Monday, February 16, 2009

car: To Clay or To Not Clay

I never find any interest in spending too much time cleaning and detailing my car. Years passed by with just a wash and a spray wax and my car now looks really horrible. I really didn't know that what I see was water spots until I saw an episode in a TV show featuring Jay Leno. It was about detailing a car, not just a simple wash and wax routine that I was so comfortable and accustomed but a five step process that takes almost 3-4 hours of rubbing and cleaning. This is how my car looks like just after washing (by washing I mean using a market leading car wash with wash pads and rinse in soft water. It cannot get any better than that). sheeeewww!


I watched the show and still didn't think I need to CLAY my almost 10 year old car. Months went by with out doing anything to the car. I was watching a motivational / tele-vangelical program and something caught my attention. The thing I like about that program is that he talks about simple things in everyday life to make it better and to feel good about yourself. He was saying, instead of complaining about how horrible the traffic is, you should Thank God that you have car to drive, a good health to go places, a Job to take care of your family. That was the trigger point, I decided to do something with the water spots.

I browsed couple of sites and was still skeptical about the process and results. Some sites suggested to wipe vinegar to remove the water spots. It didn't work for me. I decided to go with the heavy artillery this time. I took a couple of shots before and after the process to compare the results. After all, I wanted to check is it really worth spending money and time on an old car with a lot of water spots.

Here is how I did the Claying:
-Wash and completely dry the car
-Apply the quick detailer to a small area and rub the clay bar over it without much pressure.
-When the clay starts to slide without any grip, wipe off this area clean and move to the next section.
-After the entire car is clayed, apply a car polish
-Next apply a paste wax.
-Buff the car after the wax is dried

It took almost 4 hours to wash, clay, polish and wax the car. I used a power buffer (some day I may buy the coveted Porter-Cable 7428) in the final stage. Here is a snap of the moon reflecting from a 10 year old car. Now, that is a job well done!


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-paul