Claying is EASY, and awesome!!

[amg/md]

Don't know why I was so reluctant to clay my new Benz. Guess I thought it didn't need it being brand new. I was wrong.....

Well, I just clayed (after properly washing and drying, of course) my 2000 BMW 328ci that has 125K miles on it, which has been neglected lately.
Now that finish, even before polishing and waxing, is smoother than the new Benz!!

Claying is really easy and actually kinda fun to do. Neighbors said the BMW was looing really good, and I have not even polished or waxed it yet!!

But of course I did the DC1, DC2, two coats of NXT Tech Wax, etc. on the Benz, but didn't clay. Dumb.
You all told me to go ahead with it, and you were right all along.

Now I need to find time to do the Benz over again the right way! But I have been doing everything so far by hand. So I guess my next purchase should be the DA, pads and related products. You guys have suggested more than once to consider buying the DA, etc. I should take the advice, and probably will.

So I have a question or two now:

1) What steps should I take on the new Benz? I know to wash and clay. But what would be next? Do I start with DC1, then DC2 and finish with wax like before? Or can I skip any step since it is new and I just did all that in Mid Sept.?

2) The BMW has small acid raindrop marks. I think they are just on the surface (type 1 is that?). What product, pad and cloth should I use if I do that by hand? Would that be too time consuming? And if I wait to get the DA, what things should I use? Can you use ColorX by hand and/or DA? If I use ColorX or the DA and #80, do I still need to use DC1 and DC2?

As a guide for other newbies, I divided my clay bar into four equal parts. One part was fine for doing my 328ci. Used about half a bottle or so of QD. Was lucky not to drop the clay. Took two or three hours or so, but that included getting tar and bugs off the front end and rocker panels on the sides, which had quite a lot of road tar. Leaving the car in the garage for now til I can polish and wax.

Sorry for the length of this post. Guess I'll stop for now.

Ric
2006 Mercedes C-55 AMG
2000 BMW 328ci
1998 Dodge Dakota Sport P/U

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Claying is EASY, and awesome!!

Originally posted by amg/md
Claying is really easy and actually kinda fun to do. Neighbors said the BMW was looking really good, and I have not even polished or waxed it yet!!

Claying removes bonded contaminants and creates a smooth finish, gloss comes from smoothness, this is probably what your neighbors are noticing.

So I have a question or two now:

1) What steps should I take on the new Benz? I know to wash and clay. But what would be next? Do I start with DC1, then DC2 and finish with wax like before? Or can I skip any step since it is new and I just did all that in Mid Sept.?

Meguiar's always teaches to evaluate the condition of the finish and this will tell you what you need to do, inspect with your hands for above surface contaminants and inspect for swirls and scratches with your eyes, if it looks and feels good go straight to wax, if it has swirls and scratches, start with ScratchX and then you can go to wax.

2) The BMW has small acid raindrop marks. I think they are just on the surface (type 1 is that?). What product, pad and cloth should I use if I do that by hand? Would that be too time consuming? And if I wait to get the DA, what things should I use? Can you use ColorX by hand and/or DA? If I use ColorX or the DA and #80, do I still need to use DC1 and DC2?

You can use ScratchX by hand, or ColorX or M80 by machine, if you have M80 you don't need DC1 or DC2.

[atclew]

I finally got a jar of the aggressive clay from Meguiars to use today. It made such quick work of the contaminants!! Probably cut the time I would've used with the consumer clay by 40%, at least. Maybe something ya want to look into for future use.