Paintwork - How to Clay.

Lots and Lots of polishing, waxing, mirror glazing, and I had a compound that acts like a TCut but is not so harsh, I cant remember the name as someone has borrowed it and not returned it :rant:

But I use all Meguiars, she is done on a weekly basis, its called my Zumbawax :pinch:

Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish :welcome:

Really do rate it and believe me I have tried all of them

Do you put it on by hand or machine polish

I agree with Jan, no su bstitute for elbow grease and quality products. However, if the clearcoat of the paint job isnt upbto snuff you will never get a deep shine. Clay bar should be done once a year to get rid of ingrained grime in the wax. In Jans case it wont get chance to ingrain!!
If your paint is recent it shouldnt need barring unless its maybe had a dollop of thickly applied wax.
Jan, maybe the product youre thinking of is a Farecla product: they make a range of pro products, dear but excellent.

Some good new claying info in this discussion. So, I've moved the topic into the original older thread about claying. Keep calm and carry on as you see fit please.

Benchmark: if you do a few strokes on freshly washed paint, using a detail spray or distilled water as a lubricant: if the clay stays clean, dont bother going much further. If it looks like a smokers hanky ..... Carry on! When you have clayed, your fingertips, which can detect imperfections of 10 micron ( millionths) will tell you. The paint will look dreadful, though smooth as a babys bits, but fear not, a gentle good quality wax, applied very sparingly with an applicator and polished off with a microfibre or muttoncloth will reveal a deep shine. Its almost a pleasure to wax, rain beading is amazing. I was such a convert after the TF that a week later I did the expanse of Jag that shares our drive. My tips: get some good music on, a warm but not hot day, a few cans of your poison of choice. Clay a panel or two then wax: this will spur you to the end as you see a real difference.

cp53 wrote: Do you put it on by hand or machine polish

By hand hence me calling it my Zumbawax

Takes me around 4 hours to do her exterior from wash to finish, although being OCD I even Tyre gel her wheel arch liners and polish inside my boot and bonnet lid :help:

Then if I have not collapsed I spend around an hour or so on her inside, feed the seats once a month and use Megs again on the dash :yesnod:

John it's a Megs one, think it was ultimate compound, I will know when I get some more today to replace the other one

Benchmark: if you do a few strokes on freshly washed paint, using a detail spray or distilled water as a lubricant: if the clay stays clean, dont bother going much further. If it looks like a smokers hanky

I find cleaning Madam very therapeutic and a great way to kill a day :drive:

John is correct, after spending half an hour on the same panel I finally realised that there was not ingrained dirt to come off, doh :pinch: