We need better clay

[RAG]

Have you tried ClearKote's clay at all? The blue clay.

Sorry I've been absent to my own thread...just been overwhelmed with work and beat down tired after work.:spit:



I kid you not when I say I've used about 25 different clays over the last year, but I have not tried the Clearkote Blue or the clay from Griot's. I'll have to give them a "go" at somepoint soon.

 

[RAG]

Does anyone have any experience with Meguiar's Mirror Glaze aggresive clay?



Usually if I'm claying it's prior to compounding and polishing, so even if the clay induced some marring, couldn't a PC easily correct that?

Yes, clay-induced marring does clean up easily with polish...much more so than typicall washing swirls...that's for sure. However, I don't want to risk claying somewhere where I may not polish (like mirrors or something) and leave scuffing.

 

[RAG]

I like the BlackFire Poly clay II, it's gray and did a fantastic job a few weeks ago.

I used this clay last about a year and a half ago - rock hard. Unless they changed their formula...I'd rank this clay amongst the bottom of my list.

 

[RAG]

Clay Magic blue is ONE-TOUGH-CLAY...... but still not better then Zaino's Yellow clay. Zero scuffing when I use Zaino's soap as a lube!

I was told that the Zaino clay and the Mothers Cal Gold clay are identical...even have the same product number on the wrapper. And I find these awefully similar to the Pinnacle, but I can't say for sure.

 

[RAG]

Again, been a while since I used the clay magic clays, but as I recall they seem to break down and start sticking to your hands after only a few uses. I can use an opti-clay bar for 15 cars if I don't use it on any heavily rust contaminated vehicles - the stuff lasts forever and wont leave any residue on plastic trim if you rub against it by accident.

 

[RAG]

Have others had good success with the Clearkote blue or the griot's yellow?

 

[Accumulator]

I've never used anything other than the griot's clay so I probably dont know any better...I just know it gets the contaminants off the paint and hasn't left scratches. I got a free sample of the sonus ultrafine clay but haven't tried it yet. From what I read it's pretty weak.

The "weakness" of the Sonus Ultra-Fine makes it great for cleaning up contamination that's only on your LSP. I use that stuff at every wash and unless the LSP is absolutely on it's last legs the Ultra Fine doesn't do any appreciable stripping. This makes it a perfect clay for almost everything *I* do. But yeah, it's too mild for real contamination-contamination that's embedded in the paint itself.



I think you'll like the Sonus vs. the Griot's, but then it's not like everybody's gonna agree about everything The Ultra Fine is a bit milder than the Griot's.



Rag- I somehow doubt the Griot's will work all that well for you, given what *you* are claying off. It doesn't clean nearly as well as the Sonus gray (and I'm referring to the earlier, milder version that didn't mar paint).



SVR- I'm surprised you dislike the Glyde so much, but then it doesn't seem to affect my clay the way it does yours and I wear gloves so I didn't notice it on my hands. You *do* have to really clean/rinse it off though, that's for sure. Stuff like UGE is a bit *too* slick for my liking as a clay lube, same thing I thought about using Griot's SpeedShine with their clay.

 

[AudiOn19s]

good thread. I too am about to order new clay and the feedback here has been great so far. Maybe I'll have to try some of the excel clay.



I've been using the TOL purple which I feel is pretty good for most of my customer cars but too agressive to use on anything if I don't plan on polishing afterwords. However it does tackle the tough stuff pretty well, but like others tends to "break down" after only a few uses.



Andy

 

[RAG]

good thread. I too am about to order new clay and the feedback here has been great so far. Maybe I'll have to try some of the excel clay.



I've been using the TOL purple which I feel is pretty good for most of my customer cars but too agressive to use on anything if I don't plan on polishing afterwords. However it does tackle the tough stuff pretty well, but like others tends to "break down" after only a few uses.



Andy

The yellow excel clay would have to get my vote till the opti-clay comes back...my only complaint is that it's just a tad too stiff/hard, but will last most people 10-15 cars (seriously).



TOL purple is okay, but anytime clay has that scratch feeling (and this clay does) when you glide it across the paint, it will produce some scuffing if you apply anything more than light pressure.

 

[Brian_Brice]

I'm down to my last couple bars of Opti-clay and every time I reach into my stockpile of other clay (I probably have 6 or 7 other unused clays on hand) I am GREATLY dissapointed. Put plainly, we need opti-clay back in a bad way. Keep in mind folks that most of the vehicles I detail have moderate to severe rust contamination due to our salt air. When claying contamintaion out using any other clay, it produces an unnaceptable amount of scuffing.



I did three complete exterior details yesterday (long day) and I took time to compare clays...so I opended up several new bars.



Pinnacle - absolute junk (does not slide easily and tends to fall apart with too much soap in the lube.



TOL purple - horrible texture and does not knead well. Producte lots of scuffing.



Yellow 4.5 oz clay from Excel - elastic composition like opti-clay, but a little too stiff/hard. Produced more scuffing than opti-clay. This would probably have to be my pick when I run out of opti-clay.



Sonus Ultra fine - good stuff, but can't even begin to tackle the rust on a neglected vehicle.



Sonus Grey - LOTS of scuffing. I have a couple different clays from Sonus (including the block) and both scuff too much.





These are the clays I tried yesterday. It's been a year or two since I tried the blue Clay Magic...I need to give it a "go" again, cause I recalled liking it.

i agree about the tol clay away or whatever they call it now, its horrible. very tough and breaks up very easily. doesnt seen to kneed at all let alone a little bit. ill never use it again.



the pinnacle on the other hand is another story. i have been using the ultra poly allmost exclusively the last few months and its done a fine job for me. 4* fine grade is another good one imo. it removes much more stubborn attatchments than the poly clay.

