Paint Cleaning |
When my SE sat in the shop for a few months (ECM stuff...you know the
story), it was uncovered for at least half of the time. During that
time, my beautiful Monaco White paint finish managed to get some tiny,
microscopic black particles embedded in it. Most likely, they were brake
dust or something similar. The problem is that they became fused to the
paint job. You couldn't see them from more than a distance of 1 or 2
feet, but if you ran your hand over the finish, it felt gritty.
I tried using many different cleaners without much
success. If I used a highly abrasive rubbing or polishing compound, they
would finally come off after a lot of scrubbing. The only problem is
that then I had to follow that with an application of Meguiars #2 Fine
Cut to remove the surface scratches left by the compound. This can't be
good for the finish, I thought.
Then, somebody on this list mentioned that they had
some success with a product called Clay Magic. I bought some from Pep
Boys. It was amazing! What took major amounts of force and scrubbing to
remove came off with relatively light pressure.
I started off by removing my roof panel, bringing it
into the house and working on it while I watched television. Later, when
I was cleaning the rest of the car, I put the bottle of wetting agent
that comes with the product on the roof panel, which was back on the
car, and it started sliding right off! The car wasn't at an incline and
the roof panel barely has an angle from horizontal. I was impressed!
What I liked the most was that, although the product
was removing the same stuff that the compounds could, it was a much
kinder, gentler, easier process. I must admit that at first I was a bit
skeptical and even cautious about rubbing clay over my car. I'm a
believer now. If anyone ever has similar problems, give this product a
try.
BTW: This is an honest product endorsement. I have no
connection with the product's maker or anything. OK?
Many other companies are now making their versions of clay bar products.
The version I am using now is from Griots' Garage.
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