GunnyFitz

Spent my day changing rear rotors and pads on wires car today and was gratefully surprised when my friends helping do the work at his house asked me if I ever used a clay bar on her car - which I had not!

Washed it down and then he went to work rubbing that little piece of clay on it while spraying with some special clay liquid. After that was done he used a rotary polisher to apply some awesome cleaner wax, then some synthetic finishing wax which brought out all the gorgeous metallic silver/ white flakes of the Arctic White paint. Needless to say I was stunned since I have never used this stuff before!

It is unreal how you can literally FEEL the difference between a clean car and a slean car that has had a clay bar cleaning done to it and waxed! Went right out and bought two kits for myself now and am gonna try staying on top of this more often now, and also doing my Dodge Ram 2500 tomorrow since Im still on a high from seeing and feeling the paint after clay!

For those who HAVE done it before do you all have any favorite clay?
This site is VERY VERY good and not only has a lot of products but tons of info on the DIY car care. Thought Id post it for the membership.

http://www.autogeek.net/clbaandlu.html

jadu

iTrader: (42)

The paint feels so smooth when you finish. Post pics of the finished product

Schmexus

Just did mine today actually. Detailed image is where I got all of my stuff from. The clay bar isn't what makes the big difference, but its a necessary step before you polish. There is a detailing section in this forum that has a ton of good info on proper detailing.

Btw your friend is a saint for doing that for you/your wife. I've spent the majority of my day washing/clay barring/polishing. It's a LOT of work.

BinaryJay

I find it doesn't make much of a difference, so I don't bother any more. Might be different if you drive/live by a lot of rail lines or industrial area. I am way too busy to do the whole A-Z machine polishing any more, it's way too much work just to get that last 10% of temporary shine.

alchemist

iTrader: (1)

I clay bar both our cars once a year

justYnG

I wouldn't say it's a 10% temp shine. It's a night and day difference if done correctly. I clayed my IS300 years ago and the vehicle still retains it shine. My gs430 needs it badly because it was never done by the previous owner. Even after a wax job done with a buffer you can still feel the dirty on the vehicle.

BinaryJay

Maybe if it has never been polished in it's life and it's years and years old. I find that it's a lot of diminishing returns compared to just using klasse AIO on the car after washing it with detergent. This is from somebody with a porter cable and a whole bin full of polishing compounds and pads in the basement.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Unfortunately, I feel the same way as you. I use to do it as a hobby but I'm at the point where I rather spend 2 hours to make it look 9/10 rather than 6-8 hours to make it 10/10.

COSteve

I just bought a 2011. The hood and a few other parts of the car had very rough paint where as everywhere else was very smooth. The clay bar brought everything back to normal but it seemed odd to me that only parts of the car had the contamination. Clean Carfax, no signs of a respray anywhere. All good now so I'm not worrying about it.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

this make logical sense IMO... Clay barring is a must especially if your car sits outside in the sun and is exposed to the elements on a daily basis.... once or even twice a year is adequate IMO... Claying with every wash is a bit excessive... someone else mentioned only certain areas have contamination... I find that to be true as well... Areas that are exposed to the sun and especially the rear bumper get it the most i think...

oemis250

i probably would never clay bar my car again, took almost 5 hrs fml

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

with more practice it shouldn't take too long to clay your car. Twice a year I do a clay and it takes an hour to an hour and a half for me.

Just make sure you have adequate lube to prevent marring. Never use clay that has dropped to the ground and let the clay do the work. Don't put tons of pressure onto the clay. You'll tire out your hand and cause marring.

I used to use the meguiar's kit clay but I've switched over to Riccardo's. Riccardo's is amazing, so malleable and stretchy.

XxGoKoUxX

Claybar wise- I went with the cheapest alternative possible at the time (XMT Speed Clay w/ XMT speed clay lube). Never waxed, as I don't like to keep up with maintanence on my car (busy schedule). 5-layers of sealant and I'm going on year 2 or 3 now. Car still sheets water. (Car's also washed maybe once every 2-3 months and is garaged MOST of the week).

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

what type of sealant do you use

Diesel350

LOL wow you claybarred for 5 hours? I think you over claybarred. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour. Once the clay bar runs smoothly over the panel then you are good to move on to the next panel.