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1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

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  • #1

    1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

    As stated in the title this is my 1st time clay bar my car; I have a few things ready. For staters I am going to commence the cleaning w:

    Deep Crystal Car Wash ... afterwards I am going to use the Smooth Surface Clay Kit .... but before I put the NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 should I use:

    1) Ultimate Polish

    or

    2) Ultimate Compound?

    I have some swirl marks that I want to remove.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

    Dont wander off, looks like your post got messed up...
    2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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    • #3
      Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

      If removing swirl marks by hand, you'll pretty much need UC. However, that can still be easy or hard to do.. just depends on the car.

      You can wash and clay everything, then do a test spot to see how it goes.

      If it is easy, you could do the whole car then wax.

      If it is hard, you may want to UC and wax a panel at a time, and just try to do a panel or two a day until you have them all done.
      2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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      • #4
        Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

        It's a 09 Altima Sedan .. I'm going to use the Ultimate compound after the clay bar and before the NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 ... How often are we supposed to clay bar our cars? 2-3 times a year ? or less than that?

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        • #5
          Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

          As often as needed/you feel like it. With mild clay and lubrication, it is extremely mild, so can be done all the time if you really wanted to.

          But 2-3 times is pretty average.
          2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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          • #6
            Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

            How often any process should be done on any car depends on exposure and your expectations/demands. Exposure will determine how quickly a car gets dirty, how quickly it collects bonded contaminants, how quickly and how heavily swirled it becomes. Expectations/demands are yours and yours alone - is washing once a week enough for you? What level of swirls are you willing to put up with on your car - maybe more on a daily driver or work vehicle than a weekend toy or show car?

            Every time you wash and dry your car you should give it a quick evaluation, both visually and by running your hand over the paint. Swirls accumulate slowly (unless you run the car through an old car wash with really nasty brushes!) as do bonded contaminants (unless the car is suddenly exposed to a major event like a nearby building being spray painted) and regular inspection will allow you to catch things before they have a chance to accumulate and really detract from the appearance of the vehicle. Even then, what you consider to be "time to correct" may be sooner or later than someone else's decision.

            Now, looking at your current situation where you plan on doing some major work - wash, clay to remove bonded contaminants, paint cleaning to remove below surface defects, and finally wax - we are inclined to think that Ultimate Compound is going to be the product of choice for the swirl marks, especially if you're working by hand. As always, test it on a small section (1' x 1' if by hand, 2' x 2' if by DA buffer) and see what kind of progress you're making. You may want to follow UC with Ultimate Polish to further refine the finish and add more gloss, but that's usually an optional step and a decision for you to make - how much time are you willing to put into the car, what is your ultimate goal with the finish? To a lot of people the thought of using a polish just to enhance gloss is a low return on their time investment step so they skip it on their daily driver. To others, it doesn't matter what their daily driver is, they want it to look as good as possible and they don't care how much time they have to put into it to make it look the way they want. There is no right or wrong here - it's what you like and what you want for your car.

            Of course, this is a detailing forum so people here tend to be a bit over the top when it comes to this sort of thing. We happen to appreciate and support that level of Car Crazy!!
            Michael Stoops
            Senior Global Product & Training Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.

            Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy.

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            • #7
              Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

              One other question on clay. Although it would seem that the results would be better on a warmer day (more pliable clay bar), does anyone know if temperature makes a difference, e.g. 45F v. 70F?

              Thanks.
              2021 BMW X3M Competition - Donington Gray
              2020 Chevy Bolt - Arctic White
              2019 Fiat 124 Spider - Brillante

              Some look better than others....

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              • #8
                Re: 1st time I am going to Clay Bar (Question)

                Not really, but you can warm the clay itself some. Wont be as good if the clay is a brick, but the air temp wont hurt.
                2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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