Clay bar???

[Tokyojoe1965]

Great educational video!!!! Video bogged down at times though.

 

[cdh1125]

Anyone used the mother's clay kit? Reading some posts here it seems like everyone is on meguiars payroll.

 

[67Customs]

x2.. There are alot of bonded contaminates on the paint that you wouldnt know was there unless you clayed it.. Its amazing what it will bring off the paint if youve not done it in along time. \/

Yep. I use one twice a year on my own cars and I use them every time I detail a customers vehicle before polish and/or wax. They make the surface perfectly smooth. They are definitely worth purchasing and I would say they they are essential to a proper detail to achieve optimum results.

how about the liquid clay bar? i think it was called ICE. how does it compare to the actual clay bar?(i think the package came with the liquid and just a foam sponge)

Horrible product. It does more harm than good. It is actually a paint cleaner and doesn't actually act like a clay bar. It is a marketing gimmick. I find that it actually causes swirls. Stick with a real clay bar. It doesn't take any more time.

If I was to buy a clayber, how many times would I be able to use it? Like just one time over the whole truck? Or a couple times?

For a really bad car, about three times or so. Not so bad, you can definitely get more uses.

What about the TURTLE WAX LIQUID " ICE" CLAY BAR... Has anyone tried it, it looks easy to apply and use w/o any worries???

See my reponse above. I would not recommend it at all.

Anyone used the mother's clay kit? Reading some posts here it seems like everyone is on meguiars payroll.

They are all basically the same. They have different lubes, but the clay is the same other than it's color. I like the Mother's clay system better because the lube smells better. Works the same though. I prefer the Clay Magic kit however (you can find it at Auto Zone if you have one around), simply because it is cheaper. They don't add a wax or microfiber towel in their kit, so it cuts the price in half. Hopefully you have a betetr wax than what is supplied in the kit and some extra micrifibers, so there isn't any sense to keep purchasing them in the kit in my opinion.

I actually buy my clay in bulk now and make my own lube.

 

[Dave]

67customs.....you said you make your own lube for the claybar......... What/how???

Dave

 

[67Customs]

67customs.....you said you make your own lube for the claybar......... What/how???

Dave

I use Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine and add 2oz to a gallon of distilled water. I fill up two bottles from previously used Clay Magic Kits that I had and fill them both up so I have a good supply on hand. It also makes a great Quick Detailer.

Yeah, I'm not making it out of household items or anything special like that, but making it from ONR is definitely WAY cheaper than buying designated clay lube and you can use it as a Qucik Detailer if needed.

One $15 32oz ONR bottle will make 16 gallons of clay lube or QD.

 

[Sven]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that is considering using the claybar on the Jeep. Coming from a sports car (350Z) I claybarred, polished, then waxed about every 6 months (optimal use). Once you wax a surface (correctly), it's good for quite a while.

Claybar is just the second step out of four. Waxing is like putting the candy shell on your paint to keep it protected. So if you want to really want to show off...

1)Wash your Jeep thoroughly (pressure wash is fine)
2)Chamois or micro-fiber it completely dry
3)Now to claybar. Use any car detailer fluid, a micro fiber cloth that you will use only for claybar, and knead yourself a piece of the clay.
4)Spray a 2'X2' area with the detailing spray (IMPORTANT: Lube up the surfaces generously with the detailer spray)
5)Gently glide the clay across the 2' area back and forth. You can alternate the direction, i.e. go back and forth up and down all the way from one side to another, then go back and forth side to side. The clay is soft so you don't have to press very hard.
6)You will know when you are finished when the surface under the clay feels silky smooth and you can't feel or hear the bumps.
7)Quickly wipe the area clean with your micro-fiber cloth.

^Repeat steps 3-7 on the rest of the Jeep. This will take some time. If you drop the clay on the ground, THROW IT AWAY! You do not want to scrub your paint with rocks.

That's the claybar step. After that, you'll want to polish the vehicle (another thread perhaps), then wax it (another thread). After 24 hours, your Jeep's wax coating will be 'cured' and your paint will last much longer.

Again, I do this about every 6 months. I went through this really quickly, so if you have any questions, please let me know!

*I'll also post this in the sticky*^