Do you use a mild polish after claying?

Methodical4u

Obviously it depends on the paint color, how bad it may be scratched etc etc.

I just bought the car like 3 or 4 days ago and the place I got it from said "yeah, we'll pick it up, clean it and have it filled up with gas". I said... don't touch the car ... fill it up and i'll take care of the cleaning... i've see sooooo many butcher jobs when it comes to dealerships cleaning new cars... they just want to hurry up and clean it and get it out of there.

Anyway, as I said, I washed it once just to get all the pollen off of it and then again last night I washed it really good and pulled it into the garage.

My Fiancée and I clayed the car with some Clay Magic (which is an AWESOME brand of clay by the way) and closed the door. I'm now either going to wash it again and just seal it, or wash it, use a mild polish (Menzerna's final polish) and then seal it. Looking at it in certain lights and angles I can see VERY mild scratches, but do I really want to polish the car already?

Honestly, it's pearl white and I can't see any scratches on the car unless I look at it every way possible right up close.

I just didn't know if I wanted to do all of that with the car that was brand new, but wait until more correction was need before I brought the Flex out.

kree

Does it bother you that there are very minor imperfections in it? If it doesn't bother you, then leave it til there are more. If you think about it each time you look at the car and it bothers you, then I'd say do a polish.

I polished mine this spring. Nissan's paint kinda blows so I know I will need to do a very minor polish next spring to get it looking near perfect in my eyes again. However, to have most people think it still looks new, I'm sure I could wait a couple of years to polish it. But, I know I will because it will bother me if I don't touch it up in the spring with a mild polish.

So, the question is, does it bother you in its current state? If you are thinking you'd like to see your vehicle look perfect, then I'd say go ahead and polish it. I probably would b/c it is the new toy. If it doesn't bother you and you think it looks great already, save some of your clearcoat thickness for future polishes.

Diesel370

Polishing yields the most dramatic difference in your paint and will bring out the gloss. You want to polish in order remove imperfections in the paint, such as swirls, scratches, water spots, etchings, and oxidation. Having these imperfections in your paint means that light that passes through gets refracted, ultimately dulling the finish, yielding less gloss and depth, less reflections, and can turn into an eye sore. Removing these imperfections, your paint will have the highest level of gloss and reflections are mirror like, with sharp accurate detail. I can tell you that I've seen pics of Lambo's come out straight from the factory with imperfections such as holograms and a good polishing made a world of difference.

delusional

when i do a full detail i usually wash, clay, polish, sealant and sometimes carnauba wax to finish it off. if the paint condition really bothers you then polish. but i remember reading somewhere that polishing removes clearcoat a slight bit so its best to keep to a minimum.

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Diesel370

Yep twice a year should be enough.

Methodical4u

Yeah, looking at it from certain angles, it's got some spots that need to be polished out... but what else could I expect from a car that was at a dealers?

On a side note, i've been using some sealant on the front just for protection from bugs and such... and I CANNOT see the sealant on the car because of it being white... any ideas of what to do? I've been adding light, but i'm just adding very light coats.

dad

Wax twice a year?

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Junkman2008

First off, all clay legally sold in America is made by the same company so there's no difference between brand X and brand Y.

Second, claying will leave some amount o marring so polishing is always what follows claying.

Third, why would you need a Flex on brand new paint? A PC would be plenty for what needs to be done to that car. A Flex is way overkill. As for seeing your sealant, what are you wanting to see?

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Diesel370

No, polish twice a year. I would wax every 3 months since that's how long your typical sealant will last.

Diesel370

From the dealer, you can most likely expect a car that was detailed improperly. As far as the sealant like Junkman said you won't SEE anything. Main purpose of the sealant is just to protect your paint from UV rays and to keep contaminants from getting embedded in the paint.

Methodical4u

no no, I mean like putting it on I can't see if it's getting enough coverage lol... because of the paint being white.. it's not like a red or black that shows everything.

As far as the clay goes... I won't argue with you because frankly I do not know anything about where each brand is made. I know that the clay magic is much more sticky and picks up everything in half the times as mother's or meg's though.

I use the flex because it gets the job done in less than half the time as the PC. the PC has no torque and is for very small jobs with very light scratching... it's also not like I have to turn the flex all the way up so does it really matter?

Methodical4u

Try 2-3 layers of FK1000... you won't need to seal the rest of the year. It's top notch stuff... do a search on it if you don't believe me... plus it really does look great on white and other lighter colors. Not quite as slick as some, but SUPER SUPER durable and hard.

Junkman2008

That what Goliath though about his weapons and armor. David proved him wrong.

Technique trumps product and equipment any day of the year. Tiger Woods could give you his clubs and use some Wal-Mart clubs and still run you off the golf course. The Flex is way more aggressive than you need to be on a spanking new car. The PC, couple with the right products and a effective technique can work wonders. I did this truck at a car show using a PC with 50 people standing around and watching me. Took me about 2 hours because I kept stopping to explain what I was doing and answering questions.

Does your paint look remotely this bad?


Before...


















After...















It started raining right as I was finishing, thus the drops of water you see.

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Methodical4u

hey man, I have no doubts that you are very good and knowledgeable about products and such... I have been at it for several years myself and I know quite a bit as well. I know that the flex is an excellent machine... I just did the hood of my car with a white uber pad and Menzerna's final polish... it took the few scratches right out that I wanted... less cutting product with a white pad and FP and I got the results I wanted.

And just to show you i'm not just some beginner, here is one of my jobs.

This car was here waiting for me after vacation... a friend of my Mother's. I like the guy and am only charging him 215.00 for this work... It has taken me 4 days... i'm not sure about the hours, but around 25-30 is the most likely.

Zipwax car wash with 2 bucket method
Meguiars clay bar kit
Meguiars 105 compound
Menzerna FP
Orange CCS pad
Uber blue pad
Uber black pad
Klasse AIO (a sample from FJF)
Mother's cleaner wax
Meguiars hot rims chrome polish


Here are some befores:













I really tried to capture just how scratched up, dull, etc this paint really was, the hood is basically what the entire car looked like.. I mean paint from other cars bumping into it, deep scratches.. of course i'm thinking, yeah i'll use the flex and it'll all come right out... no problem... WRONG!! Here's a little of the interior.







These pics were actually after the wash and before the clay...








I couldn't get enough of how bad this hood was lol



I believe this was after the clay








Oh look, this is JUST from the top of the rear bumper...
No problem, i'll just turn it over right?



WRONG AGAIN!!!



Getting ready to get the compounding started



Looking over the car really well... this was a joy to see..









After some compound work:











The front bumper was in such bad shape and the scratches were so deep, I had to bite the bullet, get out a bucket and some 2000 grit paper and wetsand the entite front... here is a section after it had been sanded and part of it buffed.



More buffed out



Now I have started the Menzerna Final polish







So now I have started to put the Klasse AIO on, but first I go around the car to get rid of all the old wax left in between all of the body panels and here... to get this done I use a Q-tip with some alcohol...





It ends up turning out pretty good though. I am impressed with the Klasse's slickness and there is a noticeable difference from the paint that has been FP'ed to where the Klasse has been applied.



Tires and glass aren't completed yet, but the paint came out good...

















These wheels are in bad shape... even using a very strong cleaner, much of the dust is still stuck on and I am using a cleaner wax to get it off... here is the center cap to show all of the oxidation this thing has suffered...



Here is a small section that has been cleaned with chrome polish... the wheels are going to take a bit longer, but I think you all get the idea... I have one idea... I should have charged MORE $$$$ lol

Diesel370

FK1000? Never heard of it. I highly doubt any sealant can protect a car for an entire year.