Islandson81 Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Greetings, one and all! I have a buddy who's seriously into detailing. He insists that the claying step is totally unnecessary....that a good washing, followed by intensive polishing ( he alternates between GPS and PS ), preferably with a DA, is sufficient to clean the paint and do some minor or heavy correction, depending upon the pad choice. Naturally I was skeptical. And then he showed me his car. Perfection! My car needs a good polishing, and I'm considering using his method. The "Old School" part of me is saying that the clay bar omission step may make polishing a bit harder and take longer, but I'm "New School" enough to want to try anything once. So, waddaya tink? And did I mention an excuse to buy more MF towels? In the past, when drying my car after washing, I would use a Pakshak WW, followed by a Cobra Gold Jr. MF to buff. But I've noticed that the large size of the WW made it unwieldy. So I decided to try two Cobra Gold Jrs instead. Can you imagine how much easier it is to work with a 16" x 16" towel as opposed to a 16" x 27" WW? The only problem? Not enough MF's in my arsenal. Q: How does one sneak past an order of additional car care products without the wife knowing? A: You don't and can't. Women have a sense for such things. That's why they're called the "Significant Other" and we're called the "Insignificant Odor" ROFL! Happy Detailing, everyone! -Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setec Astronomy Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Sure you can skip the clay, if your car doesn't need it. You just run the risk of getting something large and sharp embedded in your buffing pad and having it be ground into the whole car as you polish. What if you have a piece of tar stuck to the car? As far as the drying, you CAN find 16x16 waffle weaves if you look in the right place. Cheaper than a Cobra Gold, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islandson81 Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Sure you can skip the clay, if your car doesn't need it. You just run the risk of getting something large and sharp embedded in your buffing pad and having it be ground into the whole car as you polish. What if you have a piece of tar stuck to the car? As far as the drying, you CAN find 16x16 waffle weaves if you look in the right place. Cheaper than a Cobra Gold, too. That's one of the arguments I made in favor of claying, but my buddy was adamant. That's probably because his car is garage kept and is not a DD like most of our's. I'll be sure to keep on claying before polishing. And I didn't know that waffle weaves came in smaller sizes. Did a Bing search earlier today and came up with several sources....and yes they are DEFINITELY cheaper than cobras. More stuff to buy. LOL Hi Ross, Sure you can skip a step...but, what is your goal 1. to save time or 2. to save money? The thing about clay is that it makes polishing easier and faster so skipping it won't save any time. It will also save by reducing the wear and tear on your pads and polisher from running it harder to get through unseen grime. Wash the car and then lightly feel the paint with a plastic sandwich bag over your hand. If it's rough, use clay...if not, go to polish. I think the reason my buddy is so against claying is because his cars don't need claying to begin with. He babies them incessantly. Plus they're garage kept and he has an old beater he uses as a DD. Good thing I didn't toss my clay kit. *sigh* Now if only the weather would cooperate. The only time I can work on my car is on my days off....and wouldn't you know it's always raining on those days?! Wassup with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdresq4 Posted May 13, 2014 Share Posted May 13, 2014 FWIW, My firehouse sits on the North East train corridor between Boston and D.C. My ride home consists of a ride on two interstates. I wish I didn't have to clay...LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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