Diesel350

You don't have to live next to an industrial area to get contaminants on your paint. You can still get contaminants embedded in your paint from other things like brake dust. It's recommended to claybar your car at least once a year.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

well said ............

Schmexus

I think it took me about an hour to do my whole car. I used less than 22oz of Glide.(10:1).

Zelfiris

I myself hate using a clay bar. It's a big pain. This year I switched over to a more expensive alternative. It's the nanoskin autoscrub towel which goes $40 to $60 depending where you purchase it from. This towel will reduce the job down to 15-30 mins and can be 50 to 80 times (according to autoscrub)

Most people just need to clay their cars twice a year so this is a sound investment for me. Autoscrub also makes a sponge for a fraction of the towel

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't make much of a difference in what sense? The purpose of a clay bar is simply to remove bonded surface contaminates to truly clean the paint... it will not create a visual difference (at least not usually).

The decontamination process is an important one, despite the fact that it will not produce a noticeably different look. These tiny bonded particles can act as abrasives if they get caught in between your wash mitt, towels, buffing pad, etc and can therefore lead to swirls and scratches.

If you have not heard of "the baggie test", check out this article on how to tell if your paint is truly free of bonded contaminates.

See my above response as to why claying is important. If you maintain your vehicle properly, you will not spend nearly this amount of time decontaminating your vehicle.

If you live in an area where industrial fallout/iron contamination is an issue (ie any city) then using a product like CarPro IronX prior to claying will help to remove the majority of the bonded iron particles from the surface and will make claying much quicker.

While the nanoskin products are surely a great tool for quick and easy decontamination, they are also much more aggressive than traditional clay. With that, they are very prone to leaving faint marring on the paint. For this reason, I only recommend using these synthetic clay substitutes if you plan on polishing the vehicle after decontamination. Just my $0.02 as someone that has used the nanoskin products a lot.

ap2s2k

iTrader: (3)

I also clay bar my car once a year, the trick is to 'loosen' contaminates that attached to the clear coat before claying. So after initial wash, I apply iron X and it basically attacks those little particles of rust, little rusty color dots, then I do a quick wash again, rinse, and then clay bar with a lube on already wet surface. After that, one step polish to make sure no marring is present, wax and you good to go. If you are looking for that awesome shine, 95% is the paint prep and the rest is wax/sealant. I agree, first detail is the most time consuming, but after that it's a easy and fast to keep it clean.

PondScum

Even if they stay stuck in the paint they are a problem. Larger embedded particles and especially paint overspray can actually catch on your MF towels or foam buffer pads and tear them, or at least, leave a little area behind the embedded particle where dried polish can collect, since they stick out of the surface of the paint. You have to get rid of these before you polish.

I can't imagine not claying before polishing. It takes so little time.

rustyd

I just spend three days working on mine. Wash, Clay, compound, polish, seal, wax.

Legender

I'm a believer after using it one time... not so much the appearance change... but the feel of the paint is so smooth. Can't tell if your running your fingers on the glass or the paint... it's that smooth.
I believe that at least once a year is reasonable.
I did mine as i had tiny tar specs all over the trunk and was looking for something to take it off. Bonus was the incredible smooth feel and the tar came of easily enough.

bradtopp

Agreed 100%. I do not live by a railroad track and hardly ever driver over them. Rail dust is not the only thing that contaminates paint.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

If you want to make your life easier, I highly recommend introducing a product like CarPro Iron X and CarPro Tar X into your decontamination routine.

Use these products every 4-6 months to remove bonded surface contaminates such as Iron/rail dust as well as tar. This will make annual claying much quicker and easier.

-Zach

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

shouldnt take 5 hours. Not sure what your method is but should take no longer than 1.5 hours

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Depending on how bad the contamination is, it can take quite a while if the vehicle has been neglected...

but yes, in general, 5 hours is a very long time to clay

dstopsie

Hi Zach

What kind of clay bar do you recommend and clay lubricant? Just got rid of my black IS and got the ultra white one and am interested in claying it. The black just turned out to be too much work to detail and even my detailer was having trouble claying my black car with his regular products he uses and even with prototype products from Maguires that he tests for them.

Thanks for your help

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Clay Magic Fine Grade Clay Bar

NanoSkin Glide Clay Lubricant