? on clay bar

Clay bars clean the paint, but do not polish or wax. If the paint needs polish, then it will have to be polished. It will need a wax or sealant last.
 
Well...that's going to depend on how aggressive the clay is and how agressively you use it.



The general rule of thumb if you are gently using a mild clay is that you shouldn't need to polish, but you probably need to reapply your LSP after.
 
Maybe? It depends on the softness of the paint, the aggressiveness of the clay, the abrasiveness of the contaminants you're removing and the lube you use with it.
 
Simple answer............yes. Leaves no questions asked now does it.

Or you could always wonder if you should have after you clayed, your choice.
 
It's all about what the claying did- did it merely take dirt off the wax, or did it decontaminate the paint, or did it *mar* the paint?



Very gentle claying that only cleans contamination off of the existing LSP: no need to rewax but it won't hurt to do it anyhow.



Moderate/"normal" claying that removes significant contamination that might've actually been bonded to the paint (as opposed to just bonded to the LSP): rewax and inspect to see if polishing is required.



Aggressive claying that leaves the paint marred: polish and wax
 
I agree with Patrick on this one. If the paint is in bad enough shape to clay, it is *probably* in bad enough shape to polish it. Besides, whenever I find myself in a position of not having any LSP on my paint, I use it as an excuse to jewel it a bit before re-waxing it. Remember, "Polishing" doesn't always have to mean defect or swirl removal, it can also just be gloss enhancement. It's quite a challenge to reach "max gloss", so every time the LSP is off the paint, I give it a shot on at least one panel.
 
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