Clay bars - amazing

[lufbramatt]

If you like clay try Iron remover (the bilt hamber stuff smells like cherryade )

Gets rid of most of the roughness so you end up with very little left on the paint for the clay, reducing the chances of micro scratches from the clay. Plus it's strangely addictive watching the little specks of iron embedded in the paint turn purple.

[Ninja59]

Warby80 said:

Using clay almost always ends up with some surface marring no matter how careful you are, wether people care/know enough to see it is a different matter.

I wont use it unless i know i am going to be doing atleast a light machine polish afterwards. Something like Super Resin Polish will hide the marring but only for a while.

It depends on the level of clay fine clay warmed well and kept lubricated heavily will not even on soft paint. But the more build up the more likely it is to happen. My rarely used MX5 you can clay with Bilt Hamber soft warmed in the micro with water in a mug it is lovely and soft and avoids marring.

The biggest problem with mitts and others of that type is they tend to be a bit more aggressive than fine clay. Many have gone back to claying with a bar...

[alangla]

As a complete novice (and someone who, like others, has always been scared of dragging grit across their paint), how do you use a clay bar? I assume the car needs to be thoroughly washed first? My normal procedure would be a hose down with a power washer, warm water + Auto Glym shampoo/sponge, then a thorough rinse with the power washer. If it's sunny I might run over the car with a blade to get the water off. Is that enough before claying?

Are there any that are particularly worth getting? I see that Meguiars & Auto Glym's kits include Quick Detailer - I've used Meguiars to give the car a bit of extra shine at shows, but that's it. Is that used before or after claying?

Any advice (and particularly an end-to-end guide!) very gratefully received!

[Timbergiant]

I bought a 320d (brand new from a BMW dealer) ten years ago and the paint was terrible, even using the wipers made a harsh noise, like rubbing your hand over a leather steering wheel, polishing did nothing and I eventually tried a clay bar, WOW its amazing stuff, the most effective product I've ever used, you can feel and hear it removing the stuff/mess as you use it.
I've used clay mitts since and they are just as good but take about 30% of the time to do a full car.

[corozin]

alangla said:

As a complete novice (and someone who, like others, has always been scared of dragging grit across their paint), how do you use a clay bar? I assume the car needs to be thoroughly washed first? My normal procedure would be a hose down with a power washer, warm water + Auto Glym shampoo/sponge, then a thorough rinse with the power washer. If it's sunny I might run over the car with a blade to get the water off. Is that enough before claying?

Are there any that are particularly worth getting? I see that Meguiars & Auto Glym's kits include Quick Detailer - I've used Meguiars to give the car a bit of extra shine at shows, but that's it. Is that used before or after claying?

Any advice (and particularly an end-to-end guide!) very gratefully received!

If you're going as far as claying the car then there's a whole sequence of wash>clay>wash>compound>polish>wax>seal to get the best results, but it's not as frightening as it sounds. Suggest you look up the AmmoNYC channel on YouTube as he covers the processes & techniques with some really good videos

[swisstoni]

alangla said:

As a complete novice (and someone who, like others, has always been scared of dragging grit across their paint), how do you use a clay bar? I assume the car needs to be thoroughly washed first? My normal procedure would be a hose down with a power washer, warm water + Auto Glym shampoo/sponge, then a thorough rinse with the power washer. If it's sunny I might run over the car with a blade to get the water off. Is that enough before claying?

Are there any that are particularly worth getting? I see that Meguiars & Auto Glym's kits include Quick Detailer - I've used Meguiars to give the car a bit of extra shine at shows, but that's it. Is that used before or after claying?

Any advice (and particularly an end-to-end guide!) very gratefully received!

Autoglym and Meguiars are just fine.
It's really simple - get the surface as clean as possible. Tear off and knead a bit of clay in your hand to get it into a small flattish thing.
Lubricate the area you are going to be working on with 'detailer'. Wipe the clay back and forth on the surface. You will start to see stuff picked up by the clay (most of it invisible when on the paint).
Keep the surface lubricated.
When the clay surface is starting to look dirty, re-knead the clay to expose a clean surface and carry on.
Obviously the clay will eventually become totally contaminated and will have to be discarded.
If you drop it - chuck it.
Paint will feel like glass.

[Drew106]

I've just recently had a blast with clay bar myself. Did the detailing process over 4 days as it wasn't on my daily driver.

Day 1 - Wash and dry
Day 2 - Clay bar with rapid detailer for lube
Day 3 - Super resin polish
Day 4 - HD wax

All Autoglym products. Was very impressed - 4 or 5 washes later the water still beads and dirt is very easily removed.

Was my first time properly detailing a car so no other products to compare it to, but it looked great and have to admit was quite fun lol.

My daily driver could really do with the same treatment, but doing it over one day would be hard going. It's kind of a beater anyway, no love for it really.

[J4CKO]

Gone off SRP, doesn't smell as lovely as it used to and find it very chalky, Poorboys White Diamond is my preferred polish at the moment and Collonite for the Wax, a lot, including me didnt realise the importance of a pure wax, but I find it adds a hell of a lot to the overall result. Also, dont think a lot get the paint clean first, all the tar spots off etc, makes a big difference. By no means a detailer or expert but can get a decent result.

I also believe that sometimes a dirty car looks better !

