Clay bar... i'm a believer

So i spent 6 hours cleaning and detailing the car and used Mother's clay bar kit. I have seen the light. Its completely changed how my paint feels. But when it came time to remove the wax, i found that the paint wasn't completely "clean". The wax still pulled up some dirt. (pics to follow) Maybe i did something wrong. Here's the steps and what I used. Maybe someone has some pointers or i'm worried about nothing.

 

1. Wash with Meguiar's Gold Class and a microfiber wash mit

2. Mother's clay bar kit using water leftover from the rinse and the quick detailer as a lube (good tip from OCDetails on not drying the car before using the bar). Plus it took of some road paint dusting that i picked up somewhere.

3. Another wash with Meguiar's and dried using a dedicated car towel that i picked up at the parts store (not sure which brand though).

4. Wax using NXT and a cheapo random orbital buffer from the auto parts store with a terry cloth bonnet.

5. Removed the wax with a terry cloth towel.

 

After all this the paint looks awesome, great shine, nice deep color, and it took out a lot of the swirls. Its a whole new car.

 

Now for the weird part. The dirt on that came up with the wax. It doesn't look THAT bad, but i thought the point of the clay was to get all that junk off. Maybe I expect too much?

 

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/SeattleLegacy/P5260081.jpg

 

 

 

After pic of car (best shot of the reflection):

 

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/SeattleLegacy/067-2.jpg

Shineeee... That towel doesn't look bad at all. It could've picked up a dirty spot you missed somewhere along the process (like under a wheel well or someplace inconspicuous-like).

Dude, if you are going to give it the "white glove" test, you will never win that battle no matter how thorough you are.

 

Here's a tip though: When you plan to use the clay bar (and when you plan to follow all that other steps you mentioned......) substitute Dawn dish soap for the Meguiar's in step one. The Dawn will strip off the existing wax on the car, allowing you to use the clay bay more effectively. (you will be pulling contaminants directly out of the clear coat...) Just be sure you follow with a coat or two of NXT as you will not have any wax / sealant on the car after the Dawn treatment.http://legacygt.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

The point of the clay isn't to clean dirt off your paint. It is to pull contamination out of your paint. Many times you'll still need a paint cleaner afterwards to get the oxidation and surface contamination off. Clay just gets the stuff that polishes don't get.

 

Here's a good analogy for ya. Picture a table with a nail hammered into it. What polishing does is grind the nail off at the surface and then sand the rest of the table. The nail is still in there though. What clay does is pull the nail out so that when you polish you don't have anything interfering. It also allows the paint to "heal" and close the hole that the contamination caused. Too many pin pricks in your paint can lead to clear coat failure, so it is always a good idea to get it off. Also, the particles embeded in your clear can rust around them and stain the surface of the paint. Clay will pull the contamination out, but it isn't designed to remove the rust stain. That's why you use a paint cleaner or a polish afterwards.

ok, good. i thought i did something wrong. thanks for the analogy.

wait... wait.... no one caught this yet?

 

So i spent 6 hours cleaning and detailing the car and used Mother's clay bar kit. I have seen the light. Its completely changed how my paint feels. But when it came time to remove the wax, i found that the paint wasn't completely "clean". The wax still pulled up some dirt. (pics to follow) Maybe i did something wrong. Here's the steps and what I used. Maybe someone has some pointers or i'm worried about nothing.

 

1. Wash with Meguiar's Gold Class and a microfiber wash mit

2. Mother's clay bar kit using water leftover from the rinse and the quick detailer as a lube (good tip from OCDetails on not drying the car before using the bar). Plus it took of some road paint dusting that i picked up somewhere.

3. Another wash with Meguiar's and dried using a dedicated car towel that i picked up at the parts store (not sure which brand though).

4. Wax using NXT and a cheapo random orbital buffer from the auto parts store with a terry cloth bonnet.

5. Removed the wax with a terry cloth towel.

 

After all this the paint looks awesome, great shine, nice deep color, and it took out a lot of the swirls. Its a whole new car.

