Click to expand...



Maybe it's just me, but I do a *lot* better with my 15X one than I do with the 30X. I never seem to need the extra magnification and the lower power is a lot easier for me use (perhaps due to the larger field of view). Not an :argue but rather another thing to consider. I do use lighted magnifiers a *lot* and not just for detailing.
 
Thanks Accumulator for the link! It's one of those things where I wouldn't have looked for unless it bit me in the ***. I guess I still feel it's not enough of a necessity to go out of my way to order, however I have a feeling it'll turn me into an instant believer.
 
SpoolinNoMore- Well, keep it in mind should a contaminated white/silver vehicle loom in your future. I'd be interested to hear whether it really does instantly make you a believer...I myself keep thinking "gee, I wish this stuff were stronger" even though I understand their need to keep it idiot-proof (heh heh, see...there *is* a diff between "idiot-proof" and "Accumulator-proof" after all).
 
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