Well needless to say, i've owned 1 black car, 1 black truck, and a dark blue truck and never claybar'd them ever. So today i went to O'Reilly's and picked up meguiar's smooth surface clay bar kit.

I had some nasty water stains all over my beautiful black SS. So, first i washed my whole car with dawn soap to remove wax and what not, then washed it with meguiar's wash and wax car wash, which i also recommend. Then i used some meguiar's quick detailer spray, and used it for a lubricant for the clay and did the whole hood little by little. then i did the whole hood in Meguiar's cleaner wax and then i put a good coat of Black Magic liquid wax on it. and all the little swirl marks i was starting to develop. gone. all the water marks. gone. all the bugs that i couldnt get off. gone. I am very upset with myself for never doing this before....

pic's to come tomorrow, anyone have any other tips for me?

 

I wouldn't do a dawn wash myself as the soap is very harsh and can stain the black trim around the windows and such. The clay bar will remove more than any wash can.

Your swirl marks are still there, they are just hidden by the oils in the wax. Eventually they will come back if you don't keep it waxed.

Also, the bugs that you couldn't get off most likely etched your paint to some degree. Much like bird crap, bug guts have a lot of acid in them and can etch the clear if left on for too long. The clear on our cars is decent and resists this better than a lot of other cars.

 

Dawn soap isnt harsh on the paint, it is actually highly recommended, but not necessary. You said that you washed with Dawn , then washed again with Meguairs? The correct way is to wash once(if possible, using the 2 bucket method), then clay (using the provided lubricant, or soapy water), then wash the entire car down again to remove any residue from the clay (here is where you can use the meguiars soap). Then you can dry/wax.

By washing twice like you did before you clayed was more than likely a waste.

p.s. lets see some pics!