Clay bar, then what?

C

Cindy

New member
I've got a new...to me... 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe, Dark cherry red (burgundy, merlot, whatever you want to call it). It's already got swirl marks on the hood from the previous owner.

I had a VW Cabrio for 11 years, never used cloth car washes if it could be helped, but rarely washed it. Boy did that car have a great paint job, it barely looked over 5 years old when I turned it in and almost never washed it.



Now that I've got a newer vehicle I want to take care of the paint.



I've been told to clay bar it. I've read up on it, the plastic bag test, the more lube the better, use a soft bar (my friend swears by mother's brand) use 1/4 bar at a time, knead it when using it for new surfaces, etc... Then it has to be waxed, right?



But what next? There's too many products and I'm confused. There's instant detailers, prewax, synwax, advanced carwax, glaze, cleaner wax, carnuba wax, topcoat... the list goes on!



I've also got swirl marks from the previous owner who I assumed used cloth automatic car washes. Do I wax and then attack swirl? or clay bar then attack swirl, then wax? I will only be using my weak female arms, please keep that in mind, no garage, no helpers, and no expensive tools (I wish for all three!)



My MAIN question- clay bar, then what? (swirl info handy but not my main concern)



Thanks for your help!
 
Wash, clay, wash and dry it. It the condition of the paint is satisfactory to you, then just apply a sealer. You can do an IPA wipe down just before. You might want to consider one of the "Wipe On Walk Away" products such as Ultima Paint Guard Plus or Optimum Opti-Seal. If you want to remove swirls, you would want to remove them by polishing AFTER claying, but most definitely BEFORE applying a wax or sealant, unless you have opted to use an AIO product (mild polish combined with a sealant)
 
GatorJ said:
Wash, clay, wash and dry it. It the condition of the paint is satisfactory to you, then just apply a sealer. You can do an IPA wipe down just before. You might want to consider one of the "Wipe On Walk Away" products such as Ultima Paint Guard Plus or Optimum Opti-Seal. If you want to remove swirls, you would want to remove them by polishing AFTER claying, but most definitely BEFORE applying a wax or sealant, unless you have opted to use an AIO product (mild polish combined with a sealant)
Click to expand...



IPA? Sealer? Is sealer a kind of wax? I tried to make it obvious by writing that I didn't do anything to my previous car that I don't understand what any of this stuff is. Unless I can find a bottle that says "sealant" I still don't understand. Sorry to sound so dense, I'm really quite intelligent, but also have a learning disability that leaves me unable to understand certain things (by seeing it done I understand it right away, but just reading it is really hard for me to comprehend).



Are wax and sealant the same thing?



Again, thank you very much for your help. I appreciate the "wipe on walk away" kind of product since I don't have much manpower (literally).
 
It can be a bit intimidating sometimes when asking questions within this forum. Many of the members here are accustomed to a "jargon", full of abbreviated references. There is a decoder ring somewhere on this forum. GatorJ's advice is sound, but I'm guessing that he may be assuming that you know more than you do. Let me try a different way of explaining his suggestions.



Getting back to your question. You indicated that your car has some minor swirling, and that you wanted to take care of the finish. There are a few strategies that are commonly applied to deal with swirling, but the choice of which one to follow generally depends on skill/knowledge, equipment, and the amount of time and effort you wish to dedicate. The most comprehensive, labor intensive, and typically longest lasting approach is called a "correction". This usually involves a machine buffer that, with the aid of polishing compounds/solutions, remove the topmost layers of paint/clearcoat such that the swirls are eliminated or substantially minimized. A simpler, but less effective/permanent approach is to attack the swirls with chemicals alone. This approach tends to hide the swirls by filling them in, such that they are more difficult to see. This can be done with All-In-One polishes, prewax cleaners, glazes, and some cleaner waxes. The results can be quite good. The downside is that these solutions usually don't hide the swirls for long (how long depends on what you use, environment-rain/heat, and car wash erosion), and a repeat of the process may be necessary in a few weeks to a few months. My son does this with his car (using my supplies, of course). He skips the claying and goes right to Klasse All-In-One, which can be applied by hand, which gives him a nice finish. I've convinced him to top that with a coat of Collinite 915 (Marque De Elegance) Wax to help preserve it. Does this every 6 months and his car looks fantastic.



I may have oversimplified some technical topics above, but I hope it helps.



If you decide to clay it, then the Mothers clay is not a bad choice at all -- I still use it myself, and if you buy it in the kit you will get the Mothers detail spray that you apply as a clay lube. If you want to take the plunge and learn how to perform a "correction", then I would recommend much more reading in the Car Detailing and Machine Polishing sections of this forum (read the "stickys" at the top of the forum sections), then decide on a machine buffer and pads and all the other related stuff. Based on your question, my personal suggestion would be to try the easier approach (Klasse AIO followed by Collinite), and see if you like the results.



Good luck!
 
A couple of follow up points....



