Originally Posted by buster
My truck sat through last winter. Paint is still in good shape other than water spots (they come off). I dread claying. The Subaru paint is factory fresh new (car came with 2 miles on it).
I want to do a detail with Turtle Wax Seal N Shine. What's the best alternative to preparing the paint that doesn't involve using a clay bar?
Use something like the Mothers Clay 2.0 if you are going do it. It's easy to find locally and easy to use, and it's not too aggressive to really be of danger, as long as you use while washing car (lots of soap suds!) or after a wash but with plenty of clay lube.
FYI: You can check the condition of the paint first to see if you even need to take the clay step, and thus avoid it if not necessary too. Just get a plastic sandwich bag (the thinner the better) and put your hand in it and rub slowly over the car's [clean] paint/clear coat, feeling with your (plastic covered) fingertips.
If you feel tiny bumps and spots everywhere, those are contaminants that have attached themselves to the paint and cannot be washed or polished off (because you already did that previous to this and they are obviously still there).
In that case, claying would do you lots of good.
If you felt nothing but smooth paint though, claying wouldn't yield much benefit for the effort involved, might as well skip it.
