slamtank

where should i clay?
i mean should i clay some spots or the whole car?
i thought i would clay the whole car but after i searched and read
how to clay the car, i thought it would be real pain to clay whole car.
seems it would take a lot of time.
what u think?

bobbyd

iTrader: (3)

Should take you no more than 10 minutes to clay the whole car unless you got some nasty over spray or rail dust.

Sickboy

iTrader: (3)

I clayed my whole car for the first time last weekend. Washed, clayed, polished, waxed, and it took several hours not 10 minutes. Feels like new again, well worth the time. My car is 1.5yrs old BTW.

EManEX

Yes a good clay-bar job should take you more than 10 minutes.

rckdrmr

iTrader: (2)

is claying the whole care, worth it in the long run.... no matter how long it takes? i think so.

bobbyd

iTrader: (3)

How the Hell is it taking you guys so long to clay your cars? I guess it must be that I don't let my cars get so nasty that is takes that long. All you got to do is spray on the lubricant, take the clay bar and glide it back and forth across the surface until it is cleaned.

Claying the car is the only way to get it smooth. It gets rid of all of the contamination and makes the paint nice and smooth for polishing.

If you look at our site www.danase.com all of the cars on there were clayed. The only one that took us a while was the White regal cause it was covered in embedded rail dust.

EManEX

^ Well I guess it all depends how often you clay your car and if it is your first time as well. The more often you clay your car the less oxidation and grim on your paint theirfore less times claying the car. It also depends if you car is in a garage or out side.

In my case my car is outside 24/7 and I put around 25K to 28K miles a year on my car so it a lot more dirty and harder to clean.

zen_master

iTrader: (6)

hm.....................how can i get just the clay...without the other stuff.................

hm.........

armieo

iTrader: (15)

So you just run it over? That little bar of soap shape? Do you guys flatten it out any (like dough)? It seems to be doing nothing on my car, just gliding over the paint and making everything greasy and wet and non clean.

EManEX

You can use soap as a lubricant for your clay-bar. What is does it cleans the surface of the clear coat. You suppose to run it until it feels like you are running ice on it. You then wash your car again and wax it.

If you want to notice a difference you have clay only a part of your car like half the trunk, then wash and dry, and finally run your fingers across the trunk where you clayed and where you didn't you will feel a big difference.

albs

Here's some info:

http://autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html

Notice the picture of the dirty clay near the bottom of the page. Amazing how much
clay can clean. I've actually seen clay get that dirty on a car that has never been
clayed before. If you clay once or twice a year, your clay shouldn't get nearly that bad.

Mistro

Some people say wash after claying, some people say rinse. Which one?
Soap it over good and the wash it like before or just run some high pressure water on it and dry?

albs

Claying the paint strips off wax. Normally you would want to add some sort of protectant like wax or sealant after claying. Maybe even polish and glaze before the wax/sealant.
You can search the Autopia forums for different peoples processes:
http://www.autopia.org/forums/showth...threadid=40413
Here's another process from Roadfly.org:
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums...1604515&page=6

Why would you just rinse the car without drying it? You will just end up with water spots all over your clean car.

albs

bobbyd,

Did you miss this dude's Autopia post? He took 10 hours to clay his car! I dunno what he did that took so long.

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showth...hlight=process

bobbyd

iTrader: (3)

WTF?!?!?!

10 hours?!?! I could of painted the car in that time!

zen_master

iTrader: (6)

haha, i clayed, colorx, and wax the whole ford ranger in about 3 hours..

AR

iTrader: (2)

I clay/polish/wax my car. It takes me a good 8 hours or more. From 12pm to 8pm the last time I did it.

Mistro

I meant rinse then dry or to soap n scrup then rinse and dry. I though the dry part was kind of infered from the point

obguam

iTrader: (1)

I once saw a detailing video (Meguiars' site, I think) about how not to apply polish or wax. Showed a guy rushing to get stuff on and then off, but not doing a very good job. For the best shine you need to take your time. On the other hand, its also true that if you know what you're doing a good job can be done in half the time it takes me and other amatuers.