Claying Your Car

[joel5150]

Ok, so I see from this forum that clay will remove the little bumps and things that are on my paint or clearcoat. My question is, what direction should I rub the clay over my car? Should I paint the fence, or wax on wax off? I mean go back and forth, or use a circular motion?

Thanks,

Joel

[m2pc]

I used a back and forth motion. The hood top and trunk I went front & back. On the side panels, I went up and down motion.

PS...

Didn't believe claying would make such a difference, you wil be amazed even on a new car, it pulls junk off, and for an older car, will make the finish, smooth again.

[joel5150]

Great!!

I can't wait to get started. I really want my Lexus to shine. My girlfrind just got a new silver Jetta and the paint is like glass. I am jelouse, but not for long.

Thanks,

Joel

[SW03ES]

Dont wax in circles! You'll put swirl marks in the paint.

You should wax up and down in straight lines also.

Also just a tip, I simply wash the car once, rinse, then soap each panel again so I can clay that way as opposed to using a spray lube, its a lot easier.

[blake918]

I've been wanting to clay my car....let me get this straight I 1. soap the car, 2. rinse, and 3. while still wet clay or do I dry first...what's lube spray? Then do I wax as usual? I'm new to this car washing thing, so are their any ways that I can possibly screw this up(I read that I should throw away the clay if I drop it)? Also, can I buy this at Autozone or similar, and I read about different grain counts I guess?...which one should I use?

[SW03ES]

There's a Mothers kit you can buy at autozone that has a nice little bar. It'll come with a bottle of Quick Detailer to use as a lube. Usually the way people clay is they start with a dry car, spray on the QD, clay, and wipe dry. I think that is tedious, thats why I wash the car, rinse it, then soap each panel again as I clay, rinse again THEN dry. Dont have to dry twice, and the soap lubricates the claybar better than the QD.

Its really easy to do.

[acf]

Ok, off topic a little..but it WAS mentioned here ;) When waxing you want use up and down strikes not circular motion? Isn't that contrary to what used to be the norm?

[m2pc]

There's a Mothers kit you can buy at autozone that has a nice little bar.

SW03es, which claybars are recommended? are all claybars pretty much the same? I've heard of Pinnacle, meguirs, zaino, and now from this post Mothers. Since autozone is easy to get to, if Mothers is the same as all others, it would seem the most convenient to get.

[SW03ES]

acf, You should never rub your car in a circular motion, always up and down that way if you introduce microscratches you can't optically see them from as many angles.

m2pc, I use the Clay Magic bar because its big, and it doesnt come with a lube spray, because I dont use them. Mothers is equally good. I didnt like Zaino's claybar it left clay on the paint.

All claybars aren't created equal ;)

Yeah I'd just get the Mothers bar.

[blake918]

I just got back from AutoZone. I was happy to see that they had the Clay Magic brand, and it was only $10 with the lube spray; I didn't see the Mother's; they only had the Clay Magic. Steve...you say you rinse immediately after claying...on the box they say to just wipe it clean. Do you rinse to help prevent scratches or something? When you soap right before you clay, do you use dishsoap or car wash liquid? I'm sorry about all of the tedious questions; I just want to make sure I do this right! I can't wait to try it tomorrow morning.

[ticman]

Blake,

I was in the same boat as you and Steve helped me out. Here is what he told me to do and I did and it worked great.

1 Wash car with Dawn

2 Rinse Car but dont dry

3 using dawn soapy water do each panel again and use the clay bar

4 rinse each panel

5 when done rinse and dry entire car

6 Apply a good "polish" (not wax or sealer but a polish to add oil to the paint"

7 After this you can either use a sealant (I used poorboys ex) or a wax.

Sealants last much much longer than wax and can be layered--multiple layers applied over a period of time. Waxes give deeper shine but wear off in matter of days or weeks.

I used the sealant twice and plan to give it a third coat before winter. I may or may not WAX after that.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[VBdenny]

I appreciate the info on doing it with the car soapy. I did mine using the Mothers detailing spray and it really worked great. Left my paint like glass. The only thing I did differently was to go over the entire car with Maquires #1 Paint Cleaner. This got off any tiny particles of tar, bugs and such. I figured I didn't want that stuff getting into the clay. Then after I clayed the car, I used Maquires #2 Polish. Then I applied about three coats of Collinite's #845 Insulator wax. I really like it because it is a sealer type wax which lasts forever. Wash it 20 times and it still looks like I just waxed it.

