Claying question

[JG_Detailing]

When it come's to claying how many time's can you use the clay? I know you can cut it in half and use one piece at a time. Will a half of piece do a whole car.

[danielsan]

I'd like to jump in here with a question of my own about clay. I saw somewhere recently that you shouldn't use clay on a car after using the clay on a metal surface. I used clay on a friend of mine's chrome rims (that were pretty new and not that dirty, not rusty, just with embedded brake dust I believe) and have since used it on my car (after folding it over, etc. etc.). I cleaned and polished by hand after using the clay on my paint, but could I have inadvertently put metal into my clear coat? It didn't occur to me at the time, but it makes sense using it on paint after metal would be a bad idea.

[Blr123]

A half bar of clay could easily do the whole car but it all depends on what conditions your car is being used in.

Also a rule of thumb the order is paint then glass then lights and finally the wheels

I personally would never use clay on paint AFTER they had been on the wheels.......I recon it's just waaaayyyyy to risky, HTH

Bryan

[Magic]

I'm not sure if anyone will be able to answer your question directly, cars have different contaminants. I could clay 1 car and use the half a brick, on another car I could use it 3-4 times. It really depends on how dirty it gets.

To really get the most out of my clay, I downgrade it after a couple of uses. Once I retire a piece from my cars finish, I'll use it on windows, then onto rims, after rims I toss it.

Here's the order:
Cars finish
Windows
Rims
Then toss it

And never use a piece in reverse order.

[JG_Detailing]

Thank's for answering my question.

[Murr1525]

You wont dig metal 'into' the paint, but you could drag a metal bit along, either from the rim itself or most likely from brake dust.

The dragging will put scratches into the paint.

The other problem is you cant tell when what you folded in has folded its way back out. You can tell if it is something big, or a lot, but little specks of metal may not be seen, esp if it is the same color as the clay.

[danielsan]

Yeah, I should've known not to do that. Fortunately, any scratches I put in from the clay came out in the clean and polish.

I hate to think I might have put deeper ones in than were already there though.

[WaspHunter]

Just a note as to how little pressure you actually need to scratch some clear coats, my car often collects a lot of brake dust and grit on the rear because I reverse park into my garage. One day I ran my finger along the boot lid to check if it needed a clean, and put a noticeable mark on the paint. If your clay bar has similar contaminants in it and they aren't absorbed completely under the clay surface there's a good chance it'll do the same thing.

[ktlimq]

When I was a complete novice, I used 3 Meguiars clay bars for one car. That was because I dropped two onto the ground.

[RZ Autodetailing]

just like buffing pads , you gotta know what clay is for what part of car and label whatever you store it in..