Heavy Decon Removal Tips
by Ian MartinezA Detailed Image Customer wrote to us and asked:
“I am trying to clay bar the car right now and I’m having a very hard time decontaminating the paint. I have washed the car with CarPro Reset twice. I have tried an old but unopened clay bar from a Mother’s kit and tried a NanoSkin AutoScrub Fine Grade Pad. I can not seem to get all of the contamination off the paint. No matter how hard or long I clay I still hear contamination. I plan to use CarPro Iron X soon but I will purchase a new clay product at the same time. Could you make a recommendation for a new clay device? Also, the car was made in Japan.”
I’ve had a few clients that worked next to a heavy metal polishing facility and their paint literally felt, and sounded, like 80 grit sandpaper. Heavy decontamination is a much different approach than standard maintenance.
First, after a good shampoo soak, I would use something like Iron-X to get out and iron deposits, but also to help see what you are dealing with. Remember to thoroughly rinse and cover your nose!
Next, I would recommend just a standard clay, slightly more aggressive, bar like Medium Grade DI Clay Bar. I normally like to use something like the CarPro Poly Shave or NanoSkin, but since the contamination is so much on the surface and not just trying to pull it out of the paint pores, the rubber polymer products just can’t really grab on. The clay has a little more give and “wraps around” the particles and really helps pick them up.
Then you are going to want to grab a rolling cart or something because you can be here a while, depending on what the makeup of the contamination is. Just take you time, one panel at a time and you can get through it.
Just note that you will most likely cause some damage to the paint from this and will need to polish the paint after. When you FINALLY finish, make sure to protect your paint to help prevent this!
Good post; this is the same process I’ve found to work best. Due to airflow, the back of my E92 M3 picks up a lot brake dust and other contaminates. In my experience, a good soak with Iron-X (my favorite) is the best way to start and this takes care of the vast majority of particles. I follow up with a wash, then finalize by working over the area with a synthetic sponge, which I prefer over clay, to get the last of it.
Definitely going to agree with Alex – Iron-X is a miracle worker, I’ve had the best success with it.
I would just put the Nano with all that work. I bought a new car that day I put Nano on it.
Before getting super aggressive with clay and marring the paint I would try other options for chemical decon. Something like citrol 266, rapid remover, goof off pro strength remover, or other solvents can do a great job of pulling off contamination that a clay bar won’t touch.
Goof off has silicones in it and not good for paint – just be aware of the products you use.
If the car is truly disgusting, first use a really strong detergent wash (I like Purple Power Heavy-Duty Vehicle and Boat Pressure Wash Concentrate, cheap at Walmart–thanks Dallas Paint Correction!). Then use Iron-X–it is incredibly effective at removing iron particles, so much so that I always use it prior to claying. Claying will then be much easier/faster, and you may not need to use an aggressive clay. That will make polishing much faster/easier as well. Good luck!