washing after clay or just rinse?
 

Hey,

I'm gonna clay my car and I was wondering If i need to fully wash it again after I clay and before i proceed to polish, followed by wax.

Can I just rinse it with water and proceed to polish/wax or do I really need to wash?

You need to fully wash the car again with soap to remove the clay residue...

Then dry the car, and glaze it or polish it and then wax it

you could just rinse it if you plan on waxing or buffing later, because that will remove the residue. but, in all honesty, if you use clean clay and do it when the car is nice and soapy, you shouldnt have any residue left on the car at all. atleast, that is how we do it at bmw.

you shouldnt just hose the car off after because you can misss ome residue from the clay and it will stain the paint. I have had it done to me before, when I first started using clay.

aight i'll have to wash it a second time i guess. thanks for the tip civicdude.

Yeah definately wash afterwards...civicdude knows what he is talking about on this one...posted some before and after pics from detailing...whoa!!

Thanks for the compliment

I used mothers clay kit, and the paint seemed pretty clean after wiping down left over detailer with micro fiber, so i just waxed it. I have only used this clay once and i can see pieces of dirt in it, you think it is still safe to use?

^^ all of this wont happen if you do what your supposed to do. Use a machine on your car after you clay. Because the clay puts tiny scratches in the paint and you have to use a machine to polish them out followed by a coat of wax.

alright. I just finished my wash/clay/wash/glaze/NXT wax procedure and the car looks nice.

It's a lot of work and I can't really tell the difference from my old wash/Mothers Cleaner wax routine.

clay is the safest and easiest way to remove microscopic contanimants from your car.