claying

[benmore]

hello all

I have a day off today, so I am just off to get the meguiars clay kit, as it is supposed to make first time clay experience a little nicer.

my monaco clio looks beautiful when polished/sealed/waxed, but the surface is not smooth, so I am finally going to put the effort in, and clay it!

wish me luck. will update later!

anyone any tips with this kit?

 

[nickl360]

I've used it and it's spot on!

Just make sure you keep spraying the lube on all the time. I did it like this:

Rip a piece of clay off, mould it in your hands under warm-ish water.
When it becomes workable and soft spray an area on your car with the quick detailer spray.
Flatten out your clay,
Rub on the lubed up area applying little pressure,
I got in to the habit of holding the clay in my right hand and continuing to spray with my left hand (if going from right to left on the car),

Keep the area you are working lubed up!

Then wipe off the lube with the included microfibre cloth once you've done that particular area.
Keep checking the clay and if it's dirty then re-mould it like dough in your hands and re-flatten out to a clean surface.

Obviously you would clay after a wash with some decent shampoo and the car is dry.

Once you've done the body panels you can use the old pieces of clay on the windows.

 

[Rich]

Break the bar into 2 or 3. Make sure the clay is always warm and soft, remove any big chunks of shite it removes out of it, if you drop the clay bin it. Don't use loads of pressure just enough to keep the clay on the surface.

 

[Ali]

Once a yr job for me...Arsed! lol! Once you've done it, sure it'll be smooth but the paint will look 100x worse.

 

[Rich]

Fact - I avoid doing it that often - once per car lol

 

[Ali]

It's how we roll!

 

[benmore]

ok finally got back to the idea of doing it. looked like it was gonna rain so decided to do it at the weekend instead but now it's passed and looks fine.

never did rain in the end.

so I wash it thoroughly like normal,
clay it,
wash it again?,

then I do the normal srp then egp, leave for an hour, remove egp, wait 24 hours then apply my wax, right?

what do you mean it'll look 100x worse?

 

[nickl360]

Claying removes all the film and filth from the paintwork, including any waxes etc. Essentially back to barebones.

Once you've added your SGP / EGP and Wax back on it'll be tip top.

Post pics once you've finished.

 

[benmore]

will do matey np.. just about done the clay and it's now getting to being pitch black so

srp / egp is a fri evening job... and wax on on saturday.

will take pics sat evening hopefully.

blimey claying is not hard or anything except on your patience really, fortunately I love my car lol

it is a long job tho isn't it?

nightmare job lol

will start alot earlier next time around. problem is the sunlight is too strong earlier!

just hope it doesn't get too covered in s**t between now and tomorrow evening! have 50 mile round trip to/from work to do yet!

 

[nickl360]

It is a bit labourious I agree, but I find using SRP and waxing more hassle.

Just give it a quick wash or rinse then go over it with the quick detailer and microfibre and you then have a clean surface for your SRP / EGP.

 

[benmore]

yup. going to give it a once over now, then quick detailer (I have a couple of bottles already for washes between wax / etc anyway) , then I will srp tomorrow morning, followed by egp.

is it ok to wax it 5 or 6 hours after the egp?

I know you're supposed to leave it 24... but don't fancy waiting til sunday to do it lol

 

[Andi-B]

Actually, this reminds me to get mine done, nearly 7 years old and I doubt it's been done on mine since new, will do mine tomorrow if it's nice

Wash your car, clay it, then wash again to get rid of the spray seal and wax.. Job done.

 

[benmore]

TBH it doesn't even need polishing that badly IMO.. but I read somewhere on these forums that the polishing stage is what gives you your shine so I thought I better buff it up with polish first just because if I seal it wax it and it looks cack I'll be so pissed off because I'll have to do it again lol

looking to do the full works 1. so it looks the tits and 2. so it is ready for winter. I intend on building up plenty of layers of wax too over the next couple of months.

I would prefer not to srp if I can get away with it

btw lead I think you're right, it is not as bad as polish seal wax etc but, yesterday I also had the pleasure of a moaning gf asking if I love the car more than her or something and that I aint spending enough time with her so it made me even more impatient and just made it feel like it took forever.

 

[benmore]

also while we are on the subject of detailing so as not to spam creating loads of threads if nobody minds... can I ask if anyone knows of a place to get a pressure washer that has the ability to snow foam? I want to use this to make my life easier plus just love the snow foam lol

I want one that is good but it doesn't need to be bomb proof or anything. only have around 50-80 quid to spend tho before someone says the karcher 200 quid thing. I'd love it but out of my range at the mo...

 

[nickl360]

I think Aldi or Lidl sold one for about £50 that was a Karcher clone. Might of gone up to about £80 now, but you can attached the Karcher snow foam lance to it with a bit of filing down of the connecting head.

There is a thread on here somewhere, have a search.

I'm washing, SRP, sealing and waxing tonight hopefully... To be honest I don't use a pressure washer, just use the garden hose with a hoselock attachment for a bit more power.

 

[benmore]

yep same here (garden hose with power attachment I mean)

I washed polished and egp'd yesterday. didn't have time for the wax but an early day today so I am going to whip out and do that now.

I did take some pics yesterday but due to it being half 7 it was fairly dark and my camera seems to keep making them come out very shakey

only when I sat it on the floor and took a low level pic did it come out ok.. I'll show you anyway. took a few on the drive prior to egp aswell.

I'll try to get some pics today about 6ish 6.30 latest.