[blake918]

Ticman, thanks for the step-by-step instructions. I hear nothing but good reviews about the Poorboys on here, but my parents don't like the idea of their credit card number floating around in cyber space. I think that's reasonable, but I hear that the best products are only available online :( .

Denny, thanks also for the advice :D . Is the Meguiars polish available in AutoZone or Pepboys? Like I said, I wish I could buy all of the good stuff, but I have no/no access to a credit card. I have had good results from Meguiars products like their Gold Class wax which always makes my beige car glow wonderfully and their car soap, so I would imagine the polish is the same way. Thanks again

[SW03ES]

Blake, you can order Poorboys online with a secure e server at www.premiumautocare.com.

Unfortunately Steve at Poorboys is having some health challenges so the only way to get Poorboys products right now is through Premium Auto Care. He's recovering though and soon will be able to take orders again.

Its 100% safe really, as long as you use a secure server. I've spent probably $10,000 online on credit cards and have never had a problem. I had a credit card stolen once, and that was from a normal transaction, the *BLEEP* that I paid for gas had a card cloner.

Its safer then using the card in person, really.

If you have to buy in a store you're going to be really limited. Meguiars has good products that are sold in stores, as does Mother's. Meguiars even has a layerable poly sealant, #26 I believe...

You could also try and find a specialty detailers store in your area, check the yellow pages. Something like Klasse, Platinum, Zaino can be substituted for the Poorboys, and they're more widespread. Poorboys is still a pretty small operation.

As for the clay, ticman got it down!

[blake918]

Again thanks Steve. It's good to have a car detailing guru(Steve) and several members that have used the guru's methods ...that way everyone can answer all of my little questions. It looks like it's going to be a fine day for cleaning up the ES down here; we have a cool front coming through, so it's nice and cool, in the lower 80's which is cool for us.

[SW03ES]

Its nice here too, I washed the ES and put a coat of Poorboys on yesterday, getting ready to go put another coat on now.

And I heard wind of another product for you you can buy in the store, "Durashine" makes a pretty good sealant, they should have it at Autozone. I havent used it but it comes pretty highly reccomended by the REAL gurus ;)

[blake918]

Well Steve, I must say you have steered me in the right direction, again(steering wheel ;) ). I clayed my car, polished with Meguiars #2, and used Meguiars #26(I think it is a yellow wax and not a sealant, but I dunno); I didn't see any sealants at Pepboys or Autozone. My car has never looked better...ever :D . I think the $10 I spent on the clay bar is the best thing I've ever done!!! I noticed all of the stuff of the clay bar itself that it cleaned off of my car; I was shocked and pleased at the same time. The clay also cleaned my lower two tone section flawlessly; I had some dirt that was just stuck in there, and I was previously unable to get it out. Now my car feels like the finest Italian silk :D ...I love just going outside to see and feel how silky smooth and siney my cashmere paint is after 9 years...it's truley amazing!!! I think I'm going to go in the gargae and shave from the hood just like Ticman...just for kicks ...j/k. Thanks again Steve, Tic, and Denny!!! :D :D :D (I think yall can tell how happy I am by all of the smilies )

[SW03ES]

Glad you're happy Blake!

Yes the #26 is the High Tech Yellow wax. A very good wax. Because its a wax and not a sealant all that means is you're going to have to plan on putting another coat of wax on there every 2-4 weeks. Being in LA you dont have bone chilling winters to concern yourself with so thats not really an issue. #20 is Meguiars Polymer Sealant if you can every find it anywhere. If you ever do and decide you want to swap just dawn wash first to remove the #28.

[blake918]

Here are some pictures of my sparkling clean ES300

[blake918]

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[blake918]

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[blake918]

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[SW03ES]

Looks great!

[blake918]

Thanks, Steve ;)

One more question for yall...how do I go about keeping my car this pretty? Here are my tentative plans:

1. Wash with car wash soap

2. Dry

3. Polish

4. Wax

Do I need to polish, or can I leave out this step(I'll do it If I need to)? I just want my car to shine and feel silky smooth again :D !

[SW03ES]

Since the car is older I really think you should polish with a good hand polish like Klasse All In One (VERY good) or P21S Gloss Enhancing Paintwork Cleanser. I think these products work well by hand and offer a great basis for sealants or wax.

Once you've protected the car, just wash it weekly with a gentle carwash soap.