Factory clear coat life?
Factory clear coat life? I was feeling a little bit curious and maybe somebody knows a more accurate answer to this than I:
I'm a freak about my car (Aren't we all?
), and I never let it dirty as best as I can. When it's freshly waxed, I don't even drive it for like a month because I'm worried about it getting dirty. Besides my need of professional help, I have another concern.
I've given my car only one good claybar/polishing during my ownership of it. I always worry that paint abrasives, while excellent at levelling the clearcoat, thereby eliminating swirls, scratches, and inconsistencies, might be doing a good job of stripping clear coat, as well. I know clear coat does not last forever. I do want to prolong its life optimally combined WITH the time I get to see my car at its sharpest optimally, too. How often is too often? How seldom is too seldom? Is it really bad to polish after claybar'ing? Should I do one (Claybar vs Polish) more often than the other? I loved how it made the car feel when I did it the first time, but I've been afraid to do it again. Anybody have some confident insight unlike myself into this matter?
I'm a freak about my car (Aren't we all?
), and I never let it dirty as best as I can. When it's freshly waxed, I don't even drive it for like a month because I'm worried about it getting dirty. Besides my need of professional help, I have another concern. I've given my car only one good claybar/polishing during my ownership of it. I always worry that paint abrasives, while excellent at levelling the clearcoat, thereby eliminating swirls, scratches, and inconsistencies, might be doing a good job of stripping clear coat, as well. I know clear coat does not last forever. I do want to prolong its life optimally combined WITH the time I get to see my car at its sharpest optimally, too. How often is too often? How seldom is too seldom? Is it really bad to polish after claybar'ing? Should I do one (Claybar vs Polish) more often than the other? I loved how it made the car feel when I did it the first time, but I've been afraid to do it again. Anybody have some confident insight unlike myself into this matter?
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: Franklin Ky.
1-2 times a year with the claybar should be enough (depending on how much you drive it). The real key is to just feel your paint after you wash and dry it. When it starts feeling kinda gritty, it's time to claybar.
Claybarring won't hurt your paint, as long as you wash it before, and use plenty of lube while doing the clay, I fully clay the car 4x per year, and spot clay just about every wash. Polishing, I do it once a year (usually at the start of the show season), and keep a good coat of wax on it, usually helps keep it swirl free for the year. If something happens (scratch, paint scuff) I don't have a problem breaking out the polish & PC and getting rid of the defect.
Unless you go with a really abrasive product, and do it once a week, I don't see alot of danger wearing away the clearcoat.
One thing I go by is, use the mildest (in terms of abrasive) product that will get the results you want
Unless you go with a really abrasive product, and do it once a week, I don't see alot of danger wearing away the clearcoat.
One thing I go by is, use the mildest (in terms of abrasive) product that will get the results you want
