If you love your car, you should clay it

I have the same problem with my Prius and an RV. I have figured out what the problem was, and it isn't normal to have your paint look like that. I had my RV in storage behind a boat yard and scrap metal recycling yard, there was lots of metal grinding happening in the area surrounding the RV storage yard. They were grinding the rust off boats, building storage frames, welding, etc. I picked up my RV and left my Prius in its place and went on vacation for a month down south. Once i arrived at my destination in California, i washed my RV, all those little rusty dots didn't come off. The grit from the grinding had adhered to the RV paint and began to rust in the rain.
At this point i didn't know where the rust and the dots were coming from and thought it was the road through the mountains with the gravel on the roads. I polished out the grit and rust on one side of the RV.

When i arrived home, i realized the same thing had happened to my Blizzard Pearl Prius which had been sitting in the same environment for 4 weeks. I promptly took it through a carwash, about half of the rust and dots came off. The rest i had to clay away or cut polish out.

I returned to my RV 1 week later to move it to another storage yard far away from this constant contamination. The freshly polished side had already picked up rusty dots. My RV has full paint, Grey/White/Blue. See attached pic of what the white looked like and you will see it to be similar to what you are experiencing.

Any time you are near an industrial area with metal recycling, construction, body shop, frame/axle repair... any kind of metal grinding going on, it's going to stick to the paint of your vehicle. If it's raining and you drive through these areas, its going to be kicked up on the car and stick to the paint.

 

.... and do not clay chromed plastic ... it will grab like crazy. Friction, not good.

 

Sorry if this a stupid question
But what is claying your car mean?
Is it the same as waxing?

 

Do you use it like a wax as far as applying and cleaning off?
Or do you use a buffer?
Thankyou very much for the explanation.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I live on a dirt road. Washing the car seems a bit futile (other than to get salt off in the spring). That said, I am finding myself quite fond of her, and would like to do what makes sense to keep her in good shape. Can anyone make recommendations for cleaning, protecting a car that drives through either mud or dust everyday?

Thank You Kindly.

 

From what I remember reading the same person has a patten on the clay bar so it doesn't really matter if it's Mothers or Megs it's the same. Just make sure you use the retailer spray and keep it wet to avoid swirl marks

 

Looks great! I had a white grand Cherokee that I would clay bar about 2x a year. Def notice the difference! I'd get what I'd call freckles too. LOL

 

Does the Rejex ever build up and need to be stripped off the windshield?

 

There are definite differences in the aggressiveness of claybars. Stick with a brand name that is intended for detailing car paint and I agree with you.

I think there has to be a difference in quality too, but I haven't heard of anyone that used a brand name bar right having problems.

 

I'd think wearing down is more of a problem, especially with the windshield wipers.

 

I do it twice a year. Clay, then RejeX. Never thought about stripping it off, but my guess is after 6 months (probably more like 3 or 4) it's disintegrated on its own.

 

You might want to call up Griots Garage or Meguiars hot line for some tips. I don't go on dirt roads so I can't help you.

 

My love isn't as strong as most of you (I luv my tendinitis ridden elbows slightly more). ;(

 

I'm only guessing......but using this clay on a clear coated paint job......is this OK ???

 

All paints nowadays are clear-coated. Clear coat is simply paint, only clear in color.

 

Yes. When you use clay properly, with the lube, the clay slides on the a hydrodynamic layer of lube and doesn't actually touch the paint but it grinds away or pulls out anything sticking up above the paints surface. If you don;t use enough lube you can feel the clay drag on the paint...Don't do that.

The lube might be the bottle of stuff that cam with your clay bar, or it might be properly diluted car wash in water or a quick detailer spray.

These instructions and explanation look good.
Clay Bar Auto Detailing Guide - Detailed Image