So I'm planning on picking up a Meguiars smooth clay kit this weekend and trying it out for the first time, but I have a few quick questions I'd like answered if possible.

1.) I'm fairly sure this is going to make pre-existing swirl marks show more... and I wasn't planning on doing a polishing step between the clay and wax (NXT2.). Will this look like crap if I don't polish before the wax? Or will the wax work better because of the cleaner surface?

2.) How often do you knead the clay after it gets dirty? Is it just a general visual or should it be kneaded every panel?

 

You can probably go right from the clay to NXT 2.0 if the paint has been well maintained. NXT does have some polishes and fillers. What you want to do is try a section first and examine it. If it looks nasty, you will need an intermediate step.

I knead it after every section.

 

So I just finished using the clay, its awesome!

I can't believe the difference in feel of the paint. Unfortunately, it didn't remove all of the black spots I was hoping it would. Would this be a reason to move to a more aggressive clay?

Don't know the results of the swirl question yet regarding going from clay directly to NXT 2, but I'm about to remove the NXT so I'll let you guys know how it comes out.

 

I'd say so but a more aggressive clay can possibly cause micro marring so you'd need to use a paint corrective polish to remove this. If you'd be willing to do it, I'd suggest using Poorboy's Detailing Clay, it's a medium grade clay. Aggressive clays are very rarely needed. I hope this helps.

 

What thumper said.. Or, you can order Megs blue clay. It's their detailing clay and can be purchased from ADS. Stronger than the smooth surface clay kit clay but still won't yield micro-marring.

 

cant go wrong with the original. clay magic for me, or sonus grey.