You asked what to follow claying with, and GatorJ suggested that you wash and dry it, and possibly follow that with an IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol ) wipedown. Claying can leave behind some residues that you don't want to wax/seal over; also any glossing agents (such as the detail solution used as clay lube) can make it difficult to see swirl details, so washing removes this, and an IPA wipedown makes sure that any oils or fillers are removed, so you can get a true picture of what kind of swirls you have. I sometimes get lazy and just follow the claying with a wipedown using a Meguiars product called FInal Inspection, and start my wax or sealant or polishing from there, but GatorJ's approach is more thorough and effective for extracting all the swirl details. If there is no need for swirl removal, then go right on to sealing or waxing, but otherwise you will need to do some polishing next.



As far as waxes or sealants, and the differences, well I'll just say that can be a topic of constant debate around here. I'll generalize, and say that Sealants typically form a tighter bond with the paint, and can leave a very shiny, slick, but somewhat sterile finish, whereas Wax is often characterized as providing a warmer, deeper finish. Generalizing again, many claim that Sealants last longer than Waxes, but there are also exceptions to this view (that Collinite 915 I recommended is a wax that outlasts many sealants). There are probably hundreds of threads in this forum where comparisons are made. My own preference for a Sealant is Blackfire Wet Diamond (or BFWD in this forum), and I also like Collinite 915 for a Wax. Some people, me included, have topped a sealant with a wax, to get the best from both products, but many also question if there is any real benefit. Many of us experiment with many products to find that Holy Grail look, but just when you think you have it dialed in, someone will announce something new, and the comparisons and debates start all over again :-)
 
The basic steps:

1. wash

2. clay

3a. Use an abrasive polish to remove swirls, etc.

3b. Use a non-abrasive polish to remove oxidation, etc

4. protect (sealant or wax)



For 3a, you can do a vehicle by hand using products like Meg's SwirlX or even Meg's Ultimate compound for more severe swirls. This is a time intensive task by hand and should do a test spot before attempting to do the entire vehicle. You can invest in a machine (dual action polisher) to make this easier.

For 3b, you would use something like Mothers Pre-Wax Cleaner etc



There are many sealants and waxes so you have many choices.



I would suggest do 1,2,3b,4 now and do more research on 3a.
 
The mothers wax is fairly mild, so as long as you didn't feel a lot of "tugging" while claying the surface you probably won't be in a position that you need to polish the vehicle due to any marring.



The best thing to do though is to get into direct sunlight and check your car for what will appear to be tiny scratches form circular patterns across your paint. If you see these, then you need to polish if you want them removed.



Best practice for full detail is:



Wash

Clay

Wash + Dry

Polish (multiple steps may be necessary)

Sealant or Wax (you can do a search to see the debate between the two)
 
Cindy- Welcome to Autopia!



I can't help but thinking that the above (good) responses might be a bit intimidating. It's easy to get awfully involved in this stuff and most of the people here are really off the deep end (myself included). I'll try to make some suggestions that'll be feasible for you. Sounds like you want to improve the swirls as best you can by hand (without making it some impossibly difficult chore) and then keep it looking good for a while (until you need to do it again).



Oh, before I forget- IPA = Rubbing Alcohol, but IMO you don't need to use that. Sealants are basically "synthetic waxes", don't worry about the diffs.



Removing swirls using abrasives, *BY HAND* is a pretty daunting challenge. You can buy the product(s) I list below and try them on small areas, see how it goes and whether you want to do the whole vehicle. Note that you can do it piecemeal, one panel after each of a series of regular washes; you don't need to do the whole vehicle in one marathon session.



I'd approach this as a three step process (after the wash and claying). Don't worry, you won't have to do the first (toughest) step every time and the second two go pretty fast and easy. Sure hope I didn't lose you at "three steps"! Again, doing all three steps on one panel shouldn't be too bad and you can go ahead and do more if you have the time that day.



Note that some of the product suggestions mirror previous responses; what works, works.



The idea is to:



1) fix the swirls

2) clean and prep the paint while hiding some remaining flaws

3) protect the paint



1) Remove/reduce the swirls with Meguiar's Ultimate Coumpound (somewhat potent) or Meguiar's Scratch-X v2.0 (milder) or Swirl-X (mildest). Use as per the label directions.



2) Clean the paint and hide some remaining flaws with Autoglym Super Resin Polish ("SRP", source: Search ). There's nothing wrong with the Klasse All In One ("KAIO", and you can use it on black trim) but KAIO doesn't hide flaws the way SRP does. You could stop after that and apply the third step (the wax) later if you want, after the next wash. These products are quite user-friendly.



3) Wax with Collinite (either the 915 (durable, with good looks) or 476S (VERY durable) or 845 (VERY user-friendly and also quite durable, very reflective-looking). My niece-in-law simply loves the 845 and she's doing a big vehicle with it.



It's that first step that's the tough one, there's a reason why so many people use electric polishers. I can't help but wonder how satisfied you'd be if you simply skipped that and just did the SRP topped with wax. NO, it won't look as good..you'll still have the swirls, they'll just be hidden a little bit. But that approach (just clay, SRP, wax) would sure be quick and easy.



Be careful what you buy. There are a lot of products out there that *DO NOT* do what one would expect them to do ;) and it's easy to waste time and money. The stuff listed above *works*.
 
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