Oh yes. A clay bar is basically the modern version of wetsanding. Wash your car and then run you hand over it. Chances are it will feall a little bumpy. You'll really notice it after you drive it. A clay bar gets that bumpiness out of the paint. A clay bar alonw wont really do that much. You have to follow it with a wax to make teh car really shine. Mother's sells a kit called the California Gold Clay Bar Kit which has the bar and a small bottle of wax will get you about 3 coats of wax. Its money well spent for amking a car look good.
Posts: 2413
Joined: 10/4/2004 From: Westville, IL Status: offline
Remember that 90% of your shine and reflection comes before you wax the car. It is all paint prep. Wash your car. Find you a ziplock baggy. Put your hand in the baggy and run it across the paint, if the paint feels rough it needs claybarred. It is worth claying. I usually do mine about 3 times a year. After you clay find a good polish. The polish will clean your paint and bring out the shine and reflection. After that,follow with a good wax or sealant.
Clay bar-red yesterday for the first time and it was well worth the effort. I couldn't keep my hands off the car -- feels so smooth! Made it really easy to wax, too.
You should not need to clay the car more than twice a year. Unless you use the Pinnacle Ultra Poly clay. That is a lighter clay that can be used more often.
Here's a link that has a good explanation of what clay does and how to use it:
Posts: 2413
Joined: 10/4/2004 From: Westville, IL Status: offline
I had an interesting thing happen this weekend at a mustang show. When I show my Saleen my wife usually brings our detailing setup. Well I was doing a claybar demonstration on a customers car and a man walked up and starting throwing a fit. He said he couldn't believe that I would use something like that on someones paint and all it does is put scratches into it. I tried to explain to him that it helps the paint and not hurt it but he would not listen. Then he asked if I would back the product if it ruins someones paint. After he left I actually sold about 6 claybars from the demonstation! Most people have never heard of one. Man they are missing out!
< Message edited by Juztang -- 9/14/2006 11:00:32 PM >
Clay has been around for quite a few years in detailing, but it's still relatively new to consumers... maybe the last 8 years or so. Every once in a while I see someone who's either very afraid or very skeptical -- or both.
At the Saleen Show on Saturday I talked to a nice guy who was taking paint finishing classes and hadn't heard of clay either. He'd been using a high-speed rotary to remove his paint defects and contaminants on his Saleen. While a high-speed rotary is fine for a "pro" to use, consumers shouldn't go there, and clay certainly has a place in everyone's detail bag. I happened to have a Mothers Clay Bar kit that was given to me, so I "regifted" it to him... I think it'll be interesting to see what his classmates think of it.
For the skeptics about clay frequency, yesterday I clayed my mom's hood ('94 Camry in champagne metallic) to rid it of some pinhead-sized paint splatters... even with the Meguiar's "Aggressive" professional clay (red), it took quite a bit of effort to remove them. The paint now looks beautiful with no signs of any marring or wear in those spots that required extra work (granted, the color is quite forgiving to the eye). A coat of Mothers carnauba cleaner wax and it feels like glass and looks like new. I did purposely not clay a spot, and it's amazing the difference in feel. Even my mom and her neighbor lady were impressed.
Like with most anything else, I believe that preventive maintenance is key. If you've got contaminants sitting on the paint, you want to get rid of them before they do damage to the finish. I think paint splatters are pretty harmless, but they are an eyesore nonetheless. However, if you've got bad contaminants sitting there, such as chemicals, bug or bird droppings or metals, get rid of them ASAP -- and claying is a great way to do it safely. Your paint will thank you.
Posts: 2413
Joined: 10/4/2004 From: Westville, IL Status: offline
One area that gets pretty bad is around where the exhaust comes out....back bumper,spoiler, and trunk. I usually ask customers if they want their cars clayed. If they don't know what I'm talking about I show them how it works in a small section. Once they look at the clay and see how dirty it is from the contaminants, they are amazed.
< Message edited by Juztang -- 9/15/2006 12:09:36 AM >
Printable Version
clay bar - 
