luka761 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) Ok admittedly I'm a bit of an amateur at this and only just starting but I bought one of these (https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which is a Farecla G3 clay mitt and while I did get some joy out of it I don't think it can compare with old fashioned claying. In terms of preparing general surfaces it was pretty good I guess but when it came to oxide marks or tar spots I had to get the clay bar out to have the same effect. What are other people's experiences, have I just bought the wrong mitt? And while I have your attention here are a couple of additional questions: 1. Is it really worth applying a polish if you don't have an electrical polisher? I rubbed my arm off on saturday and can't say the effect was particularly noticeable compared to just waxing the car? 2. I'm going through Quick Detailer like its going out of fashion, given that its essentially a lubricant, can anyone recommend a cheaper home made alternative? Many thanks Edited June 2, 2015 by luka761 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I've seen a few posts where people have used the soapy water from the wash as clay lube. Even some where they use fairy liquid instead of shampoo, (don't tell anyone I used the F word) which sort of makes sense if you're stripping right back to naked paint, but I'd be tempted to fill a new soapy wash bucket (with shampoo not FL), and use that. Either way, should be cheaper than QD or a dedicated clay lube like DJ Born Slippy - though it is relatively cheap, so it's not a big deal if you clay about once a year like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4eay Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Shampoo and water works, but I found that the clay didn't like it much, started to break down after the second use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy_Baton Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 You can water down the quick deatiler as required. If you are using it for lube and not as a QD then i'd suggest watering it down. Also use something you can buy in bulk, I use this a QD as you can buy it in 1 gallons containers. http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/valeting-and-bulk/chemical-guys-speed-wipe-1-gallon-/prod_447.html When I clay I just just car shampoo and water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I don't use QD as a lube with a mitt/cloth, I only use clean soapy water, after I have snow foamed, washed and rinsed the car, I snow foam it again and leave the foam on it - more soapy suds. Slick as you like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Also, the best clay bars - Bilt Hamber Auto Clay also don't need QD either, just water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I have the G3 mitt. Started out with using QD. Now I just use more concentrated shampoo. Much much faster with shampoo and the mitt really comes into it's own swimming in shampoo. Much smoother glide and faster too. Probably smoother if you used a BUCKET of QD instead of a spray! But as you have found it's not as good at tar spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Bradders- Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I use the g3 detailer as recommended works a treat for me.. used it about 5 times now on my own and a friends car, results are always great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I don't use QD as a lube with a mitt/cloth, I only use clean soapy water, after I have snow foamed, washed and rinsed the car, I snow foam it again and leave the foam on it - more soapy suds. Slick as you like. This. Also, for tar spots use a tar remover and not clay, for fallout use a fallout remover and not clay. Clay will only sheer off the top level of anything above the surface, also the last thing you want to do is drag lumps of tar and shards of iron across the paintwork in the face the clay. This applies to both bars and mitts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Also to answer your first question, OP, is it worth polishing by hand? That'll depend on a millionty things; how long is a piece of string? What polish did you use? What pad did you use? How long did you work the polish? How bad was the paintwork beforehand? How bad is the paintwork afterwards? Polishing by hand is hard work. For a quicker, easier but a more temporary solution consider a glaze instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luka761 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I take your point about tar spots and oxide marks but if you're careful clay is an effective way of getting rid of them in my experience. At a certain point the amount of different products you need simply becomes daft. As for polishing I guess its difficult because I have a car that has been well taken care of and I would describe the paintwork to be in good condition (aside from the front bumper obviously) so I'm not likely to see something revolutionary. I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal polish, applied and worked in with a sponge-like applicator pad and then buffed out with a fine microfiber cloth. All in all I probably spent a good two hours just on that stage and I'm a reasonably fit guy who doesn't mind working hard. I understand people spend days on this but I'm in Scotland and don't have a garage, if I don't get the bloody thing done in a few hours the weather will go mental and it will all be for nought. Could you explain to me the difference between a glaze and a polish and also recommend a decent product that isn't ball breakingly expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Polish is an abrasive compound, it's purpose is to remove a small amount of top coat to level it out with the valleys of swirl mark and scratches and taking the top coat down to that lower level resulting in smooth, shiny paintwork- essentially it's a liquid, fine grade sand paper as so one recently described it. Glaze is a broad term these days, blurred by many "all in one" type products and hybrids but for the purposes I intended contains only chemical cleaners, fillers and no abrasives - in essence it adds shininess by filling the valleys, bringing them up to the level of the surrounding top coat, leaving shiny, smooth paint. Fillers are only temporary though, they need to be sealed in with either wax or sealant on top, however you can glaze as often as you like with the only damage being to your wallet, whereas you only have a finite amount of top coat to remove by polishing. If your paintwork is already in pretty good condition then I'd recommend either Poorboys Black Hole ("for dark cars"*)/White Diamond ("for light cars"*) at £14 a bottle or Auto Finesse Ultra Glaze for £13. Poorboys is easier to use as it can be used in direct sunlight, but they're all just wipe on, allow to cure, buff off (like wax). *It really makes no difference at all what colour the car is, but; marketing! And before anyone asks, if your paintwork is more heavily swirled, there's very little better at filling than 50Cal Cover Up Glaze, especially if applied by machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 I take your point about tar spots and oxide marks but if you're