bro,
This is normal, that means the surface is not entirely cleaned during claying, even I clayed my bonet twice, I am still seeing my sponge turned black during cleansing (was using cleanser to remove my old wax/polish).

yes, you may or may not get swirls by rubbing sponge on your paintwork, in the event that swirls is inflicted on the surface, your polish may have removed it anyway, since you are polishing it..

This post has been edited by lifeless_creature: Mar 14 2016, 04:25 PM

certain honda city are with single coating, meaning paint+clear coat were mixed as 1 layer...not traditional 2 layers, paint + clear coat..and its not even across the surface..that's what I heard earlier..

the compound u used earlier could be too abrasive for your paint condition, therefore the loss of 'gloss' is happening there. Luckily urs is silver? the condition is not that obvious...

if u go wif the touch-up paint route, lucky, u can cover the area and make it looks like original again, unlucky, it will look worse because even if the color code is the same, when it is applied on our car it may look different than our existing paint due to various reasons.

Alternatively, u can go wif non-abrasive polish and coat wif wax to "lighten" it up and make it less noticeable...which I think u shud try this way, as its more practical and cost effective, and less risky too compared to the above

well, we cannot be 100% sure, whether its mixed layer, or uneven spraying, or a soft clear coat or any other reasons, unless there is a chemical tests done on it.

anyway, this is not the first case i have seen...just saying what i observed...but there are official reports says certain car makers coatings are softer, certain ones are harder.

very nice finish bro~ well done!

from my observations of few brands of claybars i used before,:-

1) the type of lubricant we used during claying, if we were to use with tap water and shampoo, the claybar's lifespan will be shortened, and eventually breaking up into small pieces/bits like what u described.

2) the claybar itself has reached its lifespan, sometimes even it is not opened/used, probably because it was kept too long on the shelf or exposed to air for some time.

Once used for the first time, recommend to spray a bit of lubricant on it and keep in a tight container/can or bag (zipped) , so to prolong its lifespan.

As for if it is still usable, yes, but the performance of coz will be greatly reduced, because it will keep dis-integrating itself as u use..