Clay Bar - Worth it? Opinions...
 

As spring is here, and the rx is coming out of hibernation, I have been debating what to do with the paint finish. I have developed a method and series of waxes/polishes that result in a brilliant shine - but being a 19 year old red car, it requires maintenance.

So, I have been considering giving the car a clay bar treatment. You know - start the season by removing all the old wax and deposits with the clay bar, and applying the proper sequence of waxes afterwards. Many of the searches I've done about using clay bars have been to remove overspray etc. Is a clay bar too aggressive for "regular" detailing?

Has anyone used the clay bar?
How were the results?
Was it hard to do properly?
Was it a waste of time?
Would you reccommend using it?
What tips and pointers do you have for a first time user?
Which brand did you use?


At the local shops, I can pick up either of these kits - anyone use either of them?

The Meguiars one:


http://www.meguiars.com/store_meguia...roduct_g11.gif

Or the Mothers Kit:

http://www.mothers.com/products/prod...tpix/07240.jpg

I've used it and think that it's alright, but nothing marvelous. Here's what I do:

1) Clean your car good with good car soap
2) Use a good quality pre-wax paint cleaner/wax remover (Meguires)
3) Use a good quality polish (Meguires) preferably with an orbital buffer
4) Apply a good wax (Eagle One Nano, Meguires Gold, Zaino, etc..)
5) If your ambitious apply another coat of wax :)

The prewax cleaner/wax remover combined with a good polish works MUCH better than the clay bar IMO.

claybar is a requirement, the first thing I do when I get a new car is clay/polish/wax.

Which brand do you use? Any hints or tips? What colour is your car?


Once I have finished with the clay bar, I'd apply my usual "recipe" for actual waxes, and polishes.

hey i use a clay bar almost everytime after i drive the car. it doesnt take the wax or polish off the car, it just removes whats in the clear coat, like rocks and so on. to get the old wax off the car you have to use dishwashing soap. then clay the whole car, after that use zaino. i use it and its amazing, alittle pricely but worth every penny. just make sure you get the right polish, theres one for clear coat and one for without.

brandon

The wax remover will not remove any caked in bugs or various "bumps" etc. You are basically wet sanding with the clay bar. It's just that it will not scratch the finish. It does rub out the imperfections instead of actually sanding them out. The Mothers clay bar is good. I used it to remove some acid rain damage a few years back. The clay bar treatment is worth the effort if you want to keep your paint nice.

?How can it remove the crap in the clear coat but not remove wax?

Isn't it's whole purpose to remove all the wax and contaminents from the paint's surface?

I've used the Mothers. Quite labor intensive but gives a really smoooooth finish to the paint. I was impressed. Tip. don't run the bar on dry paint. Keep the surface wet.

Try it at least once.

David

hmm, good point, well an easier way to remove the old wax would be dish washing soap.

Love my clay bar. I use the Mothers version. Wash the car like normal, clay bar, clean off all the unused quick detailer, polish and then Meguiars NGT wax! Works real nice!!!!

not to hijack the thread but has anyone ever used klasse aio? compaired to zaino

Well, I've seen your car and it was purdy!:bigthumb:


I was pretty sure that the bar would be a good thing for my car, but it's great to hear that everyone supports the results! I'm going to give it a whirl - hopefully within the next couple weeks. I'll post when I've used it.

Any other tips?

It's astonishing to see (and feel) the particles/contaminants that are pulled from the paint with the clay. It's important to knead the clay often to keep the rubbing surface free of particles prone to scratching the paint.

Just to be clear... claying the car alone will not give the car a "halo". It's simply good prep for the next steps to polishing and waxing. The Mother's step systems are very good, but a product I recently tried is the NXT stuff. I like it.

David

Another note with the mothers kit, you dont necessarily have to use the spray they provide as the lubrication for the clay bar, soapy or plain water works, at one point I was using window cleaner. :)

PS. I used to detail all the trucks where I worked. Along with some boats.

My car looked like ass till I claybarred and detailed it, then it came out great. Just using the mothers kit, Claybars can be used a few times, I recall using 1 about every 4-5 trucks.

Yeah, I am aware that it is simply a prep step. After the clay bar, the car will get another 2 to 3 coats of product before I'm satisfied with the results. I just have to remove all the crap, oxidation and old wax that's on the car before I start layering more wax on it - and the clay bar seems to be the ticket!


As far as the "lube" goes, it seems that all the clay bars are sold as a kit, and the lubricant is included with it. I'll use what comes with the kit, and only start with soapy water etc once I'm out of the other stuff.

Hey Nick, ever since I got my FD a couple years ago I've been using the Mother's clay bar treatment. I reused it twice so even though the package is a bit expensive you can reuse it providing you have enough detail solution left (if not you can buy it seperately) and that the clay bar (which is really like silly putty) is clean enough and still has some yellow colour left :P I think it's good to do the treatment once a year to clean the junk off the paint before you wax and polish the car. Anyhow if you want any help let me know, I am local remember :P

Thanks for the input! Your car looks sweet; we met at an orleans meet (I was the "big guy" in the red GXL :p: ). I'm glad that those people who's cars I've seen that look good use the clay bar treatment. Sometimes when you post about a product, you hear more about the people who get "ok" results because they used the product as a last resort to restore a finish.

haha thanks :) Yeah I remember you and your car, it looked good at the time :) Well definitely let me know if you want any help or how things turn out - I guess I'll also see it soon enough at one of the meets ;)

The professional detail shop I have used to detail my cars uses products from www.automagic.com When my car got oversprayed at work, they recommended I purchase a clay bar kit from AutoMagic which I did. As others have commented, they work great. I too have used just a spray bottle full of water.

Clay bar kits are available here: http://www.automagic.biz/specialt.htm

I also recommend their Body Shine product as a quick detailer.

I use the Mother's clay bar on my car about once a year. It certainly won't fix scratches etc but my daily driven car does pick up general road and insect crud that doesn't come off with washing; the clay bar takes care of that. It's easy to do as well, takes me no more than an hour to clay my FD after I've washed it.

The very first time I clayed my original paint I was very pleasantly suprised with how great an improvement it was. Bug parts, tar, sap, grit, stains, overspray etc all get removed with the clay bar.