i just found some mother's claybar kit at the store, gonna pick some up... i never clayed my car before, so would like to ask for some advice... so I wash my car 1st, then dry it, then apply the claybar? Do i need to clay every inch of the car or only certain areas? Would one claybar last me the whole car? After I finish claying the car, do I have to wash my car again? or can I just spray/rinse it off?

I plan to wax my car also.. please help...

not sure how will 1 piece of clay do my entire car, once it picks up all those residue on the clay, wouldnt it be bad to use on your paint again on another body panel? i know you stretch it out and stuff and find new areas, but theres only so much clay left... i would assume that the thing would pick up a lot of stuff off the cars surface...

let me know guys, thanks...

 

I have a black sedan and claying is very important.

first wash your car, you don't need to dry it yet.

split the bar into 2 or 3 seperate pieces. I do this because its easy to use a smaller piece, and also if you drop the bar you need to throw it away. Roll it into a ball and then flatten like a patty.

spray a small section (about 2 feet by 2 feet) with detail spray. glide the claybar on the sprayed section, back and forth, you do not need to put any pressure, let the clay do its job. wipe area with a small cloth. feel area if its smooth. you can use a plastic sandwich bag to do this. if its smooth got to next section.

it is a good idea to clay the entire car. after every section you finish check the clay. if it begins to get really dirty, flatten the clay, fold in half, now you have another clean surface. One mothers clay bar should last about 4 cars.

when you are all done you can either rinse the whole car again, or quickly soap the car and rinse. either way shouldn't take much time since the car is clean already, you only need to get rid of some clay residue.

dry. apply wax.

you may want to add a polish step before the wax. claying will cause minor marring, which is expected. so adding a polish step will remove the marring and also create a better base for your wax. remember always polish when you clay, and clay when you polish. if you do one without the other your results will not be the same.

I try to do this procedure two times a year

Wash+Clay+Polish+SwirlRemover+Wax = 8-10 hours

so what i do now is I split the car into thirds. For example one month I will detail the entire front area = hood + bumper + fenders. To do all the steps takes about 3 hours, that is much more managable than a 10 hour marathon. you can see the results in my thread.
https://g35driver.com/forums/care-detailing/47769-waxed-my-black-sedan-how-does-look.html

 

omg i cant believe how much work this is... i just finish washing my car for the 2nd time after the clay bar application... the mothers kit came with a 16oz of lubricant, i used almost the whole bottle, is this normal or did i use way too much? Like you said, don't apply pressure, the clay will just glide over the surface easily right? i did like you said, i peeled of a chunk of the clay, and used that one piece for the entire car... hope i did it right... when i glide over certain areas of the car, like the back bumper, i can feel the roughness actually, it didnt glide smoothly as some other parts of the car. Is that all the oxidation and contamination thats on my paint? I wasnt sure how much spray i was suppose to use, if i sprayed a lil, i notice the clay doesnt glide smoothly, so i kept spraying to make sure it went across very smoothly...

I just finished drying my car down, just now taking a break, ate a snack, letting it dry on its own for a bit before i start the Meguairs NXT Wax... I plan on applying the NXT and leaving it sit for like 30mins to an hour b4 i buff off, is this good? or doesnt it matter? Also will this kind of wax be able to layer? Can i apply more than 1 layer? Like on my next wash, can i apply another layer over it and so forth everytime i wash?

Please help... and btw, the claybar didnt remove the bird dropping stains on my hood you can still see em... I'm so mad... sigh, i wish i had wax my car sooner instead of waiting so long. I learned my lesson the hard way.

 

"the mothers kit came with a 16oz of lubricant, i used almost the whole bottle, is this normal or did i use way too much? "

Quite normal. It really depends on how much contamination there is on the car. The more grime = more detail spray. If the spray is getting too expensive you can substitute it with your regular car wash diluted at your regular amount.

"... when i glide over certain areas of the car, like the back bumper, i can feel the roughness actually, it didnt glide smoothly as some other parts of the car. Is that all the oxidation and contamination thats on my paint?"

Correct. The more contamination the more rough it will feel. Your doing it correctly.

"I wasnt sure how much spray i was suppose to use, if i sprayed a lil, i notice the clay doesnt glide smoothly, so i kept spraying to make sure it went across very smoothly..."

better to use more spray then less. YOu don't want to scratch your finish.

"... I plan on applying the NXT and leaving it sit for like 30mins to an hour b4 i buff off, is this good? or doesnt it matter? Also will this kind of wax be able to layer? Can i apply more than 1 layer? Like on my next wash, can i apply another layer over it and so forth everytime i wash?"

not sure, try read the directions. usually its a good idea to wait at least 30 min. before buffing a wax. this way the wax drys and bonds to the paint. NXT is layerable. You need to wait at least 1 day to put on another layer. I'd say the maximum layers you can put to get progressively better results is 3 layers.

"Please help... and btw, the claybar didnt remove the bird dropping stains on my hood you can still see em... I'm so mad... sigh, i wish i had wax my car sooner instead of waiting so long. I learned my lesson the hard way"

did you try any type of polish to remove the stain? Try scrachX. If that doens't work you probably need to bring it into a detailer, shouldn't cost more than $50.

 

how friggin long did you leave the bird poop on the car?

 

not long at all, i noticed it when i left for work on my hood, got home and took a rag and pour water on it to let it soften up, sigh... It was there for like maybe a 4-5 hrs in the hot sun... I guess the reason it stained badly is because I havent waxed my car in over 7 months so I have no protection...

sog35, thank you so much for your help... I washed, clayed, wax my car last night, so to add another layer of NXT today, do I have to rewash my car? or can i adjust apply the wax again? I don't want it to scratch my paint, even tho I washed my car last night... what do you recommend? If not, I'll probably just apply another layer on my next wash, maybe next week or something...

 

yes, you need to wash your car again.

another option is to quick detail it since you washed only 1 day ago. All you need is some quick detail spray and some soft towels. Spray area and gently wipe off dust. Its a real time saver.

 

i see, i think from now on, i will just use quick detailer in between washes... as long as i use the quick detailer, it will keep my layer of wax looking new? So let me get this straight. If i wax my car, and quick detail like once a week after a wash, I won't ever have to wax my car again since the quick detail will act like its own layer over the wax therefore protecting it?

Also, that 1 chunk I ripped off the claybar to clay my entire car with, how long can I use that? Can I use it again or do you advise me to throw it away? It didn't look like it collected a lot of stuff on it...

 

throw the clay away.. its a one time use thing.. after your finish or if you drop it on the floor it should NEVER touch your car again.. (you can save it and use it on your windows in the future if u want, i think) sometimes i'll clay the windows if there are spots on them AFTER i clay the car.

 

I tried scratchX and it doesn't work. Only had the bird poop on their for about 4 hours!!! When I came back from lunch, no bird poop on the car. After work was done and I came out, bird poop! I quickly went to my truck to get the quick detailer out and wiped it off. But I guess it stayed on there too long. It ate through the paint. I see a blimmish.

If I take it to the detailer, will they ruin the paint a little? I have seen some jobs to where they do take out the blimmish, but the paint is a little lighter than the rest of the car....not on my car though...other peoples cars. Anyone have this kind of experience?

Anyone know a good detail shop near Long Beach or the OC? Need help! Please!!!

 

How to Clay bar http://www.detailedimage.com/h-tclay.html