how often to use clay bar when waxing?

[tbomb]

i started using the clay magic clay bar when i wax my truck a little over a year ago, and it works amazing, but its kind of a pain. should i use the bar every time i wax? <-- this what i have been doing (about 3-4 times a year), and it takes me FOREVER. could i get away with only using the clay once a year and just plain wax the other times, or should i always use the clay? my process is: wash, clay, wax.

(i know its kind of a stupid question, when i use clay it looks great, so why not do it all the time?...well, it just takes too damn long; usually takes a long saturday and sometimes ill have to finish up on sunday for a few hours, if skipped the clay a few times a year, i could be done the whole thing in a few hours.)

thanks all.

 

[tbomb]

gimp, your truck is white, right? well, it looks white, and mines white too, so if i dont clay then you see the dirt particles that dont come out - might not be worth my time though, but ill definately check out that detailing site tonite when i have some more free time.

thanks!

 

[aldive]

My truck shines link a new penny and I have NEVER used a clay bar. I just use the Zaino foodies.

Good luck....

 

[Rhett]

Hey all, since we're talking about dashes, DO NOT use Armor-All on dashes. Before I knew anything, I put AA on the dash of my Regal, and it fried it. The brown dash turned black.

Now I am leery of putting anything on dashboards...including Z-16...and I like and use Zaino products...but even here I don't entirely trust any dash-apply stuff. Some products dry out the dash unless you use it religiously. I think the best thing to do is to use on of those collapsable sun visor things and put it in your windshield. At work I have to park outside, and when I drive my Explorer I always put the visor up. UV protection for the dash sounds promising though.

About the clay..I clayed my truck about 1 year ago before I put Zaino on it. That's the last time I did it.

Here's the ultimate question, that no one has ever answered:

Does claying remove Zaino from the truck? I know it removes WAX but WAX is based on animal fat unlike Zaino.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Gimp
Al,
Did you ever try the Z-16 on your dashboard? I know that the Z-16 has lots of UV protection but I'm curious as to whether it made the dash too shiny (reflects up in the windshield). .

Gimp, ole buddy, I regulary use Z 16 on my dash as well as many other parts. The reflection has not been a problem for me, Give it a shot.

On the Armor All issue, I have used it on masny different cars and boats and a plane or two for a great many years ( befor I discovered the majic of Zaino ) with absolutly NO difficulties.

 

[Stephen]

Armor All has a different effect depending on the type of plastic its used on.

Tbomb, I've actually stopped claying. Before I use Zaino I hit the whole vehicle with swirl remover and an orbital buffer, takes care of everything. Same color as yours too.

 

[espnfreak]

i dont like white vehicles all that much.

 

[Stephen]

That was certainly uncalled for, you have a plesant day as well.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Stephen
Armor All has a different effect depending on the type of plastic its used on.

Stephen, please elaborate.

 

[Rhett]

All I know is, Armor All absolutely destroyed my Buick Regal's dash. Maybe it would be fine on an Explorer but I don't know.

 

[aldive]

Please elaborate. Destroyed? Did it dissolve the darsh? What happened?

Thanks...

 

[Brian97V8]

Z-16 on the dash, I will have to try that

I use Zano as well, clayed before I put the first coat on and have not done it since then, about 18 months or so.

 

[tbomb]

first of all, what the hell is this: "i dont like white vehicles all that much"?

anyway, stephen, i thought about switching to zaino stuff, but its too expensive right now (i still have one more year of college), not to mention those orbital buffers scare me - everywhere i go i see cars with big time swirls all over - im aware theres a right way and a wrong way to use the buffer, but i dont wanna chance it.
for right now, a $20 clay bar and a $8 bottle of meguiars wax does a pretty good job. actually, the clay bar, IMHO, does an amazing job (just a royal pain in the a$$), so ill stick with it for a while, but all this talk about zaino is very convincing. ive read about it all over this board and i think ill try it one day when i have some extra loot to kick around.

thanks guys. i think what im gonna do is clay and wax my truck twice when its warm out and in the winter ill wax it once without the clay (i usually wax 3 times a year, sometimes 4 if i get really bored.)

 

[Stephen]

Jason actually cleaned that up a lot tbomb since before I posted, at least he had the respect to do that.

Anyways, what I was told about ArmorAll is it was worse on pourus plastics. I was told to make sure to never use it on the Cadillac I had before the Lexus because GM uses very porous dash plastics (hence your Regal) but I was told Ford used a different type of material.

As for the Zaino tbomb, doesnt matter what you use, the first swirl remover step removes all the impurities, then you can wax with whatever you want. Dont be afraid of orbital buffers, they wont leave swirl marks. Its improperly used ROTARY buffers that do that. An orbital buffer doesnt spin, it emulates the type of motion used by your hand.

 

[Brian97V8]

Zano Expensive

I thought Zano was expensive before I got it. Now I know it is not. It might cost more but you get more uses in a bottle and it lasts longer.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

I usually only clay once a year, during my summer "I'm-back-in-Cali-and-actually-have-a-garage-again" cleaning. The truck goes through hell during the winter in Michigan. The clay is great for getting off tar and general crud in the surface of the paint. However, I have just started to use a buffer and some 3M polish between the clay step and the Zaino step, and let me tell you, I really, really wish I hadn't been afraid to use one all these years. Like Stephen said, it's pretty much impossible to burn the paint with an orbital. I just practiced on some friends cars before trying it on mine . I used a new 3M polishing glaze called Perfect-It III. This stuff is unbelievable. I went over the entire car twice with the polish and the buffer, with a microfiber polishing pad, and when I was finished, there was not one swirl mark on the car, and it was about 1000 times slicker than it ever was with the clay. So I definitely recommend this.

Gimp, thumbs-up on the 303 recommendation. I've been using Vinylex for the past couple of years, but I've heard so many good things about 303 on Autopia, I'm going to order a bottle and try it out.

peace

Mike

 

[Stephen]

Its amazing how much better the result is, and how much easier the application is with the orbital isnt it Mike? I have the Meguiars 5 speed orbital, works great.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

I saw those pics too! That's what sold me on it. He has such a sweet car. I am looking at getting a 330ci next year when I graduate college. His pics made me drool!

peace

Mike