Dirt nibs & clay bar

[ORANGERT]

I know this might be a dumb question, but here goes. Before I polish with a da I should clay bar, right? There are a few tiny bumps in the clear after car was repaired in the body shop. One of these has a tiny white spot at the top. Should I avoid these spots with the clay bar? Especially the one with the white dot on the top? Will the clay pull it out and maybe the other bumps too ( dirt nibs ? ) and leave a small crater? Sorry for the dumb question, but clay is new to me. I am definitely car crazy!

[davey g-force]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

A pic of what you're talking about would help.

If it's dust/dirt nibs within the paint itself, clay wouldn't affect them at all, but you may not want to polish/compound those spots. Especially if you think the white spot might be undercoat..

[MTLian]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

Definitely want to clay the "nibs" what ever they are. Or else, you will be swirling them around with your polisher. Claybar is incredible. I just washed my car and I though I had a scratch; I could catch my nail in it. I clayed it and it turned out that it was some for of stuck on contamination and came right off. It's nice to clay stuff because certain sports that appear to be paint chips sometimes end up just being little bits of dirt.

[ORANGERT]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

I'm trying to get a picture loaded, but it must be to large. I'm sure it's just a spec of dirt here and there in the clear. Should I just pass over these spots very lightly using the clay and when using the Meguiar's G100 ( M205 and LC CCS 5.5 white pad - if the test spot works out using this combo )? All I want to do is remove the swirls/scratches from the body shop. Being new to serious detailing I think it would be best to leave these few small imperfections, dirt nibs, alone? My wife says I am more than "car crazy", I'm OCD! I waited for 5 years to get this car, 2013 Hemi Orange Classic Challenger R/T, and it was just my luck to have a deer run in to me where the driver door and front fender meet. I have used Meguiars products for years and they are still the leaders in this industry! Thank You All!!!!!

[davey g-force]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

I think you'll be fine.

My only concern would be if that 'white spot' is undercoat.

Also, don't expect too much correction of the nibs - that's more of a wet sanding job, which requires experience.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

If these are truly dirt nibs in the paint they should not be effected by the clay bar at all, although they may dig into it a bit. Buffing alone won't get rid of them either. Usually they require a bit of spot sanding, either with our Unigrit Blocks or a 3" DA sander or an even more specialized tool - a de-nibber. But if you're going to do that you need to be able to remove the sanding marks, and that can be tricky with a DA buffer. The DA Microfiber System can often be used with excellent results for this, especially if you've used a very fine grit paper or block to de-nib (like 2,000 grit or finer). But if you have never done this before, well, this is NOT generally something you want to self-teach on a car you care about. In other words - we do NOT recommend you do this unless you really know what you're doing.

[ORANGERT]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

Thanks Mike for taking the time to read this thread. I'm sorry for any confusion, but I intend to leave these tiny and few dirt nibs in the clear coat alone. Davey, I believe the white speck I see is just a very miniscule particle of dust surrounded by a tiny bit of clear. The shop didn't paint color in this particular area of the color blended panel, just scuffed and cleared over. My concern was could the clay "pull" out these small bumps (nibs) in the clear coat and leave small craters? Thanks!!!!!!

[ORANGERT]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

Oh and another question. I have 5.5" LC CCS pads in orange, white, and black plus M205, Swirlx, and UC to use for my test spot. Or should I use the microfiber correction kit with D301 and D302? To be honest I haven't used the Meguiars G100 very much since I got it about 15 years ago. I have always polished and waxed by hand as the forums didn't exist back then and I didn't take the time to research how to properly use it. The how to instructional videos Meguiars now have are just amazing! Recently I have been using it to apply UW and I absolutely love it. Boy was I missing the boat! This is the first time I have a finish that needs more attention than I can get done by hand, getting older!

[davey g-force]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

SwirlX and M205 are very similar in cut level, but M205 probably contains more oils, so leave SwirlX out of the equation for now.

You won't really know what combo will work until you try a test spot, as all paints (and all defects) are different. The idea is to try a test spot with the least aggressive combo first, and work your way up until you find one that gives the results you're after.

So by that logic, I would try test spots in the following order:

M205 / orange CCS
UC / orange CCS
D300 / MF cutting pad (I assume you mean you've got D300 & D301 in your post above?)
(optional: M205 / MF cutting pad)
UC / MF cutting pad

Note that some of the more aggressive combos toward the bottom of the list may require a follow up with a less aggressive combo to clean up any marring / refine the finish.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

Note that some of the more aggressive combos toward the bottom of the list may require a follow up with a less aggressive combo to clean up any marring / refine the finish.

That statement is a huge part of this whole process!!!


The more aggressive you get (or the more aggressive you have to get) the greater the chance that you will require a secondary step to remove any potential haze created by that aggressive step. Again, it all depends on how the paint reacts, but some people expect to remove the existing defects and just have perfect paint in one step and that's rarely the case. Can it happen? Sure, but it's not all that common, so be prepared for a second step to really bring out the clarity and depth after initial correction.

[ORANGERT]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

It sounds like I'm on the right track! Thank you Mike and Davey! I'm hoping the M205 will get it done. If not then UC followed by UP before the UW application. I just wanted to get my ducks in a row before starting. Now I'm even kicking around the idea of trying White wax first on a test spot. Meguiars makes so many great products! I hate to admit it, but a few years ago I had to correct my test spot and that was by hand!

[szladob]

D300 vs UC

Your list implies, that UC on a MF pad is more "aggressive" than D300; is this correct? Many thanks, Balazs

[davey g-force]

Re: Dirt nibs & clay bar

I believe so. It would be pretty close though.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong...