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How often do I need to clay my car?

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  • How often do I need to clay my car?

    How often do I need to clay my car's finish?

    The question is often asked,

    "How often do I need to clay my car's finish?"


    The answer is,

    "It depends on where you park your car and what's floating in the air"



    If you spent one day detailing your car including claying it and applying a coating of wax, and the next day your car was parked in a parking lot like this,



    And about 100 yards away is a painter elevated into the sky spraying paint onto a building like this...



    Then because the wind will tend to carry the overspray through the air until it finds a place to touch down and come to rest, you may very well need to clay your car the next day.

    "How often you need to clay your car's finish depends on what's floating in the air where you park your car"


    As I drove down the road from where this building is being sprayed, I stopped to take a photograph of this Corvette sitting behind a fence in the owners front yard while he was doing some upgrades to the house that required access to the garage.




    It's completely possible the paint overspray being sprayed into the air just a few blocks down the road could come to rest on this Corvette's finish as well as everything else, including the window glass and the convertible top.






    What Meguiar's teaches is that in order to know whether or not you need to clay, or re-clay your car's finish, you need to evaluate the condition of the finish, with both your eyes and your sense of touch.


    So the answer to,

    "How often do I need to clay my car's finish?"

    Is as often as necessary and the way you determine if claying is necessary is to evaluate the condition of the finish, with both your eyes and your sense of touch.


    Click here to make comments on this article

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Note: The above photos were all taken on August 2nd, at approximately noon at a nearby establishment.
    Mike Phillips
    760-515-0444
    showcargarage@gmail.com

    "Find something you like and use it often"

  • #2
    I was reading about claybars possible taking off a layer of clear (whether it be .01mils or.05 mils). places (not here, that i can tell) recommend claying only 1-2 tiomes a year to ensure continued clear coat life.

    how much validity does this statement hold. namely how often could i claybar my car and not suffer paint damage (obviously assuming i know to keep the bar lubricateded and such)?

    on another post in this forum, you clayed the MBZ hood and noted no change in thinkness. however the gauge only seems to go to .1mil resolution. so say it took off an unmeasurable amount (.04mil, .5 would induce a rounding), if you did this every month for a year (.04 * 12) thats about .5mil gone. but this seems a little extreme, unless you live next to a switching yard. so say you clay 3x / year. in 4 years of just claying you could be risking clear coat failure, right?

    is this something that i should really worry about, or not?
    Lancer Evolution VIII
    I4T

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    • #3
      you clay when QD becomes slow to wipe off
      Patrick Yu
      2003 Honda Accord
      2008 Honda Accord EX-L V6

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      • #4
        but that wasnt my question.

        that answered: "when do i clay my car?"

        im looking to find: "how often can i clay my car without damage?"
        Lancer Evolution VIII
        I4T

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        • #5
          For the most part, you can clay as often as you like as claying is non-abrasiveto the finish.
          Mike Phillips
          760-515-0444
          showcargarage@gmail.com

          "Find something you like and use it often"

          Comment


          • #6
            lol sry i have really bad adhd and im not even joking
            Patrick Yu
            2003 Honda Accord
            2008 Honda Accord EX-L V6

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            • #7
              Originally posted by rammsteinmatt
              im looking to find: "how often can i clay my car without damage?"
              Originally posted by Mike Phillips
              For the most part, you can clay as often as you like as claying is non-abrasiveto the finish.
              Well, *properly done* claying is nonabrasive to the finish Some people do manage to mar their paint when they clay so they're presumably taking off some clear on a b/c car.

              Heh heh, but then we've debated whether clay will (necessarily) even cut through LSPs, so it's sure nothing to worry about as far as wearing down the clearcoat. I don't even get significant paint transfer from most single stage cars I clay, though they *are* pretty well-maintained paintjobs.
              Practical Perfectionist

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              • #8
                thanks for all the help everyone
                Lancer Evolution VIII
                I4T

                Comment


                • #9
                  i have a white car and clay once a month to prepare for wax...i have not noticed any clearcoat failure and have had the car for almost 3 years..imo using a mild clay does no damage...i would rather clay than leave the bonded surface contaminants to etch the paint

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                  • #10
                    Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                    ***Bump***
                    Mike Phillips
                    760-515-0444
                    showcargarage@gmail.com

                    "Find something you like and use it often"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                      FWIW: When you run the back of your hand across and horizontal panel (e.g. hood, roof, trunk or the window pillars) and it feels rough.
                      Rob A.
                      '09 Kia Optima (Bronze Metallic)
                      '07 Kia Optima (Gold)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                        I remember seeing someone using a sandwich bag on a car to see if it needs to be clay on a fully washed and dried car. Not sure if that's a good thing to do.

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                        • #13
                          Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                          If memory serves, Mike used a sandwich bag to illustrate that the paint on a new pickup truck needed to be clayed. I think pressure and amount you rub comes into the equation when doing that.
                          Philippians 2:14 - Do all things without grumbling or questioning,

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                          • #14
                            Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                            Yes, the plastic sandwich bag kind of enhances the bumps, so you feel them better.

                            Dont really need to rub hard to do it.
                            2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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                            • #15
                              Re: How often do I need to clay my car?

                              those pics reminded me of my dad spray painting his trailer with a rattle can while his brand new chevy truck was parked right next to it. when i yelled at him to stop he had no idea that all that paint spray was landing directly on his new truck! in no time at all his entire truck was covered with black speckles

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