 

Now for the weird part. The dirt on that came up with the wax. It doesn't look THAT bad, but i thought the point of the clay was to get all that junk off. Maybe I expect too much?

 

what's wrong with terry cloth?

 

<--- grabs flame suit just in case

It's a little harsh for paint, but it just depends on the quality. Microfiber is definitely safer, but we used terry cloth as the standard for 'safe' for years before microfiber came around.

hmmm, ok. so, should I look for a microfiber bonnet for the buffer? (not quite ready to step up to the PC) also, i heard that microfiber towels/bonnets aren't the best for applying the wax. maybe i heard wrong.

 

i tired using microfiber to pull the wax off, but when i fold the towel twice (into forths, just about the size of my hand) like i did with the terry, the microfiber would roll under and my hand would come off the towel. it was down right frustrating. i folded the towels to get as much use out of each one so that i didn't go through one towel for each section that i completed. i hate laundry.

 

maybe i'll have to give the microfiber another shot.

haha

 

looks great man, love the reflection shot

OMG! nice job! i am so busy this year that i havnet really did anything to my car...

 

GRRR.

so much happened to my car tho..

such a remorse.

 

a week ago i hit sth like a racoon and it damaged my foglight slot. (I swear to god if I am able to see that racoon i wouldnt hit it. the road is so dim)

 

Then 2 days ago my mum was backing out from a parking spot and a bitch opposite to our parking lot ignight the car and back out without seeing us. BAMMMMM, she hit our car and swear at us even tho 3/4 of my car out in the parking lot already.

Uhmm.... yeah, washing the car won't save you from things like that. But look at the bright side... If you polish it up right then it will look great sitting in the body shop having work done. Maybe if your car was shinyer then the racoons would see you coming. It's worth a shot I guess, eh?

hmmm, ok. so, should I look for a microfiber bonnet for the buffer? (not quite ready to step up to the PC) also, i heard that microfiber towels/bonnets aren't the best for applying the wax. maybe i heard wrong.

 

i tired using microfiber to pull the wax off, but when i fold the towel twice (into forths, just about the size of my hand) like i did with the terry, the microfiber would roll under and my hand would come off the towel. it was down right frustrating. i folded the towels to get as much use out of each one so that i didn't go through one towel for each section that i completed. i hate laundry.

 

maybe i'll have to give the microfiber another shot.

 

 

If what you are using is working for you, then I'd suggest sticking with it. If you aren't noticing any hazing or other problems from using the terry cloth then you shouldn't switch. My suggestion for the towel issue would be to spread the product thinner across the paint. Microfiber will grab at the left over product if you put in on too thick. Coarser towels won't grab as much, but they are also more harsh on the paint, so it's a toss up.

ok, hazing, i did a search on your site and came up with nothing. maybe i'm seeing it and don't know it. i start pulling off the majority of the wax with the towel. there's always some left over (i can see it if i look at it at the right angle in the light). so, i flip the towel to a clean side and "buff" it until its gone. is that the haze? otherwise i don't see anything looking dead-on or at an angle.

Haze would be identifiable by a sort of halo around reflections. If things look like they are glowing then you have haze. If you look really really close at your paint and you see lots of 'micro scratches' then that is also haze. Haze is something that most people can't even see because of all the swirls.

 

Here is a good example. These three pictures are before polishing, after a medium polish, and then after a final polish to remove the haze. The difference between the second and third picture is the removal of the haze.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Jngrbrdman/TransAm/Hood-Before.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Jngrbrdman/TransAm/Hood-xmt2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Jngrbrdman/TransAm/Hood-xmt1.jpg

 

At first glance you might not notice anything, but look in the reflection of the flourecent light in the hood. See how it looks kind of blurry and 'hazy'? That is where you will see the micro scratches caused by the pad and polish. Sometimes the haze can be avoided by using a softer pad, but in this case the paint was really really hard and I needed to cut it down in order to get the swirls out. It is those kinds of marks that can be caused by using too coarse of a towel on the paint.

This place is awesome