Replacement for Claying


eTupz

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Depends on the condition of the paint and how long was it since you last clayed it.

Full strength Power clean is too strong. Diluted 3:1 is much safer. I would also hit it with Ferrex to remove iron contaminants. Use Ferrex 2 times over the entire car and there is very little left to remove with clay so much so you could skip it and go straight to wax but claying is always better to do.

I also recommend a light polish even by hand if you are short of a machine. Poli-seal will be perfect.   

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If your paint feels nice and smooth then you could skip claying.  Power Clean is obviously a good cleaner but it is not a perfect substitute for claying.  Ferrex and MDR would also help get the paint clean but if you have not clayed before it can make a noticeable difference to the smoothness of the paint. 

 

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I agree with the idea of skipping the clay unless needed.  I can tell you Dr G believes people clay too often and unnecessarily.   Power Clean (agree with A&J - 3 to 1 is sufficient) can be an effective decontaminate and better than IPA.  The sheer number and variety of pollutants has created specific cleaners for specific needs - FerreX for metal, MDR for mineral, Paint Prep for oils, etc, but Power Clean is an good general purpose cleaner.

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5 hours ago, Ron@Optimum said:

I agree with the idea of skipping the clay unless needed.  I can tell you Dr G believes people clay too often and unnecessarily.   Power Clean (agree with A&J - 3 to 1 is sufficient) can be an effective decontaminate and better than IPA.  The sheer number and variety of pollutants has created specific cleaners for specific needs - FerreX for metal, MDR for mineral, Paint Prep for oils, etc, but Power Clean is an good general purpose cleaner.

Think I am going to be the dissenter on this, my view is cleaners can be fantastic but yet to find a cleaner which can make the paint feel as smooth as a mild clay.   Maybe it is the extra physical  contact which removes some of the bonded (in the loosest sense of the word) dirt.  Not tried Paint Prep or MDR so if OPT want to send me a full set of chemicals I will happily test them against claying :)

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13 hours ago, No Soap said:

Ok, I was thinking about winter (salt and more salt on the roads).

Where salt is present using Power clean dilluted 1:3 would be the desired method for pre-wash. Spray on, leave for 2-3 min and PW rinse off. Then do a normal ONR (or with whatever else you wish) wash.

You could still use Ferrex after that to remove iron contamination. If after that the paint feels smooth you could go straight to seal or wax.

Depending on where you live and how you drive you need to remove the following

- Tar spots...those black spots caused from agressive driving, fresh layered roads...for those use a dedicated tar remover or clay.

- Iron contamination...they are those rust spots caused by industial fallout (it will settle mostly on the top parts of the car) and braking (will settle on the lower side parts of the car behind the wheels (and on the wheels). For that use Ferrex. For heavy dutty contamination you can use Ferrex as clay lube. Ferrex will disolve iron and clay will aggitate it and pick it up. Just remember to do section by section and dont spray Ferrex on the entire car if you are gonna use clay for aggitating.

- Road film. Its grease and grime from the road (oil and gas mixture on the road combined with rain and splattered on you car as you drive over it). Clay wont pick that up or remove it completely so that is where Power clean comes into play as a pre wash.

- Water spots...caused by hard water. Use MDR for that.

All said and done I would still follow it with a light polish or paint clenser using OPT poli-seal or OPT Finish or Hyper polish before protecting paint. But thats just me.

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Thank you all for the suggestions.

I've learned a lot since I joined this group.

Here in the Philippines, my car gets dirty daily, medium to high dusting, sometimes road grime as well since there are spots on the road that has stagnant water which eventually produces mud. Specially the route that I drive daily is a shortcut but near a Dumpsite and Quarry vicinity. If anyone had already been here in the Philippines, you may have an idea of our road conditions here and traffic as well (hehehe) .

Just clayed my car a month ago and applied a polish but was not satisfied with the product I used. That's why I plan to re-polish using Optimum Poli-Seal but I plan to skip the Clay due to time constraint. If the Optimum Clay Towel is sold here, it would a big time saver.

Anyways, again thank you all.

 

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