While applying a nice coat of wax today I noticed that my car could benefit from a clay bar -I'll probably do it next month.

Is it necessary to remove the wax first?
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i may be wrong but i believe clay bar strips your wax.
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^ correct
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Easiest way is like using dawn or something. Just make sure you apply waxes/dressings after
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Blast it with a pressure washer gun at a local do it yourself washbay. Damn I need a buff job.
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Clay will remove wax. And using dishwashing soap is a big no-no. It will eat at your clearcoat, just like it eats at grease and crap from dishes...
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Blast it with a pressure washer gun at a local do it yourself washbay. Damn I need a buff job.

I'd avoid using a pressure washer on your car as much as possible.

Clay will remove wax. And using dishwashing soap is a big no-no. It will eat at your clearcoat, just like it eats at grease and crap from dishes...

Wth do you put in your dawn?? acid? Dawn is a mild detergent. There is no chemical reason why it would harm your paint. Improper washing is what will damage your paint.

Just don't use it to wash your car regularly. Car wash soaps won't strip the paint of wax. Dawn will.
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Wile applying anice coat of wax today I noticed that my car could benefit from a clay bar -I'll probably do it next month.

Is it necessary to remove the wax first?

Clay will remove some of your wax. But no need to remove before starting the work.

tux121 Blast it with a pressure washer gun at a local do it yourself washbay. Damn I need a buff job.

Probably because you've been blasting with pressure washer. ;)

Boostinbildo Clay will remove wax. And using dishwashing soap is a big no-no. It will eat at your clearcoat, just like it eats at grease and crap from dishes...

This gets misconstrued often. Dawn will remove wax. And after prolonged use it can dry out your paint. It is best to use a dedicated was solution regularly. But a once every so often with dawn, to remove wax build up, is fine to do.
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I'd avoid using a pressure washer on your car as much as possible.


why??elaborate

I've done it for 7 years, 100's of times on my wrx. How else are you supposed to clean the car.
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I've heard of stories where people have had damaged their paint from it from where people hold the nozzle too close. I've seen photos of one guy on here that blasted paint off his factory painted hoodscoop on his bugeye. Personally, I've accidentally removed vinyl stickers from the spray.

Basically, if you do use it, don't let the nozzle get too close to the paint. Rule of thumb i'd go by is don't hold it closer to the paint than you would with your arm.
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why??elaborate

I've done it for 7 years, 100's of times on my wrx. How else are you supposed to clean the car.


try using a microfiber/sheepskin mit+car shampoo or possibly go to a car wash? i dunnooooo....:lol:
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use the clay bar with some spray wax( eagle one wipe and shine) or wax as you dry. then polish it with some meguiars swirl free polish. then wax it with eagle one nanowax. then just use some good car wash every time you wash it, use a nice wash mit. and then before you shammy it off use wax as you dry , your wax job will last longer when you use this. try what i said. it works nice.
you'll see. and pressure washers are fine just dont point blank it; and if you got some paint chips then stay away from it.

Dan
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use the clay bar with some spray wax( eagle one wipe and shine) or wax as you dry. then polish it with some meguiars swirl free polish. then wax it with eagle one nanowax. then just use some good car wash every time you wash it, use a nice wash mit. and then before you shammy it off use wax as you dry , your wax job will last longer when you use this. try what i said. it works nice.
you'll see. and pressure washers are fine just dont point blank it; and if you got some paint chips then stay away from it.

Dan

:huh: Claying with spray wax is a waste of product. And then to polish after is an even bigger waste of the spray wax because the polish will remove the wax.
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Ok clay bar removes wax, yes all of it
dawn dish soap is not really good for anything, yes it will strip the wax, but also anything else thats protecting your trim and anything else, also its not really protecting the paint from the dirt thats on it, hello marring.
When using a clay bar, use either a car wash soap with high lubricity menzerna comes to mind, or a quick detailer, any will work, I use poorboys spray and wipe. A power washer is really a no no unless its for wheels wells and other non sensitive areas. The correct way to really detail a car would be wash clay wash dry polish wipe down the car with quick detailer to remove all residue from polishing followed by wax or a sealant for protection.
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Ok clay bar removes wax, yes all of it
dawn dish soap is not really good for anything, yes it will strip the wax, but also anything else thats protecting your trim and anything else, also its not really protecting the paint from the dirt thats on it, hello marring.
When using a clay bar, use either a car wash soap with high lubricity menzerna comes to mind, or a quick detailer, any will work, I use poorboys spray and wipe. A power washer is really a no no unless its for wheels wells and other non sensitive areas. The correct way to really detail a car would be wash clay wash dry polish wipe down the car with quick detailer to remove all residue from polishing followed by wax or a sealant for protection.

