I've read many posts on here (as well as on Autogeek) regarding how to properly clay a car and saw Youtube videos - it seems to be a pretty straightforward process. I did this by hand and of course, it didn't turn out as I expected... Here's what I did:

The car was thoroughly washed and dried this weekend, then garaged. I was using the Meguiar's Claybar Kit and broke a bar in half, kneeded it to a small flat disc and began the the claying process with the hood by hand. I generously sprayed a small section of the hood with the Quik Detailer as well as the clay bar then gently rubbed the hood in a back and forth motion, then wiped off the lube with a clean microfiber towel once done in a small area. I repeated on other areas of the hood, kneeded the clay continuously until the whole hood was clayed.

The result was a smooth surface that I can feel and you can see some contaminants the clay picked up. I was happy with the results up until a closer look where I saw micro-scratches where I clayed on the hood, which show up even more pronounced on a black car in some light angles. This was enough for me to stop the process.

After I stopped I did apply Ultimate Liquid Wax on the car which seems to have masked the light scratches, but I know they'll show again once the wax wears off over time. So what gives? I've used plenty of lube and it was a new/clean clay, while constantly kneeding it before going onto a new area. Are scratches expected still, even though the kit says "abrasion free"? Am I doing something wrong?

 

Maybe you were pressing down too hard? Did you wash thoroughly?

Also don't use the lube in the box. I throw that in the garbage. Use a bucket with very soapy car wash soap and water and a rag and just wipe as you need. lather the paint as you need more. it glides way better. that spray is sort of sticky. you need something that slides.

been claying since the year 2002 when only a very very VERY tiny amount of people knew what it was. i used to astonish people at the car wash in 2002. and they'd pay me to do it. haha!

Also if you have heavy crap on your paint (lets say you never clayed your car before) then you should use a high quality clay like CG. they have different grades. this one is for heavy contaminants.

https://amzn.to/2MlRgCw

 

also btw, if you are really detailing your car nicely, you should pick up a random orbital buffer kit and some M105 polish to be polishing out swirls and scratches anyway. it's inevitable to cause scratches when you are claying. before you throw down some wax, you should polish the car first. proper paint care is a lot of work. REALLY hard to get and keep perfect and really easy to scratch. i've found there's little room for in between. either you're lazy and do the minimum and have scratches and swirls or you put effort and have the paint looking decently nice. especially if you park outside or park under trees etc

 

Thanks for the info! Yes the car was washed thoroughly and dried. I barely put any pressure down as I was claying, but just enough that I could move it around and not drop it. I've been using the Quik Detailer spray as lube and sprayed a generous amount, so the clay was really easy to slide across the hood. So I'm not sure what I did wrong or if it's the expectation that claying would cause micro abrasions on the paint so one would have to polish before applying wax (as you mentioned). Either way, as you can tell, I'm very hesitant to clay any other part of the car now.

And you're absolutely right - maintaining the car's paint is extremely challenging. I know the Lexus paint itself is soft to begin with, but jeez, I didn't think it'd be able to scratch so easily... I've been meticulous on washing the car properly and having a bunch of quality microfiber towels on hand and using a leaf blower to dry the car thoroughly. But man, sure feels like if you just blow on the paint, it'll scratch it.

 

Scratches happen any time you touch the paint. Even wiped gently they can occur, just usually you can't see it. If you can see it, then there was some fine particulates being dragged acrossed the paint. This is why a very thorough wash is important, followed by constantly flipping the clay and mixing it like pizza dough. Sometimes you need to create damage to undo it. It happens. This is why a proper paint correction (polish) is usually necessary after claying to do the best job possible. The scratches created by claying are typically superficial so easy to polish out. As i said if you want to do a decent job, you'll need to go all the way. If you just expect to clay, wash and dry, don't be surprised if you end up w/ scratches after the process. hope this helps!

 

Thanks for posting this is on my to-do list and overdue on my black swirl marked car.

One thing I noticed you mentioned you washed the car then garaged it. It definitely may have picked up dust while garaged. Every video goes straight from wash to clay to polish or whatever kind. May have had something to do with it.

 

Another thing to consider is that claying the car will remove some of the fillers from waxes or sealants. Thus your end result will look "terrible" because now you are seeing the true condition of the paint. As E46CT mentioned, the next step is to polish the car to remove all the scratches and swirl marks. Good luck!

 

yeah and by the way, when your car is new at the factory being built, technicians usually sand (yes they take sandpaper to your newly painted and manufactured car) and sand out scratches then polish out the sanding marks. scratches aren't a big deal if you have enough clear coat to work with =) so don't be freaked out by fine scratches caused by accident. it's easily polished out.

I bought this one. great investment for $70. done a few cars with it. It's super safe and you can't really do any damage with it. get that and a bottle of this (industry standard stuff) and you're set to polish out anything. It's quite an aggressive polish though I find it doesn't need much if any correction after. if you want you can follow up any M105 corrections with an even finer polish maybe buy both depending on your needs. I've been lazy though and just used M105 and paint still looks like a mirror. but if i was totally **** i'd follow up with the fine polish.

 

It's quite difficult to use a traditional clay bar and not scratch the paint at least some. I prefer a clay bar towel it's faster, can be washed and reused and doesn't scratch if you're generous with the lube. It is not as effective on neglected paint for that you'll still need to use an actual clay bar.

 

As mentioned above, clay bar can tend to leave a little micro marring, some colors just tend to show it more. The darker the color, the more imperfections show. The simple fix, and for the best paint condition, hit it with a random orbital buffer afterwards and before applying any top coat. The beauty of the buffer is you can also use it to simplify claying. I have a porter cable 7424xp buffer and use the nanoskin autoscrub for all the large areas and only use actual clay in the smaller, tighter spots. I find traditional claying to be a pain and time consuming. Then come back over it with M105 on an orange pad and M205 on a white pad. The whole process can be a bit time consuming but the end product is mirror finished paint.

 

Oh man literally just received my Mother's clay bar kit from Amazon the other. I was going to clay and hand wax this weekend. Now I need to reconsider for an orbital? shucksss