OK, I am bout ready to clay my car for the 3rd time.

First time I hit the whole car when new using the mothers clay bar system before I zainoed. This was like the first night I had the car back in Aug 2002. Worked well, and got all of the tape lines off the car.

The second claying was using Zaino Clay Bar about 5 months ago. It did not go so well. I cleaned the car very good with zaino wash, then made the stronger wash solution for lubrication of the clay bar. Claying did make the paint really smooth and got rid of the grime that regular washing could not. I washed the car again and rinsed well. As I pull the car into the sun I notice the whole car has a "look" about it. I can really see this 3D raised scratch effect when the sun is hitting it (especially on top surfaces). I pull it in my wash bay again and wash once more with a dilute soap solution and rinse again. To my dismay it is still there and is very obvious when looking through my polarized sunglasses. I pull from my wash bay into my garage and put about 3 coats of Zaino that day. Whatever it was not visible anymore.

What did I do wrong? It that what claybar does to polished surfaces? I don’t think it actually made it to the paint as I had about 20 or so layers of zaino on there. Did I just clay some of the Zaino coats creating this wicked appearance? Do I need to use more soapy water? I was not rubbing the clay hard at all.

Bonz or Kevin? What do you think. I want to put my 30 something layer on the car but I need to clay it first, just a little hesitant.

 

good read right here

http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=14

 

Hi
Bummer. Sounds like you might have got some dirt in the clay. The clay itself has a fine abrasive, and the clay itself is a very fine powder with a binder. BUt, it is also very good at retaining dirt and other junk- that is why the recommendation is for only one or two uses, and to fold over often during use. This is an attempt to keep the dirt away from the working surface. Lots of lube is also helpful- a few drops of dishsoap or carwash soap in water will do the job, a couple drops of isopropyl alcohol will also help, but then do the cleaning in a garage NOT in the sun.
You can use a fine grade of modelling clay, and you probably wont be able to tell the difference in performance.
You can try to repeat the claybar work. If this does not work, get a bottle of 3M Gloss or Aurora 3000 non-silicone gloss. Use a clean microfiber cloth, and work a small area like a foot square, where you can get a low view angle to the sunlight (*do this work in a garage). Use the gloss freely, and turn the cloth often. This will put a mirror finish on in no time at all. I use this stuff, and I can put the cloth on the hood and it will slide off without touching it....
Good luck.

 

According to Sal, claying doesn't remove Zaino. I'm not so sure about that though. I know if you do it lightly, it does not remove Zaino (at least not 40-50 layers )

Sounds like you had some contaminant in your clay.

 

Both times the clay was brand new, never opened.

Oh well I will try again. The good news is that it was not permanent. It could have just been the sunglasses I was wearing.

Thanks for all your input.