My car is almost 3 months old, and I've been reading a lot about Claying my car over at bettercarcare.com.

Is there any reason NOT to clay my car this early in the game?

All I have done so far is wash weekly and wax every 4-6 weeks, but I don't have the shine that I want. I also never used a sealant when I bought my car. Is that something that I should do after I clay it? After I apply the sealant, do I need to wait a day or so before I wax?

I know they have all of the info over on the car care websites, but I wanted to get some advice from other TSX owners. BTW mine is black, so its either clean or its not. Not much of an inbetween. Thanks for any advice!

sidenote - this will be my first time claying, so any tips are appreciated.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=clay+car

That's what you need to read. It has everything covered.

Happy cleaning!

 

thanks. I read the other sticky, but apparently missed that one.

 

The main tell-tale you can look for to determin if your car needs claying is sound. hmmmm Well let me explain, when you run you hand across the car, either the back of your hand or the front, you will actually hear the light sound of your hand rubbing
the containments on the car. It sounds like a light scratching, it is not loud but easily heard. Your car can actually feel PERFECTLY SMOOTH, when I say perfect I actually mean "perfectly glass smooth". If your car doesn't feel like that you could use a clay, because that is waht the clay does, it makes the car incredibly smooth. Typically the horizontal panels on of the car need it more, (trunk, hood, roof) and the parts of the car in direct contact with the wind while driving, i.e. mirrors, a-pillar and front bumper.

another couple of claying tips-
- constantly remold the clay to get a clean spot
- check the area you worked on before moving to the rest of the car, you want to make sure there is not a small piece of sand in the clay scratching the surface.
- If you drop th clay, either throw it out, or if possible, cut out the areas that landed on the dirt with an exacto or sissors. If there is a chance there is dirt in the clay you will make the paint's surface much worst (tiny back and forth scratches on the enitre car, I've seen some one do it, it hurts, lol)
- Once your clay is dirty, possibly after one use depending on how bad your car is, I would reccomend keeping the clay around to use on the windshield and other windows. Then after the windows the clay "graduates" to be used on the rims for "pesky" brake dust.
- There are different consistancies of clay out there, Meguiars has just changed their clay used in their Quik Clay Detail Systems from a hard abrasive clay to a less abrassive clay that takes a little more work but is easier to work with. I like the lighter one it is like play-doh not like hard clay.
-Clay is probably the best (results) thing you can do to a car . I have seen many friends of mine, from 18-65years old, who have been working with cars for years, when they see what a little spray and a wipe from this "magical clay" can do to the paint surface. It is the ultimate rejuvenator for the paint. Don't get me wrong, a good machine polish will do wonders however the clay is amazing.

If you have read the clay walk through on the www.bettercarcare.com site you should have a very good understanding of what to do while claying, next thing to do is get your hands wet, you won't regret it.

Good Luck, Keep us updated..

Patrick

 

Now I remember you Patrick, I saw you at the TL/CL/TSX/RSX/EL meet at D&B. I remember you just finished a clay treatment on your car. Your trunk really was smooth as glass. I think the clay actually makes a better surface than when the car leaves the factory. It must also smooth out the clear coat or something.

 

I often have friends of mine bring me a car right off the show room floor. You see, the car will sit in a train car for weeks in transit on it's way to the dealership. The trains stopping causes train brake dust "rail dust" to cover the cars with tiny little metal particles. Then what happens when it gets to the dealership? They dust it off, meaning they wipe all of these little metal particles into the brand new paint scratching the hell out of it. And after that the car typically goes and sits outside where the sand gets blown on it day after day utill it gets purchased. It is not uncommon to get a brand new car with swirls on the fenders, roof, doors etc. Usually the hoods and trunks have that big white plastic on them during transit, why not the rest of the car? too much plastic?lol

Hey Dan how's it goin'. I am planning on becoming a vendor here for all car care supplies in the next few weeks, I'm just revamping the website. If you want to contact me, PM me, I have to go clear some headlights for a fellow A-TL'er now, lol, talk to ya...

 

Its not actually smoothing out the clear coat, but removing contaminents that are trapped in the clear. Think of your paint as skin. The paint has many "splinters" in it. The main culprit is rail dust. After your car arrives in port, it gets on a train, which is where it begins its journey to the dealer via a truck. All these methods of transportation take their toll on your paints surface. Many contaminents get embeded in the paint along the way. Plus it usually sits on a lot for a month or somethimes more before a customer takes delivery. All these factors along with everyday fallout and airborn particles lead to these "splinters" that become trapped in the clearcoat. If they are not removed they will be waxed over and left in there to possibly cause surface rusting. Claying will also remove surface dirt that normal washings wont. I've clayed cars before where the people actually swear that the car changed to a deeper richer color just from that process alone.

 

Doh, you beat me to it by a second or two. lol

 

Thanks TSXtc for all of the tips. I actually clayed my car this morning after reading over all of the tips on bettercarcare, and I am really happy with the results. Like I said earlier, my car is only a few months old, but I still noticed a big change in the smoothness of the paint.

The only clay they had at my local Pep Boys was Mother's California Gold. My one complaint is the Showtime Lubricant that came with the clay. As it dried it left big streaks that were almost impossible to buff out without putting on more of the spray. I ended up just giving up on buffing it all off and just let the wax remove the streaks. Next time I will probably just use the soap and water after washing my car.

Now Im going to try and take some pics later today/tonight. i'll post them on the site later on -

 

I clayed mine about a week after I got it. I could actually see the clay get discolored after I was done. Highly recommended.

 

No problem, glad I could help. Mothers makes a nice clay bar but I agree their lube left me dissapointed once before. I have since been using Clay Magic and love it. I however dont use the clay lube that comes in the box except for about one or two quater panels, (that seems to be as long as it lasts) , so I stock up on Meguires Quick Detail spray and it works fine. One tip for you to try next time is to be sure to clay in the shade and keep the hose handy and rinse off the residue as you finish the area. This keeps the residue of the detail spray from drying.

I just finished up claying an Audi A4 in british racing green tonight and it took me 2 and a half hours just to do that alone. Did first wash then clayed and then a second quick wash to remove residue. Clay magic is blue but when I got finished claying, every piece I had used was green and brown from all the crap that came out of the paint. Just that process alone added so much depth and shine to the paint as it had removed all of the contaminents that normal washings wouldnt touch. I went through 3/4 of a 100 gram bar on just that one car tonight. After all that I was beat so I put it in the garage and decided to finish the PC and polishing work for the owner tomorrow.

 

I ordered the Zanino Bros clay bar and couldn't tell any difference and saw nothing in the clay bar after using it. I ended up selling the 2nd bar to a guy I work with that swears on them.

 

my car is so squeaky clean i would never run my hand across it to check if it needs claying. anytime someone touches my car, i know because i see the fingerprints on it. by the way use pinnacle waxes for the nighthawk black as i have done. their liquid form is fairly inexpensive and you will get a great shine on that color.

 

Ignorance is bliss

 

hey Florida "owner" you've already told us abou your wax. do they make a clay bar? if not, its not relevant to this thread.

 

 

I find the clay bar works great to remove bugs and other visible contaminants. In terms of the whole car, I also didn't find much of an effect. Sure, the car is smoother to the touch; but that won't last more than a day. I drive 60 miles per day.

 

Someone mentioned residue left on the car after using the spray. While claying, you should also wipe off any excess with a cloth, and then rewash the car just as good as you did the first time. Dry the car and start your polishing work. You'll enjoy the results!