How often do I need to clay my car?

[THERAPY]

i am use the Gold Class Shampoo and water with Meguiar`s clay. i like... in Moscow the bottle of Quick Detailer coast near 400 rubles-it expensive

[speed3blackmica]

and has ur clay bar become useless much sooner ? i just cant see how it will degrade the clay..its clay. its soap. and its water..not WD-40 and GOOF OFF..thx for ur input

[Calais]

Mike, i'd really appreciate your input on this question....if i took a spray bottle..filled it up with water and added a meguiars car wash such as gold class to the bottle and make it the proper water:soap ratio..can i use that as lubrication for claying ? buying quick detailer all the time can get expensive..people have been telling me that i cannot use a car wash solution because it wont lubricate as well as quick detailer and that the car wash will in due time break down the clay and make it useless...but from my point of view, isnt one of the great purposes of quality car washes such as gold class shampoo to offer superior lubricity ? so shouldnt using gold class car wash be a great substitute as lubrication for claying..you get what i mean ? i just need a professionals answer for this..clay bars i get from a friend who owns a detialing shop and he always gives me bars of clay. but i just dont want to have to keep buying quick detailer if i could use my own solution of clean water and a meguiars car wash.

I've used Gold Class and water as lubrication many times to clay cars, it has enough lubrication and works just fine; however, he two problems you will encounter with wash soap that you will not with QD are the following: the clay will break down and you cannot let the soap dry on the car.

Although the clay will break down, you can probably get all the claying you need done in the time it takes for that to happen. Also, if you use small pieces at a time, it won't matter if it breaks down; you can just slice another piece.

The soap drying on the car is the main reason that I generally do not use soap as lube anymore. It is difficult to keep the surface wet, keep from dripping soap all over panels (and letting it dry) and then do an extra-extensive rinse at the end to make sure all the soap is gone.

A cheaper alternative would to buy a gallon of Last Touch. You can use it at 1:1 for clay lube and full strength for a good QD. I use it at 1:1 for both, though that is not recommended by Meguiar's.

[THERAPY]

but the finish result better with Detailer. IMHO

[speed3blackmica]

well i have a foam gun so that helps a lot with keeping the surface wet with soap/water wix...as im claying im pull the trigger on my hose and make sure i constantly have a panel lubricated well as i do it..and then i rinse off when that panels done...anyway so you say the car wash will breakdown the clay ? how long does this take before it breaks it down ? basically i mean is the clay only good for one full clay job if i use car wash soap with water as lubrication ?

[Cindy Sable]

it depends on the condition of the paintwork of your car, if it is in bad condition all the polishing in the world isnt going to bring it back. if the paintwork is in good condition a polish should last about 6 months. if your car spends most of its time undercover you could possibly get 8-10 months out of a polish. have a look at the car when u wash it. if the water is still beading, the polish is still fine.

[Michael Stoops]

Mike, i'd really appreciate your input on this question....if i took a spray bottle..filled it up with water and added a meguiars car wash such as gold class to the bottle and make it the proper water:soap ratio..can i use that as lubrication for claying ? buying quick detailer all the time can get expensive..people have been telling me that i cannot use a car wash solution because it wont lubricate as well as quick detailer and that the car wash will in due time break down the clay and make it useless...but from my point of view, isnt one of the great purposes of quality car washes such as gold class shampoo to offer superior lubricity ? so shouldnt using gold class car wash be a great substitute as lubrication for claying..you get what i mean ? i just need a professionals answer for this..clay bars i get from a friend who owns a detialing shop and he always gives me bars of clay. but i just dont want to have to keep buying quick detailer if i could use my own solution of clean water and a meguiars car wash.

Apologies for not catching this sooner.

Our recommendation for clay lube is either Quik Detailer or Last Touch diluted 1:1 with water. Having said that, a lot of people have used a mild soapy water solution with little or no issue but soap can, over time, cause clay to break down. That doesn't mean it will always happen, it just means that our recommendation for optimum, consistent results is to use the products mentioned.

Potential downsides to using a soapy water solution:

• Not enough soap may mean not enough lubricity
• Too much soap may mean too much lubricity
• You'll likely need to wash the car again after claying with a soap solution - not always, but probably

Keep in mind we aren't saying "you MUST do it this way or your paint will fall off" or some other such nonsense - it's just our recommendation for optimum, predictable results. By the same token, if someone is using a product different than we recommend, or using a technique that varies from what we teach, and they're getting good results and are happy with those results, it's really hard for us to say that's wrong. We will jump in and be pretty vocal if we think someone is doing something that has a high probability of causing damage.

[EPHIOS]

I always do the bag test every other month, to determine if I need to clay. For me, there is no point of cleaning, polishing and waxing my paint, if the surface is not near smooth perfect. I will be just wasting my time.

[DiModaCorse]

I recently took in an '04 Mazda 3 sedan (never garaged and rarely washed) in need of a comprehensive detailing. I started with Pro Car Wash 62 Shampoo & Conditioner and then proceeded with Pro-Line Mild (blue) clay due to the large amount of surface contaminants. I was very satisfied with the results using Final Inspection as a lubricant and in the end used a full 16 oz bottle while claying the entire car.

My question is if it's acceptable to also dilute Final Inspection with water for claying as well?

[Murr1525]

Not reallty, FI is pretty ready to use.