Results of clay bar

[Mudwalker]

I just clay barred my truck but I can still feel some tiny bumps here and there. I went over the hood five or six times and it made a huge difference, but I can still feel very tiny bumps when running my hand over the paint. It's not nearly as bad as it was, though.

Since the clay bar is no longer effective, can I go ahead and start with Ultimate Compound? My goal is to get out swirl marks and water spotting. Then I plan to polish and wax.

The clay bars I used were Meguiar's and Mother's. I don't know anything about their strength, only that the Meguiar's bar was white and the Mother's bar was yellow.

Thanks.

[mako20C]

Re: Results of clay bar

Can you see what is causing the bumps? It could be imperfections in the paint, where the paint gun spit. you could also step up in clay. But if it is one or two bumps on an entire hood I say go ahead and move on to paint correction on a daily driver.

[Paint-Shield.ca]

Re: Results of clay bar

They are both the same type of clay, the difference is neglagible. If your still feeling some bumps can you actually see fallout, or rail dust on the paint or is what your feeling scratches/Clear Coat bubbling?

[Murr1525]

Re: Results of clay bar

You can certainly stop claying whenever you feel like it.

As far as the bumps, as mentioned could be a paint defect, or may need to work the clay in with a little more passion on those spots.

[scott0999]

Re: Results of clay bar

im no certified detailer or anything, but I dont think you should have to clay 5-6 times to make the surface smooth. were you still seeing contamination in the clay?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Results of clay bar

You can go on to the next step, whenever you want. I would try to find out what the bumps are.

[Mudwalker]

Re: Results of clay bar

I can't see what is causing the bumps. The clay had some contaminants in it at first, but not nearly as much as I thought there would be. I'm surprised that the clay wasn't more effective with water spots. It seemed to get get some out, but not as much as I expected.

Thanks for the replies.

[Murr1525]

Re: Results of clay bar

Depends on the type of spots.

If they are sitting on the surface, clay can get them.

If they are etched into the paint like a swirl, clay wont do anything.

[Mudwalker]

Re: Results of clay bar

I went ahead and used the U.C. I'm amazed at the results. I still don't know how well the swirls came out, but the water spotting and general haze is gone. Now I'm just wondering if I can wash the pads and towels I used for the U.C. along with my drying and detailing towels? I don't want to contaminate my supplies with anything abrasive.

Thanks

[Murr1525]

Re: Results of clay bar

Yeah, just make sure to do MF towels seperate from terry.

I tend to just do the foam pads by hand, but I think some people wash them.

[Mudwalker]

Re: Results of clay bar

Why would happen if I mixed microfiber with terry?

[Murr1525]

Re: Results of clay bar

You may get a lot of linting, esp from the terry stuck to the MF's.

[Mudwalker]

Re: Results of clay bar

Makes sense. I didn't think about that.

Looks like the UC got all the water spots out, but not the swirls. I can't even tell if it touched them at all. I stepped it up to swirl x today, but it didn't seem to do much. It was overcast all day and I could only check it in the streetlight. I'm just hoping I haven't made it worse, although I took all the necessary steps to avoid that.

[Shawn T.]

Re: Results of clay bar

Sorry to tell you but you actually stepped down by using Swirlx. That is why you did not see any results. I do not think you made it worse unless you were using a terry applicator with some pressure.

Give this a read through; a read through, not a scan through, there is some great information in this article: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...siveness+order

[Mudwalker]

Re: Results of clay bar

Yeah, I realized after posting that last one that SwirlX isn't is strong as U.C. I was using a terry applicator with the U.C. and a foam one with the SwirlX. Now I know the terry was making me have to work harder. Hopefully it isn't worse, but I guess if it is I can go over it again.