I just got my car at the very end of March and only drove about 350 miles so far. I want to put down a nice layer of synthetic wax/polish soon and it seems like everyone says it is a good idea to clay your car, no matter if it is still fairly new.

I found ChemicalGuys sells a LIGHT duty clay that is supposedly for newer cars. They also have a Medium and Heavy, so a light bar seems like the right one.

Light Duty CG Clay Bar

I've also read that Sonus clay is supposedly more gentle and a good one to use on a newer car that doesn't need hard core claying:
Sonus Clay Bar

Are these good clay for my newer TL? Anyone ever use these before, or recommend a different clay?

 

Zip down to WalMart etc and get the Mothers Kit .. it mild and perfect for the beginner..

BTW you lay down a sealant .. a polish is abrasive and used for paint correction prior to sealant or wax.

 

autozone has both the mothers and the meguiars...either one will do....

 

I have used the Meguiars clay before and it works great. If you are set on the ones you listed they are both very good as well. Basically all clay in the US is from the same manufacturer due to patent rights so it's all basically the same clay just packaged differently or diff colors. You simply need a mild clay for your application and all the above will work great. I recommend going with the cheapest one.

 

well..........basically is subjective.
Yes, it is all allegedly made by the same manufacturer. And I have no reason not to believe this, however, each "name" brand is "different" from Clay Magic......

 

Thanks for the input everyone.

So to understand the whole Polish/Wax/Sealant, if my car is super new do I only need to use a sealant, and not a polish? I come from a world where I used to just use Mother's carnauba wax and that was about it other than some random quick detail sprays here and there. So with a synthetic process, what am I doing, technically? Am I just sealing, and not polishing?

Is this the scenario? I am considering the zaino, or another synthetic. Not too sure which I am going to use yet, but from a synthetic process is this what I should be doing?

Wash Car
Clay Car
Dry Car
Sealant

No Polish step since it doesn't need correcting?

 

Wash
Dry
Clay
Prep for sealant to get QD residue off ( AIO or PoliSeal or 50/50 IPA/Water. )
Sealant

For a newbie Zaino isn't a good choise .. expensive .. finiky .. lots of work.

There is other more fogiving ones out there like Megs #21 or Glanz Wax or UPP etc etc .

 

I got some Blackfire clay the other day that was absolute crap ... even got my $$ back.

 

What do you guys think about this clay? They seem to say that theirs is supposedly better than the rest that are all manufactured by the same manufacturer but in different colors.

http://www.autogeek.net/ultra-fine-poly-clay.html

Anyone ever use this stuff?

 

I have the Pinnacle Ultra Fine Poly and the Griot's Garage Paint Cleaning Clay. I like both as they seem to pick up contaminants without leaving residue on the surface. Just make sure you use a good QD for lubricity between the surface and the clay bar. I like Griot's Garage Speed Shine as my QD of choice.

 

So most seem to say that washing with dawn is a no no. So is a 50/50 IPA alcohol mix a better idea?

This review seems like a great break down of a bunch of products:
http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/det...5504326-1.html

 

no need to use dawn, no need to overthink what needs to be done...go to autozone buy a clay kit, wash the car, clay the car, use the cleaner wax, use a synthetic sealant and be done....if you buy the meguiars clay kit, it comes with clay, detail spray, cleaner wax, microfibre cloth....while you are there pick up some extra microfibres, and some sealant....

 

Watch what you buy in regards to MF's at retail levels though.....

 

What are the main differences in quality? Is there something specific to look for when buying MF towels? I bought the large yellow ones from Target and they seem to do a good job.

 

I'm a total newbie at MF's too, but from what I can see so far people talk about the strand count per inch, and then the 70/30, 80/20 cross mix of Polyester Polyamide material. Also, supposedly where they are manufactured can help determine if they are higher or lower quality.

I saw some at walmart from a company by the name of Microtex and they were cheap in price, but am not sure what the quality is. I am going to start by ordering some from ExcelDetail, then ChemicalGuys.com, and then compare them to the Walmart ones.

 

Quality may not be instantly determined. It (quality) may not be determined until further down the road. Some MF's appear to be of quality, but down the road one may notice marring/swirling. Just buy from experience as some have posted here.
You DONT have to buy from me naturally, but buy some quality MF's somewhere!

 

use the cleaner wax, use a synthetic sealant and be done <--- Some of the cleaner waxes supplied have carnubas and a sealant isn't going to bond to them very well. If your not using a sealant then go for it.

After claying I use PoliSeal or AIO to clean things up before a sealant if those aren't available a 50/50 mix of IPA / water wipedown will remove the QD/ polish residue.

 

meguiar's works pretty well... along with their quick detail spray