My truck was previously owned by a contractor and it had a ton of sediment on it. It was so bad the whole truck felt like sandpaper, nothing felt like paint at all. So I bought the Mothers kit that comes with the clay, the sample of their wax and their spray & shine. I am adventually going to switch to all Meguiars products but I used this for now due to it being the only clay I could find.

So I washed my truck with the Meguiars Gold Class, then I pulled my truck under the neighbors tree and went to town on it with the clay and the wax, I did it section by section. I used 2/3 of the bar of clay I had gotten, it had turned from yellow to a dark brown by the time I was finished. Certain sections are still kind of rough and I was to go back of the truck with some more to finish getting it all off. I am just worried that maybe I might use to much on it.

Also, do you have to wax or anything after using the clay? I used the Mothers sample wax on the truck, barley enough to get all the way around with a thin coat. I'd love to use the swirl remover and scratch x and maybe some NXT from Meguiars next time I do it but I'm just worried about ruining my paint.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

- Chris

 

Clay is abrasive and should only be used when needed. If your finish is way-far gone (which it sounds like it is), it's acceptable to remove the surface contamintation with the clay until it's gone. Keep in mind that they make varying levels of clay (agressive and not so agressive).

You've got me worried about how you're using your clay. I trust that you're kneading it frequently rather than utilizing one 'surface' of the clay over and over. If you're not kneading it, be sure to do so FREQUENTLY.

You **MUST** wax the vehicle after using clay if you expect to have a level of protection. You see, the clay, being abrasive, will remove alot of the protection which is sitting on top of the paint. Further, if you've waxed and they clayed, whatever you removed from your paint (and it sounds like you've removed a lot) had a coating of wax on top of it, you remove that particle and then expose a single spot that has no wax on it at all.

So, in summary...

Make sure you knead the clay frequently to get a 'fresh' surface to work with on the clay bar. Keep it lubricated exceedingly well as excessive claying will mar the surface and thus, create a need for an abrasive polish to remove such mars/scratches.

Secondly, wax the truck post-clay.

Have fun!

RP

 

Thanks for the low down on that Rock.

- Chris

 

No problemo Chris. Glad to have helped.

 

I just clayed my moms 2002 escape, thing had a layer of grit on it, used clay magic, the blue bar, thing I learned you must keep the paint LUBED make sure the lube is on the paint makes the clay bar move over it and work, took me a few hours then waxed it, it is beautifull, I was nervious bout clay but not anymore, just go easy, and use a lot of lube, makes it work so much better

 

Rock hit the nail on the head with his comments. I just wanted to add something else for you to consider. I clay occasionally, but long ago found that the spray lube included with my clay bars was too expensive and didn't seem to go far enough. So try this instead when you clay. First wash your truck really well, but don't worry about drying it. Then, mix up two clean buckets of Megs Gold Class carwash and water. Put your car wash mit in one (or whatever you use to wash your truck), and the claybar and a 100% cotton washcloth in the other. Work in one area at a time using the following sequence:
1 - Load the cotton washcloth with soapy water and cover the area to be clayed. Don't push hard, you're only trying to cover the surface with soapy water.
2 - Clay the area making sure the clay slips effortlessly over the surface. If it doesn't, add more soapy water.
3 - Thoroughly rince the area you just clayed.
4 - Go to the other bucket and use the wash mit to thoroughly wash the clayed area.
5 - Rinse thoroughly again.
6 - Start process again on another area.

Once you get this sequence down pat, you'll be amazed at how quickly you can cover your whole truck. In addition, you'll have a large inexpensive supply of lube by using the Gold Class carwash. Works like a charm! Give it a whirl!

-Mike-

 

They'll scream when they see what you've done with it

 

Awesome, gonna go out here in the next couple weeks once it dries out and I have a day off and go at it again. This time I'm going to go to AutoZone and get a different type of clay that I wanted to try. When I got the Mothers stuff it didn't come with lubricant, no less instructions so I just made sure I used my soapy water to keep the bar lubricated. I'm glad I had this board or I would have probably ruined my truck by using the clay the wrong way.

- Chris