I did set my new samsung on "shake correction mode" but it still was having none of it. I'm total shite with a camera is probly the problem.

you must take some pics too lead_head.. when you're done

here's the couple I think are ok ISH.. the rest are just pointless showing

on the drive prior to egp:

in car park after egp but too dark to really see much (some of the ones that actually came out not blury):

 

[benmore]

rain!!!

before it rained I got a shot as I finished the wax coat.. will upload in a bit.

GRRRRR!

started spitting as I walked in doors all happy with my finish

 

[Gaz W]

My personal technique for claying is:

- Cut a small peice of clay, mould into a shape that is about 5cm x 5cm.
- Spray lube onto both the clay, and the paintwork you are claying, be sure to spray liberally for the first few passes to 'prime' the clay bar.
- Continue, passing over each section a couple of times, feeling with your fingers to ensure that the area has been completed.
- After you have clayed a panel, re-mould the clay to ensure you have a clean side to move to the next panel, if the car is particularly clean, only re-mould as necessary as eventually you will run out of clay if you re-mould to often.

Rather than wiping with a microfibre just after claying, I tend to leave the residue from the Lube, and then re-wash the vehicle, this helps to remove any dirt that the clay may have left behind, as often it can leave small particles of grit behind, which if you are polishing your paintwork after claying, could cause defects to be inflicted.

In terms of pressure, use no pressure at all, just the weight of the clay bar, just guide the clay bar gently over the surface. Using pressure will marr the paintwork.

HTH,

Gaz
www.detailmyride.co.uk

 

[nickl360]

Looks like your camera is on Macro mode mate as the photo's from further away are blurry.

Looks clean though mate

 

[benmore]

cheers. did you get around to doing yours?

appears the rain stopped after it started spitting so all good. barely any spots on the car at all.

macro mode? it has a little turnable options thing once switched on, I tried it on auto, normal, and "shake correction" mode. it is a new samsung nv4.. some 8 megapixel+ monster lense. cost around the 100 mark so not expecting miracles. it is me mate. I have no practice at car or any photography.

I just don't understand why it does what it does. just take the damn photo.

I'm really good with most things - computers - etc - but cameras just irritate me for some strange reason.

 

[Ian]

I don't know if this will be any good for you Ben, but I've just put a Kärcher washer up for sale on here:

http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=361761

There's no snow lance with it, but it could be a good starting point. Let me know if you're interesed anyway mate

Cameras take a lot of getting used to, I wouldn't worry too much, just keep practicing and you'll get it!

 

[Si]

My personal technique for claying is:

- Cut a small peice of clay, mould into a shape that is about 5cm x 5cm.
- Spray lube onto both the clay, and the paintwork you are claying, be sure to spray liberally for the first few passes to 'prime' the clay bar.
- Continue, passing over each section a couple of times, feeling with your fingers to ensure that the area has been completed.
- After you have clayed a panel, re-mould the clay to ensure you have a clean side to move to the next panel, if the car is particularly clean, only re-mould as necessary as eventually you will run out of clay if you re-mould to often.

Rather than wiping with a microfibre just after claying, I tend to leave the residue from the Lube, and then re-wash the vehicle, this helps to remove any dirt that the clay may have left behind, as often it can leave small particles of grit behind, which if you are polishing your paintwork after claying, could cause defects to be inflicted.

In terms of pressure, use no pressure at all, just the weight of the clay bar, just guide the clay bar gently over the surface. Using pressure will marr the paintwork.

HTH,

Gaz
www.detailmyride.co.uk

spot on.

iirc the megs kit comes with 2 bars? half of one of these bars is noramlly sufficient for the whole car.

cling film the rest and use it on your next motah. job's a good'en

 

[Rich]

Cling film and clay don't work on a long time basis (learnt from experience there and a dried out clay bar!), the weld to each other! An air tight tupper ware type box is a better option or the little box that comes with the Sonus clays.

 

[nickl360]

I didn't get chance to do mine unfortunately as it rained Shame really as I'm doing a bit of a trek in it later.

The Meg's stuff comes with a little plastic box so I wrapped it back up in the plastic it came in, then placed it inside the box.

I used 3/4's of a claybar on the whole car including glass and it was plenty, so I imagine 1/2 a bar will be enough for a whole car.

 

[Gaz W]

My personal technique for claying is:

- Cut a small peice of clay, mould into a shape that is about 5cm x 5cm.
- Spray lube onto both the clay, and the paintwork you are claying, be sure to spray liberally for the first few passes to 'prime' the clay bar.
- Continue, passing over each section a couple of times, feeling with your fingers to ensure that the area has been completed.
- After you have clayed a panel, re-mould the clay to ensure you have a clean side to move to the next panel, if the car is particularly clean, only re-mould as necessary as eventually you will run out of clay if you re-mould to often.

Rather than wiping with a microfibre just after claying, I tend to leave the residue from the Lube, and then re-wash the vehicle, this helps to remove any dirt that the clay may have left behind, as often it can leave small particles of grit behind, which if you are polishing your paintwork after claying, could cause defects to be inflicted.

In terms of pressure, use no pressure at all, just the weight of the clay bar, just guide the clay bar gently over the surface. Using pressure will marr the paintwork.

HTH,

Gaz
www.detailmyride.co.uk

spot on.

iirc the megs kit comes with 2 bars? half of one of these bars is noramlly sufficient for the whole car.

cling film the rest and use it on your next motah. job's a good'en

Meguiars Smooth Surface Kit comes with 2 100g bars, these can be split into 3 parts. So effectively you get 6 clay bars with the kit.

Whereas, the Meguiars Quik Clay Kit, only comes with 1 100g bar, again this can be split into 3 parts.