Actually clay won't remove it all. Depends on the grade and if you don't prolong usage in one area and if you don't use too much pressure (which you shouldn't anyway). You can remove it all. Just depends on the process and the clay.

The correct way to detail a car is to call my company ;) But as for your 'correct way' thats just one method of many and for certain situations of many. Claying doesn't need to happen all the time. Washing twice is not neccessary if done right. Polishing also doesn't need to happen all the time and is a step that really needs to be done with a lot of caution.
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simple...
clay (it's removes wax)
polish (it removes swirl marks) I do 1x rotary buffer 1x Porter Cable 1x hand
last wax ( I use P21s because it has no additives so if you happen to wax something such as a black molding or something it doesn't leave that white residue.) Plus it is layerable. I usually wax 2 or 3 times.
Wash regularly with a soft mit and CAR WASH SOAP. Not dish soap. I dry it with the Eagle 1 wax as you dry stuff and it stays waxed for a while.
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Actually clay won't remove it all. Depends on the grade and if you don't prolong usage in one area and if you don't use too much pressure (which you shouldn't anyway). You can remove it all. Just depends on the process and the clay.

The correct way to detail a car is to call my company ;) But as for your 'correct way' thats just one method of many and for certain situations of many. Claying doesn't need to happen all the time. Washing twice is not neccessary if done right. Polishing also doesn't need to happen all the time and is a step that really needs to be done with a lot of caution.

you could clal your company or you could call me either way its gonna get done. Im speaking of starting from the absolute beginning, and a claying should be done if there are contaminants. But if the clay doesnt remove it all the polishing will. And your correct a polishing should only be done if there are surface imperfections. Ive never fully polished my sti, and have only fully clayed it once. Im about to pm you.
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Well, the easist way to tell if you need to clay or not is to run your fingers across your paint when there is little or no wax on it. If you feel your fingers catching a bunch, then it's time.

The pressure washer and dawn debates will go on forever; I can almost gurantee it.


last wax ( I use P21s because it has no additives so if you happen to wax something such as a black molding or something it doesn't leave that white residue.) Plus it is layerable. I usually wax 2 or 3 times.


And add a layer... or even a few of Klasse before the wax, you'll love it even more.
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The easiest way to find out if you need to clay the car is to put a plasic bag over your hand and rub it over the (clean and dry) finish. If you feel debris or grit on the paint you need to clay it.
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The easiest way to find out if you need to clay the car is to put a plasic bag over your hand and rub it over the (clean and dry) finish. If you feel debris or grit on the paint you need to clay it.

agreed.
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The easiest way to find out if you need to clay the car is to put a plasic bag over your hand and rub it over the (clean and dry) finish. If you feel debris or grit on the paint you need to clay it.

yes and also can take a plush MF towel and run it over the surface. Anything grabs you need some clay (all after washing and drying is done).
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Well, the easist way to tell if you need to clay or not is to run your fingers across your paint when there is little or no wax on it. If you feel your fingers catching a bunch, then it's time.

The pressure washer and dawn debates will go on forever; I can almost gurantee it.



And add a layer... or even a few of Klasse before the wax, you'll love it even more.

I use Klasse but I was giving a quick rundown. You don't even want to know how involved I get. I ran detail shop so I'm nuts.....
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Hey, OP here. Let's summarize please.

So, If I want to clay, there's no need to remove wax (with polish or otherwise) first?
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I suppose you really don't have to, but I'm very structured how I clean my car. Otherwise, it's just lazy IMHO.
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Hey, OP here. Let's summarize please.

