start with compund

[ali pontiac]

Can i just start with aggressive compund like M105 without clay first?? its already aggressive and will remove things that clay bar will do it, right??

[ffboy]

Re: start with compund

You "can" but it might not end up being as efficient or give optimum results, unless you're satisfied with "just OK" results.. It's always best to remove contaminants before any compounding, polishing and protecting. It's a strange thing, car paint and some stains.. Some stains can be removed effortlessly with clay but can be almost impossible to remove with some compounds or solvents.. So I would clay, it's really not that hard or a time consuming step.. Unless you're doing just a practice run, but for full detail/correction, just clay it first

Using clay bars is one of the best things I discovered.. I thought it was all a marketing thing for more profit, but I did get better results. Wax/Polish application is a lot easier the finish also improved.

[Shawn T.]

Re: start with compund

Take the time and clay. The contaminants are far too hard on your pads and will chew through them.

[Detailing by M]

Re: start with compund

no. that's why we have clay. always clay.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: start with compund

As you might expect, the answer here is Yes and No.

First off, are the below surface defects severe enough to even warrant using M105 in the first place, or are you just assuming that the power of M105 will take off the above surface contaminants while dealing with the below surface defects at the same time? If so, that's a shortcut that might backfire on you, or at least not be the best and safest way to deal with all the paint issues you have.

If the bonded contaminants are extremely light, you're working on a daily driver or a car that you aren't trying to obtain absolute maximum finish and clarity with (ie, you don't necessarily need a true "show car" shine) then yes, using a compound (even Ultimate Compound) will remove those light contaminants while polishing the paint. Of course, "extremely light" is highly subjective - what one person may be comfortable with another might be horrified at. If you're prepping a high end show car, or a precious weekend toy, we'd seriously limit taking shortcuts.

If the bonded contaminants are fairly heavy, then even though an aggressive compound application can and will remove most of it, you'll be pulling those particles into your pad and basically just grinding them back against the paint. This can be counterproductive as the whole process will likely take longer to achieve the same result you could get with a quick clay treatment and less aggressive compound step.

Shortcuts are fine in the proper perspective, or when such a shortcut doesn't cause more problems than it alleges to solve. Unless the above surface contaminants are super light, you really are better off claying first and then using a compound/paint cleaner just powerful enough to address the below surface defects after. It's also quite possible that with light to moderate above surface issues you may only need to clay the horizontal surfaces. Inspect the vehicle fully to determine this and proceed accordingly.

[tomsteve]

Re: start with compund

i had to go against the grain once and not clay a severely neglected vehicle and jump right into 105 with a wool pad. big mistake. a few things that happened:
surface **** transferred to the wool pad and it had to be cleaned a lot.
surface **** was just moved from one area to another.
effectiveness of 105 was drastically reduced.
time was increased.
surface **** can put in worse scratches.

upon goin to the other side of the vehicle, i decided to clay it 1st.
woll pad stayed clean.
effectiveness of 105 was as it should be.
pad stayed clean.
time was decreased.

[Don]

Re: start with compund

Claying VS compounding was once described to me as shaving VS sandpaper, you can use sandpaper to remove your beard, but at what cost to your skin?