careful clay is an effective way of getting rid of them in my experience. At a certain point the amount of different products you need simply becomes daft. As for polishing I guess its difficult because I have a car that has been well taken care of and I would describe the paintwork to be in good condition (aside from the front bumper obviously) so I'm not likely to see something revolutionary. I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal polish, applied and worked in with a sponge-like applicator pad and then buffed out with a fine microfiber cloth. All in all I probably spent a good two hours just on that stage and I'm a reasonably fit guy who doesn't mind working hard. I understand people spend days on this but I'm in Scotland and don't have a garage, if I don't get the bloody thing done in a few hours the weather will go mental and it will all be for nought. Could you explain to me the difference between a glaze and a polish and also recommend a decent product that isn't ball breakingly expensive? To confuse matters, Meguiar's naming convention for polishes, glazes, compounds, waxes and sealants is probably the most confusing out there! The Deep Crystal range is Stage 1 - a good chemical cleaner but which doesn't fill or abrade. Stage 2 is actually a glaze in the normal convention, a consumer version of #7, which again is a good product but whilst it adds shine, doesn't fill much at all or abrade - working that product in wouldn't have done much unfortunately. The Stage 3 wax smells nice but is terrible as a wax. It lasts about as long as a fart in the wind. The most famous AIO is probably Autoglym's Super Resin Polish (SRP), an excellent product that has a chemical cleaner in it, some very fine abrasives (hardly anything but which do work a bit with a machine), fillers and leaves behind a sealant protective layer that lasts about 6 weeks. 50 Cal and Triple are also very filler heavy AIO's that I haven't personally used but which seem to work well and are a much better option for hand polishing, though still hard work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luka761 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Every time I log onto this forum I end up buying something else, it would have been cheaper to develop a crack cocaine habit. Ok so once I get my All in One is it still helpful to apply a wax afterwards or am I wasting my time? Incidentally thank you for answering my idiotic questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Yes, a wax will seal it in and the finish should (in theory) last longer but at the very least it'll increase the protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 A wax or a sealant. Read some reviews as to what you want, again a lot of Meguiars 'waxes' are technically sealants i.e. chemically derived resins, polymers and things that protect the paint. Some 'show' waxes give a really wet look, but don't last very long, more durable products are said not to look as good. Get the polishing stage done well and anything will look fantastic, so I prescribe to the 'get the easiest to use but lasts a decent amount of time' strategy. I'm a big fan of the Sonax range - Polymer Netshield is easy peasy to use and lasts 6 months and makes the car easy to clean to. Bilt Hamber products are also great value for money. I've recently started testing Double Speed Wax (a very sealanty wax) which so far behaves almost exactly like Polymer Netshield, but you get loads more applications in the tin. Another long term favourite is Finish Kare FK1000P Hi Temp Sealant - this has the advantage of being resistant to heat so not only has a very nice appearance on the paint, works very well as a wheel and exhaust wax too. Massive tin that will last the life of the car or a sample tin for a £5 from Serious Performance which would (should) do a car at least 8 times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 My sample tin has lasted 8 years, let alone 8 applications. Fairly regular use too. I wonder why FK are still manufacturing 1000P, surely there's enough of it in a dozen or so tins do everyone forever?!? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luka761 Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 I'll get through my little tub of Supernaturals first and then give the 1000P a shot, I've ordered the AutoGlym Super Resin stuff simply because it was so much cheaper on Amazon then Poorboys stuff and the reviews seemed pretty good. I'm sure the bug will bite again and ill give Poorboys a shot. I've got matt black wheels, is it worth sticking the 1000P on them if I ever get them in order to discourage break dust? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 The 1000p won't discourage brake dust so much, but will make the wheels much easier to clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) What are other people's experiences, have I just bought the wrong mitt? And while I have your attention here are a couple of additional questions: I picked up the same mitt from Halfords a few months ago, first used it yesterday/today. Based on the comments on this thread, instead of clay lube, I used it with a 20L bucket half filled and about 3x the normal amount of shampoo I would use for a full bucket. I also put a similar concentration of shampoo and water into a hand held pump spray so I could get liquid down with one hand and mitt with the other. I did manage to install some scratches with it, but apparently that was down to me being a tit and not breaking the thing in on the glass. The scratches were only on the first section I worked and with some effort were mostly removed with a DA this afternoon. The shampoo / water combo worked great as a lubricant and the mitt did a good job. I found it VERY unnerving to use at first, the noise on the first few passes was pant browning, but it soon disappeared and left a nicely clean surface. As you mention, one or two tar spots persisted. Versus clay, it's so much quicker to work with it's untrue. The mitt didn't exactly hold my hand very well, but I never dropped it. I'm more sold on the concept that I was yesterday, but I think I might splash out on another clay mitt/cloth and leave this one for relatives' cars Edited June 7, 2015 by SuperStu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilogikal1 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 but apparently that was down to me being a tit following the hopeless, inadequate and, frankly, wrong instructions and not breaking the thing in on the glass. FTFY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luka761 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 but apparently that was down to me being a tit following the hopeless, inadequate and, frankly, wrong instructions and not breaking the thing in on the glass. FTFY. welcome to my world! I've noticed today that I've got some major scratches (top layer only to be fair) on the passenger door, it might be due to bad mitt action or a previous sponge related incident. I've tried manual polishing but I'm getting nowhere. I'm based in Edinburgh, anyone give me a rough idea how much it would cost to have it buffed out?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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