it is definitely time to do a major detailing on my baby mini. Since this is the first time I've had a new car, there is no question I am a novice and would not attempt either method. I've been told of a place that will do either method, and would like advice as to which one is best. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Clay, you can do it, even as a novice as I am, it really is easy, very hard to mess up anything, do not even attempt a wetsand and there is no reason to do one on a new car

 

Thanks for the advice. My car is an 06 and it does feel a bit bumpy and the acid rain marks are driving me crazy (especially on my black roof)! I would attempt to clay it myself, but since I live in NYC, it's kinda hard to be out in the street detailing a car for several hours, not to mention lack of water. That's another reason I was going to send it somewhere to do this.

 

clay and polish would be best. but if you dont have time or place i'd
let the local carwash crew do it for you. it's going to get dirty in no time
anyways, right?

 

Claying should fix your problem. Please do not go into wetsanding. leave that work for the experts. Wetsanding is mainly used to correct deeper scratches and/or removing orange-peel. Unless you are going for a concours competition then clay, polish and wax is the way to go.

 

I would NEVER attempt to do anything to hurt my baby's beautiful glow, so the wet sanding would be done by an expert. This guy will do either method and I just wanted some advice on which would be best. (I would attempt the claying by myself one day, but not the wet sand).

 

I would certainly go with the clay bar treatment before the wet sanding. Wet sanding even when done by an experienced detailer will shorten the life of your paint. It will depend on what you are looking to correct. Wet sanding should only be used for extreme paint leveling of deep scratches. Most micro scratches and imperfections can be leveled with high tech polishes using a radial buffer. Clay applications do a great job taking out impurities from the paint and making it very smooth and clean for polish/wax.

 

Unless you have major paint issues (super deep scratches, paint failure- like the kind that would be under warranty anyway, etc), I would DEFINITELY NOT allow anyone to completely wet sand an '06 MINI. That is just bizarre.

I actually find it rather strange that a detailer would offer one or the other (clay or wetsanding) as if they did the same thing or even were at the same level. They are on a COMPLETELY different level and are just simply different. (I suppose they can overlap in a sense... but only because wetsanding goes to an extreme that will by its nature remove much of whay clay might, but still...)

The only thing I can think of is that the detailer is thinking about doing some spot wetsanding on some of the deep acid rain marks? Indeed, acid rain can etch into the paint pretty deeply. Still though... I would be skeptical of this detailer just by his "either or" options of clay or wetsanding. Does he work in a body shop? (body shop guys tend to think wetsanding is the answer everything )

Claying is very safe and is something I would recommend- whether by you or a detailer.

Perhaps something was lost in translation with this detailer, but I am still sitting here shaking my head at his suggestion of wetsanding an '06 MINI.

-Heather

 

yeah I agree stay awya from the wet sanding, but the clay bar is your friend, just keep it lubed up and it'll be so easy to do that a caveman can do it

 

Wait, I love to always be the one to go against the grain! Wetsanding is fun!!! If you like seeing your paint look like this:



And don't mind the possibility of having to go this far



Then by all means wetsand your paint!

What benefits will you get?? Well the orange peel will be removed at the expense of halving the thickness of your clear coat which is already less than a sheet of paper with the basecoat and primer combined. To remove orange peel. you sand the high points until all the paint is at the lowest point. Once you've sanded that away, you need to polish the paint further to remove those sanding marks.

If the longevity of your paint is important to you, as well as having the most protection..i.e. thickest clear coat, then wetsanding your paint is not an option. No matter who does the wetsanding, professional or not, you will be thinning your clearcoat, and not worth it for a daily driver.

Richard

 

I thought wetsanding was a pretty aggressive suggestion at this point, and that is why I posed the question. I got what I consider to be the NAM experts to comment on this, so I think I posed a pretty good question. Thanks everyone for the advice! Now all I have to do is wait for my DP order to come and find a driveway to clay my mini!

 

I would definitely saw clay bar and who said it would take hours. If you have limited time then do it in stages (say bonnet, wings, doors in seperate sessions). As long as you don't drag the process over months then it should be ok. I'll let Heather, octane guy, or other folks much more knowledgeable than me chime in incase I'm missing something but it sounds like you're overestimating the amount of effort the clay process will take. Though I am luck enought to say I've never had to deal with acid rain.

 

Maybe I just had a unique experience, but I recently used a claybar to get water marks off my old car (they were covering the whole passenger side) and it took FOREVER! The first day I tried I spent about 3 hours and managed to do about 1/3 of the hood! It did work but took me a lot longer than expected, although the glassy surface of the paint afterwards was very rewarding.

 

And clay all your windows and your "A" pillar covers as well. And don't forget your mirror covers.

You'll be perfectly pleased with the results of your elbow grease.

...Les

 

3 hours to do 1/3 of the hood? That seems a little extreme. Maybe you weren't using enough pressure or something- or you had some serious water marks.

 

I have no interest in detailing. In fact my 2004 F150 has never been washed with a sponge and only waxed at the spray wash place. Since the Mini is small, I washed, waxed and rainxed the windshield several weeks ago. Since then, I have been trying to learn how to remove the rainx. I was not happy with the wax job and blamed the wax for the rought, bumby feel that was left on the paint. Also, the rainx is terrible when it rains, the wipers leave a haze when they are on. I saw a thread that clay would get the rainx off, so I bought some and tried it today. (Maguires, but I don't think the brand matters) After I hit the windshield, I decided to hit a small section of the hood to see if improved the rough texture (for a new car) of the paint. It did, so I decided to do the whole hood, then more and more until I had done the whole car. It took a couple of hours. The Maguires came with a liquid wipe on and off wax, so while I was at it I did that as well.
I have to say the finish is beautiful. Very smooth and shinny. I would never have considered going to the trouble of using anything more than soap and quick wax, but I will use clay when needed from now on due to the great results I got today.
Ironically, the clay did not remove the rainx, but I think it made it better. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I will know then.

 

If you had problems with the rain-x it was because you didn't let it dry completely and wipe off the residue. Just like a good wax job. Let it dry and then "polish" off the residue.

 

OG- dang, that's going to look real nice!

 

If I reapply now, and do it right, will the problem get better or worse?

 

I will make another thread with a full writeup from where I began but here's a sneak peak of the latest.

 

nnnnnnnnnnn...that's a handsome machine.

 

I would not put any more rainx on now. Just rub out what you already have on the glass. A little rainx goes a long way. I like and use rainx, but it requires that you let it dry, and rub it out very well.
Carl

 

What was your old car? A 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle Malilbu or an Audi A8? I think it takes me 3 hrs to do EVERYTHING (even on a hummer)!!!!

remember when you clay water is your friend and pressure is good in monderation

:-)

 

it helps to spritz some distilled water on it too when you're removing
the haze.