What does a clay bar do?

What exactly does buffing do? I know it has something to do with the clear coat to remove swirls and scratches..
Does it remove the entire clear coat or just a layer? How much should I expect to pay to get my car buffed?

 

C'mon, bro, put in a little effort here. READ the stickies, then ask.

 

I have read a couple of them. And I have done plenty of research outside of this forum and can't find exactly what each one does. I though I came to the right place. Instead of criticizing me for not "reading enough stickies", why don't you help me out?

 

When you demonstrate by starting this thread that you don't have the most basic understanding of two very different things, it's crystal clear to me you have NOT read much at all and just want to be spoon-fed.

 

IMO, people tend to help more with people who look like they help themselves first as opposed to sounding like they want someone else to do the work (research) for them.



Anyways, I found this in the first sticky (Ask A Professional Detailer thread which you could post your question there) I was just browsing at. Read it, let it marinate for awhile, and then if you've got specific questions them bombs away:


Detailed Image : Auto-Detailing-Guide



Clay Bar Overview
Polishing Overview

 

Thank you for the link. I obviously didn't want you guys to do the research for me. I assumed that there was a good amount of people on this part of the forum who had a pretty good understanding for detailing who could just simply answer my question without having to go do research themselves

 

Clay bar is a prep for befor you buff. it removes and dirt, tar , road grim and so on. It's a old school thing that is great!!! I live by it. Every car I do gets clay bar first. Buffing well it can be done for different things and no i does not remove all the clear coat unless you have no idea wha you are doing or you use the wrong product. Nothing personal but if you asking what it does and you are going to attempt to do it, I wouldn't try it things can get ugly!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hahah. I never planned on doing this myself. I want it done professionally. Around how much will it cost for a good buff?

 

Claying can be likened to shaving your face, it will "cut" off any contaminants that are stuck on to the paint. These are contaminants that cannot be removed by normal washing, i.e. embedded rail dust.

Polishing is leveling the top-layer of clear coat. It removes the top-most swirled portion and leaves the remaining paint flat, allowing for a better reflection. Think about a puddle, when it's flat, you have a great reflection. Add ripples(aka swirls) to the reflection, and it becomes distorted. Done incorrectly, it will remove excess clearcoat, leave buffer trails, and have the possibility of burning through the clearcoat. The only way to fix a burned clearcoat is a re-paint, so done incorrectly it has some pretty serious consequences.

Expect to pay $300+ for a good 1-step polish to remove about 50-65% of the swirl marks. A proper 2-3 step paint correction for 95-100% removal will cost ~$500+. You get what you pay for when it comes to detailing. Pay $150 for a "buff" and expect a good 95% chance you'll have buffer marks or be shelling out hundreds more for a repaint of the burned panel(s). Anyone calling it "buffing" likely doesn't know what they are doing.

 

300 for for a 1-step and 500 for a 3 step?????? OMG where do you go? That's insane!!!!!!!! Your crazy if you pay that kinda money. Either that or I'm way cheap...... You do have a point tho you get what you pay for.....
First of all wht color is your car? That's a huge thing when it comes to detailing..

 

Damn that is a lot!! I got my **** done for free..

 

How did I know when first reading his thread this....^....is where it would end up? Why not just visit a detailer on the right coast and inquire about their services and what your car might need along with the cost?
Gary

 

No, 300 is cheap. That's what I charge for a minor paint correction with no interior, my good friend charges 600 starting for his minor paint correction. I have a 3 week waiting list right now with the majority of them minor and major paint corrections, people realize what the work is worth.

Also, the color of the car does not matter. All them have clear coats, scratches, and marring that will all correct the same way. Difference is that's harder to see on lighter colored cars, but the marring is still there and distorts the reflection all the same. Get a 825 lumen LED flashlight and you'll see what I'm talking about. Once you can see the defects under proper lighting, you can refine what looks "perfect" under normal lighting or halogens and end up with a dripping wet silver or white.

 

That's cause I'm your boy homie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Don't mean to be so straight forward but you are ripping people off!!!!!!!!!!! There is no way in hell $300 for just the outside..... no way!!!! And color don't matter ok in a way it doesn't. But your gonna tell me that you don't tack on a few bucks for a black car? Don't know how long you been doing it but if you do it like your saying then you know a black car takes a little more work then the say white car?
I'm not gonna a " 825 lumen LED flashlight" or whatever it is your talking about... lol and shine it on a car.. Bottom line is the darker color cars require a little more work and bout the pricing $300 is fair for a full detail and your buddy that charges $600 or whatever he charges should be locked up for robbery.