Most liked posts in thread: Clay is not Rocket Surgery

I picked up a Megs claybar kit at Wally world, less than 20 bucks, included 2 clay bars and bottle of quick detailer, works well.

As far as claying vinyl no problem, just be careful if you have somekind of vinyl pinstripe, it could lift the ends around door edges.

 

To whom are you a stagehand for? Sorry for getting off topic, but was a little curious.

 

Thanks, that's good to know. And ask docv suggested, I'll watch the edges as well as I can. Great, another project on my list, but I'm excited to see how it turns out. :smile5:

 

Had a customer stop by today to buy some Prima and he brought his 2008 BRG MCS that he bought from CarMax..with a measly 9,500 miles on it! We brought it into the shop and tested out some products including how to properly clay as he did it for the first time last week. I felt the paint, and I still felt contamination. So I reclayed the bonnet, and let him feel the paint a few minutes later, and he gasped...how amazing it felt. As usual, what it came down to was that he was NOT applying enough pressure and that's what I seem to encounter the most among newbies. They lightly glide the clay across the paint thinking they are claying, afraid they might do damage if they press too hard. So don't be afraid!

My video is coming! At 12 minutes and 2.8GB in HD, it's too large for YouTube and FaceBook...and haven't had time to edit it into two segments, but I just got a new Mac Pro, and this should improve my workflow by many times!

Richard

 

I was shy the first few minutes when I clayed a car the first time. Had someone watch over my shoulder in case I started to mess the paint up. But I remember feeling the clay drag with the first piece I used, then as I continued to rub the same area the clay started to glide over the paint. Had to touch it. Smooth...no more junk in the paint. Made sense. And yeah, put some pressure on those stubborn dead bug chunks stuck in your paint job on your hood, mirrors...etc.

Quality clay saves time and effort. A lot less rubbing going on with good clay.

My wife saw me claying the front of our MINI last fall. She watched and asked some questions, ripped off a piece and started rubbing. She believes it equals waxing your car in terms of how hard is this to do.

Which reminds me...time for the fall clay job...

 

Hummm, I thought it sounded a little kinky. What with all these pictures of cross dressing lumberjacks, you can never be sure.

Jim

 

My Clubman is coming up to it's 2nd birthday and although I'm fairly good about washing it and finishing with Hydro, I've only waxed it once (Banana Gloss).

So today after a thorough and much needed wash, I used the clay. Amazing results and really surprised me that it wasn't more difficult and time consuming.

Fortunately I'm off work tomorrow so I can wax it. =)

Taken prior to claying.



Look how dirty it was...

 

Thanks Richard. Great video.

 

Thanks Chuck! More coming!

 

Clay in MF towel = trash

 

I'm about to clay Mozart for the first time today or tomorrow. I just realized I only have a small amount of Glide(lube) left. Can I just mix up some Mystique with water in the spray bottle to use? I do have a full bottle of Hydro so can use that, but hate to waste it since I'm heading to the Dragon on Wednesday and want to have the Hydro on hand while I'm there .
Also, I'm guessing I don't need to clay the clearbra? It has been on the car for exactly 30 days.
Annette

 

Shhhh...don't tell anyone but Glide is just Slick mixed 50% with distilled water. If you don't have any Slick, soapy water works just fine depending on the clay. I've used Zaino clay before with soapy water and it just falls apart. The old DP gray clay held together well as did the Mag blue. Even the yellow Mothers clay works with soapy water but the Sonus didn't.
I need to add that if you use soapy water it does leave a residue that wiping alone won't remove so when using it I just rinse the MINI off after doing the clay.

 

yes you can use soapy water to clay also...

 

As I stated in the video, if you're washing your car, you can use the water to clay, before you dry it. It's not as slippery as lube, but as long as the car is clean, it works well. I wouldn't use Hydro diluted for clay lube. The lube is a "throwaway" product. You just need to lubricate the clay and nothing else. I like using Glide for the simple fact that after I clay, and wipe it dry after each panel, there is no residue and I can easily tell if I need to clay some more.

Richard

 

Very helpful, thanks Richard!

 

opcorn:

 

Honestly, I'm too damned lazy to wax or clay my own car. That's why I pay guys like Richard to do it for me...

 

I like your style!

 

Claying

I have be working up to clay my 07 chili red convertible with black hood stripes & invisible mask, do I clay the hole car & act as they are not there. Will it hurt the stripes & invisible mask?