Claying advice

[wst0209a]

I am about to clay bar my mom's car because it looks horrible (a lot of tree sap and dark streaks). I bought meguiar's SMOOTH SURFACE CLAY KIT to use. After I clay it, should I polish it or can I just use the wax that comes with it? It has some light scratches on it and it is a white car by the way.

My goal is to remove the black color that is on the surface. I want it to look fresh and clean. I just got finished claying the car and it looks pretty good but I can still see dark gray streaks in the paint. What is the best way to remove the dark streaks? The scratches are really light so that is not my main concern.

[Andy M.]

Re: Claying advice

The wax that came with the clay kit is cleaner wax I believe. If you are still having issues with the black marks I would try some cleaner wax. The next steps would be to polish and protect.

Andy

[Murr1525]

Re: Claying advice

The cleaner/wax in the kit has some cleaning ability, but you may find you need to go to a dedicated cleaning product. Deep Crystal #1 Paint Cleaner would be the easy first choice to try.

[wst0209a]

Re: Claying advice

I am amazed with the clay bar. It works excellent, I am thinking about going back over the car a second time with the clay bar because I think that I can get it a little bit better than I did the first time. After that I will apply the wax with a terry cloth pad. Any advice for using the wax?

[yalerd]

Re: Claying advice

Yes it's cleaner wax the one that comes with the Smooth Surface Clay Kit.
If you haven't tried cleaner wax go for it, and evaluate the surface to see how it goes.

Just work the area and let it sit for about 15 to 20mins proximately, better do The Swipe Test, know if it has cured completely

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Claying advice

Any advice for using the wax?

A cleaner/wax is very versatile, if the paint is neglected, in bad shape you can put some passion behind the pad and your passion and the chemical cleaners and diminishing abrasives will work to remove swirls, stains, blemishes etc.

If the paint is in good condition then just apply the wax more gently, like you would apply skin lotion to your face.

Work a small section at at time about a foot squared or so and then move on to the next section until you waxed all the panels you're working on or the entire car.

Allow the wax to dry until it swipes clear and then wipe off the excess.

The Swipe Test

[jpitt1987]

Re: Claying advice

I believe you mentioned something about light scratches?
I would recommend getting some Scratch-X if possible. You can find it at Target or even Big-Lots, I believe, for a very good price.

Recently I helped my brother remove the wing on his Mach 1 and it had a lot of gunk that had been building up under it. Using a combination of the clay bar kit and some Scratch X, he was able to successfully remove the aforementioned gunk by 90%.

Just try and see how it goes.
Good luck!

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Claying advice

I would give the scratch-x a shot after the claying. The cleaner wax that comes in the kit is a good product. Try it you will like it.