About to dive in w/ my zaino arsenal--but on the old beater car for practice--but would like to know if one has to wash after clay-barring--given car was just washed before?

thanks!

 

Yes you must wash after. There will be some clay residue left over when you are done which you will need to remove before applying polish/wax.

 

I've always just used quick-detailer after using a clay bar and never had any problems. I certainly don't leave clay bar residue on the paint, if there is residue, than you're not using enough QD/lubricant when clay barring.

-Keith

 

I believe that if your car is washed just prior to using the clay bar, and you use a proper amount of lubricant (usually detailing spray), you should be able to completely remove any residual clay material with more detailing spray and a microfiber towel. I just came in from spending 6 hours detailing my car, including the clay bar prior to Klasse Twins - I've never had to wash the car after claying.

 

I've clayed my Mini twice and another car once. I used diluted car wash (Griot's) as a lubricant. I saw very little residue on the car and simply dried as I went with a clean cloth.

I know others may not agree with that process, but it worked for me.

 

after clay i proceed to polish so really no need for me to re-wash it.

the detailer spray cleans up the clay residue and gunk quite nicely.

 

I've clayed my car 3 times over the past 1 1/2 years...always washed it afterwards as it only takes 5 minutes to wash the car.....just seemed like I should, but maybe not.............

 

I re-washed it after clay since the clay left a haze on the paint. Ain't no big deal, just wash it again and be safe.

 

Wow, five minutes to wash your car? Thoroughly? I usually figure at least a half hour to wash and dry my car, if not longer. If I wash and dry it between each clay/polish/wax stage, I'd never get it done in a days time.

 

Yeah, but why bother drying from your first wash before clay? Wash with Dawn to strip the old wax, then proceed to the clay. After that wash and dry and go on to the polish and waxing.

 

yeh, me neither. i takes me at least 15min to wash it..then another 15-20min
to dry. the car has no wax on it after using clay... ok, maybe a reminance
from the detailer spray... but i would imagine you will get water spots on it.

 

Water spots. Even with a newly installed softened water spicket outside and a Griot's water filter on the hose, I still get water spots on the car, and on a black car, it is imperative to get them all off ASAP. Completely claying the car takes me one to two hours minimum. I'd have countless waterspots all over the car if I didn't dry it immediately after washing it.

-Keith

 

I see. I thought that if there were any spotting issues that they would be resolved by the clay. I guess we are lucky here not to have such hard water. So even knowing now that you need to dry before doing clay, can it really add that much time? How about a leaf blower to speed things up?

 

Griot's clay requires speedshine from them to be used. Supposedly, just about anything is removed if you use both that the same time. Maybe it is that using water as a lubricant with the clay might make it not as good for contamination removal.

 

It isn't just the time and bother of rewashing the car after clay barring it. It's also the fact that if done right, claying the car leaves no residue, and it is ready for whatever next step you plan on doing.

The few times that clay has left any slight residue on my paint, I just used more QD spray and made another pass with the clay and the residue came right off. I don't even think that has happened the last 5 or 6 times I've used a clay bar on a car since I always use plenty of QD spray to lubricate the paint and clay (I usually use Griot's). Done right, rewashing isn't necessary whatsoever after claying.

-Keith

 

Every instruction set I've seen with clay bars says to wash afterward.

 

i think they meant your hands, not your car.

 

Nahh, real men never wash their hands. They get clean enough from washing their cars.

 

Wash your hands??? Don't you wear pants to wipe them on?
I guess I'm not doing the clay right since I get a haze on the paint after I use clay. So I wash it (good thing my Mini is not prone to pruning).

 

Wear pants while washing my MINI? And risk having the metal in the zipper scratch the finish? No thank you, sir, no pants for me, not while I am washing my MINI!

I get a haze from claybarring too, with or sans culottes.

 

Wow, no pants - you must have less stringent covenants than our neighborhood .

 

I bet he thought Sex Wax was supposed to be applied that way

(surfing knowledge needed here)

 

Seeing as how you're basically washing the car with either loads of detail spray or car-wash soap and water, I don't see why REwashing would be necessary. There should be no "clay residue" after claying - the point of the substance is to STRIP contaminents from the surface of the clear coat, not leave more behind. Ideally, the clay basically hydroplanes across the lubricating material, so if you're seeing flecks of clay left on the car afterwards, you're not only under-lubricating but also highly likely damaging the finish (after all, clay IS a suspension of basically ultrafine grit in a sticky base... the grit lifts the contaminents and the sticky base catches them and keeps them from dropping back into the finish).

If you feel ANY friction from the clay, add more moisture - ideally it shouldn't feel like the clay is doing anything but gliding across the surface but believe me it IS working.

 

ive seen some people do a large area at a time before
wiping off the lubricant ending up with dried residue on
the paint.

when i clay i only do a 12in x 12in area at a time and
just wipe off. there is no residue.

 

Kenchan is in the top 5 all time for **** retentiveness in the detail forum