This may be a stupid noob question, but i was wondering if it is necessary for me to clay my car before i polish with a P/C?

Or can i just wash the car and go straight to polishing it?

thanks in advance.

 

Do you have tough stains or orange peel. On most newer cars, the paint is in a condition where clay barring wouldn't be necessary. There is a good test to see if you need it. I think, put your hand in a ziploc bag and rub it over the paint...if I doesn't feel smooth, you should use clay

 

nope the paint is still relatively new (only 6 months old) and i clayed it about 3 months ago.

The reason is that i have the OB color and a lot of swirl marks on it. So i would like to use a P/C to get rid of it. thought i should ask the experts (this will be my first time using a P/C) before i get down to it.

so just wash it and go to polish right?

 

You don't need to put your hand in a bag, when washing the car run
your hands over the surface is it smooth? Is your car parked in a garage at
night or left on the street? If the surface isn't smooth it needs to be clayed
then waxed and keep it in the garage at night if possible.

 

the paint is smooth.
i keep it in the garage at all times.
i usually wash it every weekend, and wax it about once every 2 months.

 

I personally say just clay it, it really doesn't take that much time, plus I was told that basically if there are any impurities on your car that you could cause more harm than good when you polish. Now i am by no means an expert in this area, but thats just what I was told.

 

ok, yeah that's what i was thinking too. don't want to cause more harm than good by skipping out on the claying part.

 

IMHO, claying a 6 month old car probably put more scratches in the finish than contaminants that were pulled out.

As far as polishing. A 6 month old car probably doesn't need much of a polish if at all.

 

A mild claybar shouldn't scratch the car. Use lots of lubricant, make sure the car is clean to begin with and go. I agree though that if clay was used when the car was 3 months old its probably good to go.

The condition of Infiniti paint has less to do with age than with the type of care used used when washing and keeping it clean. I can understand how some 6 month old cars have lots of scratches in them with the soft paint. Mine did and I'm very careful.

 

agreed, cars straight from the dealership have some swirling due to their prep work

 

Yep. Unfortunately unless you can get to them before they get at it. I now know a lot more than I did 3 years ago and wouldn't let them do prep before delivery.

 

I just don't think a 6 month old car would have enough crap on it to warrant a clay bar. But it's his car.

 

I clayed mine the first weekend I got it, you don't know how long it sat on the lot before you got it, could have been up to a year. That warrants a claying IMO

 

Did it feel that bad or you just wanted to?

 

it wasn't silky smooth, especially on the hood/roof, which a quick claying took care of right away