There are many ways to fix the imperfections of your car. You can use wax to cover it up or you can clay your new car. Claying involves using detailing clay to remove contamination on the bonded surface that's stuck to the paint which you can't remove through normal washing.
Many new cars require claying as much as old or used cars. Contamination happens on both old and new cars. Even if a car is new, it's been subjected to many types of environments. These may include the factory, on ships, and on carrier trucks.
Contamination might happen to its finish. This goes double for a car that has a lot of mileage on it since it probably has undergone quite a lot of environments itself.
How to Go About Claying a Car
- Wash Your Car First: In order to identify contamination that you can't clean off, you should clean off the car in question first. Most contaminants are cleanable and won't ruin your finish because cars since the 1980s come with a layer of clear coat that shields the paint underneath, leading to a shiny car with regular car washing.
- The Sandwich Bag Test: In order to test whether your car requires claying or not, get a sandwich bag and put it over your hand like a glove. Afterwards, run your hand across the hood, roof, trunk, or sides of your car. If any part of it feels rough to the touch even with the bag on your hand, your car requires claying.
- Claying Your Car Properly: You can use detail clay or a cleaning system that incorporates claying to get rid of surface contamination that's difficult to wash or polish off. The clay removes it as it glides across the paint surface without resulting in paint damage. It works by catching the contaminants.
- Clay Lubricant: Claying also requires clay lubricant to assist it from sticking to the paint surface while removing bonded contamination. Detailing clay is abrasive but won't harm paint. It won't even scratch the clear coat surface. It's only abrasive to the contamination. It works like an exfoliating mask on your face, but used on your car.
- Not a Substitute for Paint Polishing: Polishing your paint is one thing. Claying your paint is another thing. The latter doesn't serve as a substitute for the former. Rather, you should clay your paint first before polishing it to remove the surface contaminants that are making your paint feel rough to the touch and full of burrs or spines.
- The Dynamic Duo of Claying and Polishing: Claying is what you do in order to prep your car for polishing. Usually, a car wash is enough to get the job done, but certain contaminants might end up sticking to your car, requiring you to use claying to truly keep your car spotless and prepared for polishing and even waxing.