[xjay1337]

alangla said:

Any advice (and particularly an end-to-end guide!) very gratefully received!

Google "jays detailing guide".

Some of the pictures don't work but you get the idea.

[ecsrobin]

Drew106 said:

I've just recently had a blast with clay bar myself. Did the detailing process over 4 days as it wasn't on my daily driver.

Day 1 - Wash and dry
Day 2 - Clay bar with rapid detailer for lube
Day 3 - Super resin polish
Day 4 - HD wax

All Autoglym products. Was very impressed - 4 or 5 washes later the water still beads and dirt is very easily removed.

Was my first time properly detailing a car so no other products to compare it to, but it looked great and have to admit was quite fun lol.

My daily driver could really do with the same treatment, but doing it over one day would be hard going. It's kind of a beater anyway, no love for it really.

I've used a variety of products and for a long time was a big autoglym user, I found HD wax hard to apply and needed reapplying often.

Whilst now still using a variety of products I've pretty much completley moved over to Bilt Hamber, the quality is very impressive, the double speed wax lasts for months and the price is far below the average of most products.

https://youtu.be/Ef2LNTpM6Z4 double speed wax on a friends BMW

https://youtu.be/9DMwzMvJQs0 Double speed wax on my Abarth

Cost about £15 a tin with a cloth and available on Amazon. Bilt Hamber Double Speed-Wax 250ml https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TKBOE3Y/ref=cm_sw_r...

[r11co]

Dolf Stoppard said:

Interesting. I've used both (a lot) and think the mits are great. A lot easier to use than the traditional clay and I've had no problem re-using mine - whereas I'd never re-use a traditional clay bar.

3M clay bars are dirt cheap if bought in bulk , so where's the issue in not being able to re-use them?

[eztiger328]

SuperAd said:

Quiet afternoon post footy so decided to go to town on the paint on my white 16 Plate 3 series, 12 months old but the paint was covered in tar spots and what looked like metal iron flecks (I think from the brake pads). Tar came off nice and easy with some remover and the clay bar was a revelation, very easy and amazing result. Car looks like new.

If you're thinking about it, spend a tenner and have a go.

I clayed about 600 miles worth of dead insects and road tar of the front of my car yesterday, Its fantastic stuff.

FYI you dont need any tar removers, the clay bar will take them off after several passes. Also I've found that these detailing sprays to aid lubrication are a waste of time, keeping the surface well soaked with water as you go ( on cold paintwork out of the sun) works just as well from my experience.

[eztiger328]

Drew106 said:

I've just recently had a blast with clay bar myself. Did the detailing process over 4 days as it wasn't on my daily driver.

Day 1 - Wash and dry
Day 2 - Clay bar with rapid detailer for lube
Day 3 - Super resin polish
Day 4 - HD wax

All Autoglym products. Was very impressed - 4 or 5 washes later the water still beads and dirt is very easily removed.

Was my first time properly detailing a car so no other products to compare it to, but it looked great and have to admit was quite fun lol.

My daily driver could really do with the same treatment, but doing it over one day would be hard going. It's kind of a beater anyway, no love for it really.

Did pretty much the same yesterday except I put some Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection sealant on between the Super Resin Polish and the HD wax. Does it help? Who knows but I ended up buying some so I may as well use it!

[thiscocks]

Can you clay without polishing and waxing after?

[8bit]

Last (also first) time I clayed my car I used Meguiars clay and Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer spray. It worked well but the QD spray dried and left a white residue that was hell to shift off the car afterwards. That kinda put me off trying again.

Is that just because UQD isn't a good clay lube? i since bought some Raceglaze clay lube but haven't tried again yet. Can water with a little car shampoo be used with any clay or just specific brands/types?

[nullogik]

swisstoni said:

Clay was one of those things I just could not believe could work when I first gave it a try. I mean, how could it?
Big surprise.

+1, my exact thought! I didn't think it would achieve much but I was amazed by the end result.

Edited by nullogik on Monday 22 May 14:24

[xjay1337]

thiscocks said:

Can you clay without polishing and waxing after?

Technically yes, but you should polish (to remove swirls and clay marring) and wax/seal (to protect the finish from further contaminants) .

[Drew106]

eztiger328 said:

Did pretty much the same yesterday except I put some Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection sealant on between the Super Resin Polish and the HD wax. Does it help? Who knows but I ended up buying some so I may as well use it!

I have some of the Extra Gloss Protection as well, was part of a kit I bought myself a while back. Haven't used it yet.

Funny story - I read it initially as Extra GLASS Protection, so didn't use it and went out to buy the HD wax as I thought I didn't have any wax lol. Didn't get round to extra protecting my glass with it either, which worked out for the best.

[Commander2874]

Will be claying my 320d for the first time later this month and my process will be

Wash (2bm)
Iron x
Wash
Clay using shampoo as lube
Wash
Polish (poorboys black hole)
Wax (collinite 915)

Edited by Commander2874 on Friday 20th July 21:14

[dhutch]

SuperAd said:

Clay bars

If you're thinking about it, spend a tenner and have a go.

Never used clay, heard people rave about it, but never had the time to look into it or have a go.

Sounds like the car needs a good wash first, then you rub it with a lump of the clay, and wash again?

Where do I take my tenner and what do I buy?


Daniel