Twilcox Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Should ceramic coating be clayed and if so how often and what do you suggest to lubricate the surface? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 TheWolf Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 10 hours ago, Twilcox said: Should ceramic coating be clayed and if so how often and what do you suggest to lubricate the surface? I wouldn't say "should", but rather a coating "can" be clayed, IF needed. Coatings are not "scratch proof", so unneeded or frequent claying can mar or scratch the surface of the coating. After a thorough wash, do the baggie test and see if the surface feels rough. If it does, then there are bonded contaminates that need to be removed by claying. Since typical clay lubricants like Detail Spray or diluted Rinseless Wash will leave behind wax or polymers that you would not want on the coating, I would recommend claying with the suds from Car Wash Shampoo or the new Wash & Coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 RayS Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 17 hours ago, TheWolf said: I wouldn't say "should", but rather a coating "can" be clayed, IF needed. Coatings are not "scratch proof", so unneeded or frequent claying can mar or scratch the surface of the coating. After a thorough wash, do the baggie test and see if the surface feels rough. If it does, then there are bonded contaminates that need to be removed by claying. Since typical clay lubricants like Detail Spray or diluted Rinseless Wash will leave behind wax or polymers that you would not want on the coating, I would recommend claying with the suds from Car Wash Shampoo or the new Wash & Coat. Wouldn't the Ceramic Waterless Wash be an effective product for claying a coated vehicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 TheWolf Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, RayS said: Wouldn't the Ceramic Waterless Wash be an effective product for claying a coated vehicle? No. Ceramic Waterless Wash, like regular Waterless Wash, is more of a cleaner and does not have the lubricity to be used for claying. For typical claying, Detail Spray and diluted Rinseless Wash provide the lubricity. But since these both leave wax or polymers, I had recommended claying the coating with shampoo suds. Even when claying paint that has not heen coated, I still prefer claying with shampoo suds. It provides great lubrication, and saves time when the claying is done as part of the wash process. After the wash and rinse, foam it up again and clay, then rinse again. This also saves the step of having to remove the claying residue with a towel before polishing or applying protection. My thought is that this residue removal is a source of marring and scratching the paint. While some contaminates do stick to the clay or mitt, some or even most are just knocked loose and reside in the residue. So going after the residue removal with a towel is essentially just rubbing those contaminates around on the paint causing damage. So, by using suds and claying as part of the wash, the claying residue is rinsed right off, which is safer on your paint. This fact of contaminates getting knocked loose during claying and residing in the residue is why you should NEVER polish right over the residue, or apply wax or sealant right over the residue. Polishing over the residue is the worst, since any contaminates in the residue get picked up in the pads and worked against the paint by the machine. Also, the clay residue clogs up the pads making them less effective and increasing the time required for polishing. And it does not matter that it has been done and people do it, it just does not make any sense. Even the time savings justification that it "skips a step not removing the residue" does not make sense, since the time lost to clogged-up pads far exceeds the minimal time it takes to remove the residue before polishing. I know that I got a little carried away in this reply since that was not part of the original question, but just thought it should be discussed. Edited April 16, 2019 by TheWolf Typos from tiny phone keyboard! Bscott94, RayS, falcaineer and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 RayS Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 @TheWolf Thank for you for such a thorough answer - this is the type information that helps educate all of us, even those of us who have been doing this for 40 years and still want to improve the outcome. Nickfire20 and TheWolf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Question
Twilcox
Should ceramic coating be clayed and if so how often and what do you suggest to lubricate the surface?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
4 answers to this question
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now