Now I don't know if you have your car garaged or not, but contaminants can build up fast on a car that isn't garaged and around the amount of pollen and winter garbage that we deal with in the NorthEast haha

I would say I spend about 2-3 minutes on each little section that I do. First I spray the car with the detailer and rub with the clay bar, then I spray and rub some more taking it very easy to get everything off and smooth, then you wipe off with a clean cloth. Then I apply wax to that section and move on to another section. Repeat but after applying wax to the new section I remove from the old. There is NO WAY you are claying a car in 5-15 minutes if you are doing it correctly.

It is a very very time consuming operation in car detailing. But then again I am meticulous when it comes to some things and I will take a long time to do something right because I don't want to mess up the paint.

 

When I detail cars I allot my self about 1 hour to complete a large car and trucks and SUVs ect... although it never takes me that long. And about 30 min on small cars.

If you do it during the rinse process the claying stage goes much faster as you dont have to wipe off what you clayed which causes streaking as your towel becomes saturated and scratches. Then depending on how bad the car was I give it a light wash of it the cars wasn't that bad I just hose the whole car down then dry the car and I move on to compounding/polisher or waxing ect..

 

Mike......meticulous with his Monte?????????? LOL! Well today was a whopping 52 degrees. The weather has not been my friend.

How do you know when to move from one spot to a new spot? Can you feel less drag or does it get slick/smooth? I want to make sure I do it right.

 

I will feel very smooth - like glass. The parts that haven't been done will feel gritty.

 

x2 and you can hear it as well

 

x2 on the sound, you'll know it once you start.

The clay bar will GLIDE and you won't hear anything

 

Oh and speaking of glass make sure to clay your windows too

 

well i may have underestimated the time, because the last time i did it, tuesday or wednesday, it took around 5 minutes for everything north of the b pillar ... so less than 30 for the whole car for sure

and im fairly certain im doing it properly, i dont remember if it was gothkid or someone else that said a plastic walmart bag trick is the best way to tell if you did it properly, but i do that before and after and never find anything on my paint after

and i disagree that with routine care ( not neglected first time claying ) it is actually the fastest part of my detail process ...

but then again, your car may look better than mine but im happy with my results ... what do you think ???

 

Depending on what you are doing to the car depends on how important claying is. If you clay and then wax, getting a very very good clay is very important. If you are going to polish the car with compounds and polishes its not as important. Now its important you do it as it can tear up pads, but the nitty gritty is not that big of a deal as the compound and polishes will take out what the clay missed anyway.

What is the definition of what makes the car look good. in the pic you posted it could be a pic of it washed with no hint of wax on it and you couldn't tell the difference. Close up reflection shots tell the story as do if you can see swirls and spider webs. To me if there are and swirls or spider webbing the car is far from perfect and does not look good.

When I go to car shows and I see swirl marks on beautiful cars it eats me alive and drive me crazy.

Here is a car I detailed for a customer.. these are a few good shots that show how good the car looks.
Before:

After:

And this is a picture of the hood of the car..

 

jesus christ dude ... i get it ... what is with you guys assuming that either i dont know what im doing, or that the picture is supposed to represent my efforts with claying, polishing, waxing and everything else ... its a finished picture referring to the WHOLE finished process ...

washed - clayed - windexed - swirl remover2.0 - ultimate compound - show car glaze - nxt tech wax - gold carnuba wax on all perpendicular surfaces ....

there are still marks and scratches in my paint that i cant get out with the polishes i have or the pads i use ...

i mean seriously ... and jaws im not going off on you, but effff me you guys just love telling people what they do is wrong ... or insufficient

considering i taught myself, pieced together, and worked on my own process based on the relatively limited monetary resources to detail "MY" car ... i think ive done a damn good job ... and ill let anyone come check my paint any day of the week

you also respond and act like im a little kid, and in no way get offended ... and i gotta say this thread has officially pissed me off ...

im done ... to the OP, good luck with your car, follow the instructions on the box ... clearly not me

swirl marks and spiderwebs that are there BEFORE last detailing ... i didnt take any afters because i wasnt finished with the whole car ...