Hello,

I just bought a mothers California gold clay bar. Im going to use it when i get my next day off. Anyway my dad hasnt washed his truck in probaly 5 months other than the car wash which doesnt do too much. So im offering to do it for him seeing that he has no time.

So how really am i supposed to do it? do i wash the truck with soap, then rinse and then clay bar? And is hte lubercation good enough with water or should i use a detailer spray wax.

But what im really looking for is for someone who has done this befour and let me know the steps that they did.

If anyone could let me no that would be great


Thanks,
Neil

 

I will wash a vehicle and then spot dry it. Get stuff like the windows, mirrors, metal parts that I know will spot up if water dries.

I'll then mix up a FRESH bucket of soapy water and use that as lubricant for clay. I find it works a lot better as some clays I've used with different detail sprays and car wash and I always get less streaks with car wash.

After the whole vehicle has been clayed, then I'll lightly wash it again and rinse the vehicle off and dry.

If you see any areas you missed, then you can go ahead and use some detail spray to get those.

 

This is what I've done. I wash the vehicle with DAWN dishwashing soap. DAWN is supposed to have the best "stipping" ingredients in it of any other soap. (you want to strip off any old wax/polish that may still be on the vehicle) Then after washing is done, I used a spray bottle with soapy water(DAWN soap of course) to keep the clay lubricated. Just spray an area with the soapy solution and claybar that area. Once claybarring is all done, like Intel said, then lightly wash the whole vehicle again just to get the soap residue off. Now, you've got a completely clean surface with no deposits, water spots, old wax, etc, and you're ready to proceed to polishing/waxing. Good luck!

 

Dawn dishwashing soap and the clay bar. Have fun!! By the time you wash/clay/wash/wax 3 coats and then do a final gloss spray your Saturday is done....I washed/waxed cars at a Ford dealership for a couple years while in high school.............It sucked then as it does now, at least then I got paid for it!!!

 

I know what you mean! It DOES suck BIG TIME! HA! I spent about an hour and a half Monday evening claybar/polishing my black F150 Supercab and only got the drivers side done. And that's only with 1 coat! HA! (2 coats on fender)

But, for me, the end results are worth the sweat and pain of it.

 

lol spent all day today claying an polishing my truck had to stop for a couple hours cause the sun was right over me so i couldnt polish cause it was settin up to quick...tomorow i shall top it off with nxt

 

I think it's time for someone to buy a PC...or a product better suited for the problem at hand. That's a SILLY amount of time on a door!

I am calling the kettle black though...

I spent nearly 4 hours on my topper last weekend... just the topper... and that was via machine. That damn paint baffles me sometimes. It's like some areas are diamond coated and others are like play dough. I don't think it's a lousy paint job just very difficult to work on... SOOO much different than my truck.

RP

 

Nice RP, i got the shaft today, i planned on doin another polishing on the hood an fenders...an then waxin the whole truck twice...but it poured before an now im not in the mood to do it, maybe tomorow

 

Mothers says that you should use the detailer wax that it comes with. It says not to use soap. So should i just go with what the directions say?

 

I would go ahead and do what the recommendations say. Also, go ahead and wash your vehicles with regular car shampoo. I would never recommend using dish soap on your vehicles paint. The entire purpose of using it instead of regular car shampoo is pointless if you are going to clay anyway. The clay is going to strip away all the contaminents on your paints surface including any previous coats of polish and wax.

Take this process one section at a time. Spray a 2'x2' section with the Showtime lubricant, the rub your clay along the paint back and forth cleaning all the contaminents off. Look at your clay after whiping back and forth a few times, you'll notice that there is all kinds of dirt on it from the paint. Nead the clay bar until the bar is completly clean of any dirt.

I defenitly recommend to you of cutting your clay bar into four equal pieces. Get a zip lock bag and toss the extra 3 pieces in there and back into the box. This will prevent you from having to throw out your entire bar if you drop it on the ground. If you do not drop it, that piece of clay that you started with (1/4 section of the bar) should do both vehicles for you, easy.

- Chris

 

I've always been a fan of using QD sprays as lubricant rather than soap....

I suspect they're not recommending soap as I think it can degregate the clay itself.

I definitely agree with FTM on cutting the clay into pieces. That's a trick I learned many moons ago. Four might be too many pieces but, if you feel comfortable with it, go that route. With the smaller bars of clay that come in the kits, you might only get one or two chops tops. If you drop a piece on the ground, it's TRASH, hence the reason for chopping it up... Be sure to knead the clay often as you'll start to see it get nasty.

Best of luck!

RP

 

Hello,

Thanks for all your help. Now this will help me a lot more when i go to do it tomorrow. Ill let you guys know how it goes, the bad part is i havta do the interior then do the exterior. It will be a treat tomorrow but the ending result will be great.

 

I always complete the interior prior to the exterior. That way I do not have to worry about my electrical cord (vaccum) getting wet from when I washed. Keep us posted

- Chris