Clay Towel and Wax

[ZCPMV8]

Anyone have experience with a clay towel or mitt? I know it's usually recommended to polish after using real clay... however, since these towels aren't supposed to marr the paint, is it ok to skip the polishing and jump straight to waxing?
I'm planning on trying this using the gyeon lube spray, but heard you can literally just use shampoo.

Any general experiences or recommendations you'd like to share?

Thanks!

[allinon72]

It depends how bad the contamination is and how perfect you want the paint. Light/mild contamination isn't going to mar the paint enough to require a polishing step. But if it's heavily contaminated, you'll want to polish regardless of marring because the paint is likely in bad shape either way.

I've clayed many many cars without polishing and they came out fine.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Yeah it's fine, polishing doesn't matter for LSP (Although there are some exceptions like special polishes made for ceramic priming) but yeah. Polishing is for how you want the paint to look.

And like mentioned above, I've also clayed before without enough marring for me to warrant a polish.

[TboneS54]

Like other situations, use plenty of lube.

For what's it's worth, I would never NOT polish a car after mechanical abrasion like clay bar/mitt/towel.

If you didn't marr the paint too much, then you probably didn't even need to clay anyway. An iron remover and strong wash would have sufficed imo.

[ZCPMV8]

Thanks guys. I prob dont need to clay since the detailer told me I don't need it.. but a couple spots especially above the rear quarter panels (M2C) doesn't feel 100% smooth like glass. Overall the paint looks great, just trying to get it as close to perfect as possible.

[TboneS54]

If it were true that you want it as perfect as possible, you'd polish it.

[chris719]

You can use the DIY Detail clay towel or The Rag Company towel without polishing if you are careful. If the surface is extremely contaminated and feels rough these might be too gentle though. Nothing works like a real clay bar. If it's lower panels you can weigh if you really care if there's minor marring.

[ZCPMV8]

Originally Posted by TboneS54

If it were true that you want it as perfect as possible, you'd polish it.

💯 Agree. But want to learn from someone properly before just buying and trying on my own. I may just use my suv as a test subject.

[ZCPMV8]

Originally Posted by chris719

You can use the DIY Detail clay towel or The Rag Company towel without polishing if you are careful. If the surface is extremely contaminated and feels rough these might be too gentle though. Nothing works like a real clay bar. If it's lower panels you can weigh if you really care if there's minor marring.

It's not like really bad or anything. But I still do feel slight roughness in a couple small spots. It's not even an entire panel, it's probably a few inches worth across and a couple inches vertically. That's why I was asking if it's ok to temporarily do the clay towel and wax for now. Until I get myself into and learn how to polish.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by ZCPMV8

It's not like really bad or anything. But I still do feel slight roughness in a couple small spots. It's not even an entire panel, it's probably a few inches worth across and a couple inches vertically. That's why I was asking if it's ok to temporarily do the clay towel and wax for now. Until I get myself into and learn how to polish.

You don't ever have to polish if you are good with how the paint looks. I would honestly never bother polishing those spots unless it's really bad. Polishing is always removing clear so I like to avoid it if possible, especially on high wear areas.

[ZCPMV8]

Originally Posted by chris719

You don't ever have to polish if you are good with how the paint looks. I would honestly never bother polishing those spots unless it's really bad. Polishing is always removing clear so I like to avoid it if possible, especially on high wear areas.

Thanks for all your advice! Maybe I'll wait a bit and just do everything all together a-z when it's really needed.