 

[David Fermani]

Rag - If you are doing that many rust contamination jobs you should DEFINEATEY look in a 2-part cleaner. I did 100's of these jobs for several Ford dealerships under warranty and Ford has 2 products designed for safely removing rust without damaging any part of the vehicle. It even has a Ford part #. You 1st wash the car with any kind of soap, then you hand wash it with a special acid(I can't remember what type)(not wheel acid) and rinse. Then you spray a neutralizer on the complete vehicle and let it sit for a couple minutes and then final rinse. In 20 minutes ALL rust(even in the cracks) will be gone!!! It will NOT hurt the paint, but it is a good idea to wax after. You can turn a 3-5 hour job into an 1 hour and it cost less than $5. In Michigan we have a very bad problem with acid rain, rail dust and most Ford's are built here. These freshly painted vehicles sit on dealer's lots and get contaminated quick. Every single white car has rust spots.

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, I turned RAG on to the AutoInt version of decontamination systems but if IIRC it didn't work out all that well. FWIW I still like to use clay while the acidic product is dwelling, so IMO these systems don't completely eliminate the need for clay in some instances (though they *do* in others).

 

[gbackus]

Yeah, I turned RAG on to the AutoInt version of decontamination systems but if IIRC it didn't work out all that well. FWIW I still like to use clay while the acidic product is dwelling, so IMO these systems don't completely eliminate the need for clay in some instances (though they *do* in others).

FWIW, the Ford numbered stuff is relabled ABC.

 

[David Fermani]

FWIW I still like to use clay while the acidic product is dwelling, so IMO these systems don't completely eliminate the need for clay in some instances (though they *do* in others).

I usually do the complete vehicle all at one time so so wouldn't want to clay anything at that time. It wouldn't hurt to clay, but if a customer isn't paying for it(in my case), you wouldn't do it. Ford warranty repairs wouldn't pay to clay, therefore we didn't. On retail work, I would though always. Ford has acknowledged this rail dust/acid rain problem, and there are service bulletins out on it.

 

[imported_bdornseif]

Don't touch sonus glyde. Sudsy and helps clay glide better but makes bar fall to bits and leave residue on your hands.

I had the same experience with Glyde... decomposed my clay into mud. :shocked

 

[SVR]

The "weakness" of the Sonus Ultra-Fine makes it great for cleaning up contamination that's only on your LSP. I use that stuff at every wash and unless the LSP is absolutely on it's last legs the Ultra Fine doesn't do any appreciable stripping. This makes it a perfect clay for almost everything *I* do. But yeah, it's too mild for real contamination-contamination that's embedded in the paint itself.



I think you'll like the Sonus vs. the Griot's, but then it's not like everybody's gonna agree about everything The Ultra Fine is a bit milder than the Griot's.



Rag- I somehow doubt the Griot's will work all that well for you, given what *you* are claying off. It doesn't clean nearly as well as the Sonus gray (and I'm referring to the earlier, milder version that didn't mar paint).



SVR- I'm surprised you dislike the Glyde so much, but then it doesn't seem to affect my clay the way it does yours and I wear gloves so I didn't notice it on my hands. You *do* have to really clean/rinse it off though, that's for sure. Stuff like UGE is a bit *too* slick for my liking as a clay lube, same thing I thought about using Griot's SpeedShine with their clay.

Well I ain't as good as you buddy. Your the master.



Yes it is not easy to just use my WW dryer to remove glyde and have it dry. Seems to be like soap.

I sometimes mix UGE with QS and a bit of no rinse.

No matter what I mix up, I never have any drama's with marring on almost all cars.

Anything's better than water though. A former friend of mine is rough with clay and just uses water. He uses clay like those pronto wash guys wipe customer cars down on those videos. Like a game of tennis.



Ultra fine at every wash accum - the USA must be a very contaminate filled place.

 

[imported_Bence]

Wooow, a quick reply box!!!



Back to topic; I love the Opticlay as well. It is/was made by K.E.L. aka Kucala Enterprises (Erazer)...



Need I say that we want this clay back??? Someone please enlighten AWC to get off, to let K.E.L. make their excellent elastic clay again.



I don't mind if they market it as Car Doh or packaged as little balls, and they only indicate an alternative use as detailing clay... Who cares? We want Kucala's elastic clay!!!

 

[firegate]

If the Erazer stuff is really the same as the Optimum, it's definitely still floating around the market.. some local places here still have it in stock.

 

[Eliot Ness]

......Back to topic; I love the Opticlay as well. It is/was made by K.E.L. aka Kucala Enterprises (Erazer)...



Need I say that we want this clay back??? Someone please enlighten AWC to get off, to let K.E.L. make their excellent elastic clay again.



I don't mind if they market it as Car Doh or packaged as little balls, and they only indicate an alternative use as detailing clay... Who cares? We want Kucala's elastic clay!!!

Bence, do you know if the AWC patent extend outside of the US? I am wondering if this clay is still available outside of the states?



I did a search on Kucala Enterprises but about all I found was info about the ruling against them by AWC. Since the 993 patent doesn't seem to expire until 2013 we might be out of luck for several more years. I also wonder if Kucala has even survived the court ordered $4 million+.



I have found a source for the Erazer Clay, but it is $25 for a 6 oz bar, and I'm not sure if it is the same stuff.



I do have one unopened bar of Opti-Clay which I'd better put in a safe deposit box :chuckle:

 

[4AudiQ]

Optimum Protectant Plus

Is this the Opti-clay you use?