just wondering if doing the clay job accomplishes the same thing as the cleaner step. is it redundant to do the cleaner after the clay?

also, is polishing necessary after clay?

 

Use a cleaner before the clay. Here is a great process to do things:

wash
cleaner to strip off old wax
clay
wash
polish
wax

You don't need to polish after the clay, but its a great time to do it.

 

great, thats exactly what i wanted to know. (but was afraid to ask )

 

polish and clay do slightly different things...
clay is used to remove surface contamination. it "picks out" stuff (contaminents) from the paint.
polish is like an extremely light sanding. it removes (abrades) a very small amount of the clear coat in order to remove the "bad" surface. you do this to get a new looking paint.
polishes come in different aggressivenesses. when you are new at this, always start with the least aggressive polish first (swirl remover or paint cleaner).
polishes are best worked with a machine.

clay is relatively new... we used to just polish and now sometimes do both. theoretically clay isnt needed if you are polishing (if i feel contaminents in the paint i clay- then if the surface looks like it needs to be rejuvinated, i polish).

 

so why would you suggest to wash between clay and polish?

im kinda stuck on meguiars brand stuff. bad choice? ive got some old 3 step liquid stuff left over, did a pretty good job before on my old crx. was just a total labor to do.

ive never clayed before. from what i hear, its a godsend. i guess i was hoping it would at least take away one step of the process.

 

wrong section to say you want to take away steps

you'll need to wash your car after you clay to remove the residual clay

 

I've always clayed BEFORE I attempt to use any cleaner/polish. Reason being is that before I go rubbing a product into my finish I'd rather have any contaminants in my paint already removed from the surface with the clay. The polishing step can dislodge some of these contaminants, which can then scratch the paint's surface while being moved around btwn your pad and paint. At least that's the way I've always done it, and has made sense to me.