So, If I want to clay, there's no need to remove wax (with polish or otherwise) first?


Correct. Polishing first could grab some of those contaminates and do some nasty things to your paint. Wash then clay or clay as you wash if you want to. You will need to rewax/seal.
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Just wipe the damn wax off man...

Its going to make a mess when you spray a lubricant over the wax and then wipe it if you ask me. Its going to build up on the clay etc...

I can only hope this thread is a joke at this point, as it would take about 3 minutes to wipe off wax, as oppsed to the 3 day discussion taken place here. Save yourself 71:57 next time and just wipe it off and dont ask. ;)
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Just wipe the damn wax off man...

Its going to make a mess when you spray a lubricant over the wax and then wipe it if you ask me. Its going to build up on the clay etc...

I can only hope this thread is a joke at this point, as it would take about 3 minutes to wipe off wax, as oppsed to the 3 day discussion taken place here. Save yourself 71:57 next time and just wipe it off and dont ask. ;)

I think you are misunderstanding. He has already done a wax job prior. He is not talking about laying down new wax and claying over it.
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in that case...

wow that was dumb on my part :D

< ~ lewZer
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no worries ;)
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The correct way to really detail a car would be wash clay wash dry polish wipe down the car with quick detailer to remove all residue from polishing followed by wax or a sealant for protection.

How long does a routine like that take?

Is it worth doing at all in winter time, with salt, slush, and wet yuck all over the roads (and no indoor facility to do it)?

I want to keep my car looking nice, but honestly, I want to spend more time driving it than cleaning it. :)
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How long does a routine like that take?

Is it worth doing at all in winter time, with salt, slush, and wet yuck all over the roads (and no indoor facility to do it)?

I want to keep my car looking nice, but honestly, I want to spend more time driving it than cleaning it. :)

For someone who has never done it, hours, if you really take your time up to 4-5 hours or more. It is really a common thing for people to do in the spring once it starts to get nicer outside.

As for the comments bout dawn, it will not "eat through your clearcoat" or dry out your paint/strip oils from your paint. What oils exactly do you think are in your factory paint that is baked on at extremely high temperatures. Dawn will leave your paint unprotected and susceptible to the dangerous elements all the time. Dawn will also strip your wax off easily. If you really don't want to use it there are other detailing washes meant to strip the paint.
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How long does a routine like that take?

Is it worth doing at all in winter time, with salt, slush, and wet yuck all over the roads (and no indoor facility to do it)?

I want to keep my car looking nice, but honestly, I want to spend more time driving it than cleaning it. :)

Thats a routine that you only need to do once a year if that, if you know how to properly wash and care for your car.

It takes me a good 8 hours to do a full detail on a mild-moderate marred car, which is about par.
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why??elaborate

I've done it for 7 years, 100's of times on my wrx. How else are you supposed to clean the car.

Why do you need that much pressure to wash your car to begin with? Why not just use a regular garden hose? In car care you always use the least abrasive way and work your way up to the most. Unless your car is gunked up with mud and dirt i dont see why you would use a pressure washer. If used properly you should be fine but still no need for it.

Clay WILL take the wax off your car along with the impurities in your paint. Clay barring will more than likely cause fine swirls in your paint. When you are done check the paint in the direct sunlight where the fine swirls will be visible. If you do have them and care, you should have your car polished with a rotary buffer or buffer of some kind with the appropriate compounds and polishes. Followed by a glaze and finally some wax. Autopia.org is the best detailing forum around... you guys should definately register. A lot of great info there.

Dawn soap could be used to remove wax, just make sure you re wax the car when you're done whatever it is you're doing to the paint. I wouldnt use it on a regular basis UNLESS you are going to be re waxing that same day. Dishwashing soap is only harmful if you DO NOT re wax the car. One there isnt any wax on your car to protect it from the elements and if you continue to use the dishwashing soap it will dry up the natural oils in your paint. Good luck with your detail.

Willie
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guys guys stop arguing. this is the best source for car care: www.autopia.org , its like nasioc, but for car washing.
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KKam.. lol not a good comparison bub. I dont see anyone arguing either. If you read my post you will see that i already stated that autopia.org is the best place for this.
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