Clay bars. Do they work?
#1
Clay bars. Do they work?
I was just reading on Autopia about clay bars, and how they remove over spray and other contaminants on the surface of the paint? I am trying to do this to my vehicle and was wondering they are user friendly, and how well they work? Any suggestions or experiences with these products? Thanks!
#4
Clay Bar is the way to go. Zaino sells quality clay and you would use their car wash solution diluted in a spray bottle for lubricating the bar.
Never, ever drop the clay. If you do it has to be tossed in the trash. It will pretty much remove anything that is on the surface of the clearcoat. Better then any other liquid polishes etc.
I am still waiting for my car to come in but I told the dealer to only wash the exterior and do not touch it with wax of a buffer even if it has some rail dust. I plan on clay barring the entire car and the Zaino'ing it afterwards.
Never, ever drop the clay. If you do it has to be tossed in the trash. It will pretty much remove anything that is on the surface of the clearcoat. Better then any other liquid polishes etc.
I am still waiting for my car to come in but I told the dealer to only wash the exterior and do not touch it with wax of a buffer even if it has some rail dust. I plan on clay barring the entire car and the Zaino'ing it afterwards.
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Actually in my experience 'claying' the car doesn't take off all the wax. It just prepares and cleans the surface, hopefully for another coat of wax. Remember, you're lubricating the clay with a detailer mist which as it's own shine and wax in it, it's not abrasive at all to the point to where it would grind off a coat of carnuba wax.
First, put the car in a garage and hopefully close the door so you don't get outside dust being blown all over the car as you're cleaning it.
I like to clay a new car, TWICE. Then wax it with a good cleaner wax. At this point you'll have a very nice slick surface. From here you can apply either your first coat of carnuba, or if you like, one of the new polymer waxes, (Mequires NXT is GREAT), then mist it with Final Inspection or Quick Detailer (Final Inspection is a bit cleaner as a polish and shine agent, where the Quick Detailer has more cleaning power in it, but at this point you don't need the cleaning power. Then top it off with your second coat of wax. You can put Carnuba on top of the NXT, and it works great.
I've tested all sorts of different layering methods, but the key is getting it clean with the clay, then the polishing wax. Not the cheap stuff, but the Mequires liquid. I've also gotten excellent results by putting the next coat of yellow carnuba (please... use the paste and not the liquid or spray at this point), and then just for snits and giggles, I topped it off with a coat of Zaino. Really deep shine, (and mine isn't clear coated metallic). The Laser Red, sadly is a single stage paint, so the Carnuba tends to do well with it. I've probably got at least 5~6 coats on areas of my 06 and it's only 3 months old, and just turned 2000 miles.
First, put the car in a garage and hopefully close the door so you don't get outside dust being blown all over the car as you're cleaning it.
I like to clay a new car, TWICE. Then wax it with a good cleaner wax. At this point you'll have a very nice slick surface. From here you can apply either your first coat of carnuba, or if you like, one of the new polymer waxes, (Mequires NXT is GREAT), then mist it with Final Inspection or Quick Detailer (Final Inspection is a bit cleaner as a polish and shine agent, where the Quick Detailer has more cleaning power in it, but at this point you don't need the cleaning power. Then top it off with your second coat of wax. You can put Carnuba on top of the NXT, and it works great.
I've tested all sorts of different layering methods, but the key is getting it clean with the clay, then the polishing wax. Not the cheap stuff, but the Mequires liquid. I've also gotten excellent results by putting the next coat of yellow carnuba (please... use the paste and not the liquid or spray at this point), and then just for snits and giggles, I topped it off with a coat of Zaino. Really deep shine, (and mine isn't clear coated metallic). The Laser Red, sadly is a single stage paint, so the Carnuba tends to do well with it. I've probably got at least 5~6 coats on areas of my 06 and it's only 3 months old, and just turned 2000 miles.
#12