Well, I am by no means a professional detailer. All of my cars in the past have always had a VERY light surface scratching to them and I always thought it was old paint. Well, my 07 has them now and I dont know if it is because I just waxed it, or if they were there before, since I just noticed them.

Is this a common thing? It seems like it would take some really pro and highly detailed detailing to get them off, since you can only see them in a certain direction with the right lighting.

Anyone know what causes this? or what I am talking about?

Thanks.

 

I use a clay bar that you can buy at Auto Zone to get rid of all of the minor imperfections in the paint. I just bought the King Ranch and clay barred the whole thing before putting on the NXT. HUGE difference in the shine from when I picked the vehicle up!
The dealers attempt to clean these vehicles and even say they detail them. I gave up on them though since their idea of detailed and mine are light years apart.
If you don't have the time to do it yourself, go to one of the local car washes and they usually will have a clay bar special. I do this with my Black Lightning when I'm lazy and it comes back looking like a mirror. So, either way it should really help the looks.
My neighbors stared doing this with their black Vette and Caddie after they saw me doing it with my Lightning. Unbelievable difference when they come back...

Good Luck!

Bill

 

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what is your recommended method of doing the clay bar? What lube? I tried it on my black focus and after a small spot I gave up because it looked like crap.

 

I've been using Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit. It comes with a product called Quik Detailer (I'm pretty sure you can buy this separately if you already have the clay bars) that they recommend using as the clay lubricant.
I think the package is around $18.00 in SoCal.
Seems to work great for me anyway and I'm not exactly a professional detailer or anywhere close...
One thing though is that the surface does need to be pretty wet or the clay will stick to the car.

 

By the way Chris. Where do you live in Western WA? I used to live in Bellingham.

 

I have had the truck about 2 months, it is an 07. I noticed that there was no wax on the hood (even though they said they waxed it at the dealer). So I decided to clay bar a few of the areas that had "stuck on" bug cuts, road crap, etc...then I waxed the entire hood with Meguiars Caranuba #3 wax. I then took it off and re-applied another coat. Before I put on another coat, I noticed that there was some minor surface scratches at a certain angle in the right light (it is Metallic Silver so it hides stuff well).

Any idea what causes this? I used the softest cloths I could buy. I also wash using the two bucket method. I do not see them on the rest of the truck, just the hood, which leads me to believe it is from the clay barring and waxing. I made sure to keep rotating the clay bar and checking to see if there was contaminents, I also kept switching sides on the towel when wiping the wax off.

Are these light scratches just something you cannot help?

 

Well, you are now beyond my level of expertise and experience with these slightly deeper types of scratches.

I will say that I'd never pay for the dealer to put any of their protective coatings on again. I tried that twice and both times I took the vehicles back multiple times to "get it right" and it never did happen. This was with two different dealers as well. I ended up doing it myself after paying them to do it.
I'll be interested to see if someone else has a good answer for the scratches and getting them out. I'm always afraid of damaging the clear coat using a polishing compound. I used to use polishing compound years ago and it worked great but I don't know how it will affect the clear coat systems on the current cars.

Good luck!

Bill

 

Guys... clay *WILL NOT* remove any surface imperfections. I'm slammed busy right now with my inlaws in town so, I'll be a while before I can make it back.

Just know that clay is used to remove 'stuck on' stuff that cannot be removed with washing. It does nothing to remove swirls or any other subsurface paint imperfections.

 

What type of towel are you using when claying?

Sounds like you have the right idea with the two bucket wash .. but there are other factors to think about..

What type of wash mitt are you using?

Did you mix your soap to the correct ratio per directions to maximize the lubricity?

what type of towels are you drying off with?

any chance you can show us some good pics of the scratching? It will make it easier to point you in the correct direction for addressing the problems.


As for clay removing scratches .. as RP said .. it will do nothing for your scratches. Clay is design to remove surface contaminants from your paint, like pollution, rail dust, bugs, tar, overspray, etc .. it is an important first step in properly preparing your paint for polishing, but it will not remove scratches .. to do that you will need to use a product with some abrasive properties.

there are also products that will simply cover up minor scratching .. it all depends on what you wish to acehive, and how much itme and effort you want to spend ..


it is possible to cause scratching when you are claying by not doing it correctly, but most of the time you will notice it immediately ..

 

I only used the clay bar in certain spots, to remove the stuck on stuff (like bugs, road muck, etc...).

To dry I use the absorber and the mitts I use are the white soft ones you buy at the autoparts, I forget what they are called.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing how the light scratches come out.
I have a bin full of microfiber towels that I use to wash the trucks with and also use them to dry with. I also use them for my boat at Havasu.
I also use them to apply the rubber and plastic protectants as well as chrome polishes.
Afterwards they all go in the wash and then they are hung out to dry. I'm not sure why but the instructions that come with some of the microfiber towels says not to put them in the dryer.

Any thoughts on improving the process and preventing scratches would be more than welcome.

 

Light scratches/swirls in paint is an age old problem. Sometimes wax may help fill them in and make them less noticeable. To help remove them you need a fine polish. A cleaner wax might get you there but I’d just try the polish and then wax.

If you can actually feel a scratch with your finger then it will take more work, but I doubt that’s your case.

These light swirls/scratches are more apparent on dark vehicles. That’s one reason I don’t really want any more Black cars. It sounds like you are careful when you wash/dry so I am not sure what specific thing might be contributing on your truck but it happens to all vehicles.

 

I am in pierce county.. between tacoma and seattle.... by bonny lake

 

The mr. clean auto dry works very well too for washing. That keeps one manhandling step off the paint. Less chance for small scratches.

 

I've thought about getting one of those auto dries. How much did it run you? Does it work as advertised? By the way, i live in Puyallup, so not too far away from you Chris1450