Clay Bar

[Sven]

Coming from a sports car (350Z) I used claybar, polish, then waxed about every 6 months (optimal use). Once you wax a surface, it's good for quite a while.

Claybar and polishing are just steps that you take to prepare for waxing.

Claybar is just one step out of four (washing being #1). After claybar, I polish the surface. Then I wax the paint. 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 post perhaps), then wax it (another post). 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!

 

[LibertyOrDeath]

Coming from a sports car (350Z) I used claybar, polish, then waxed about every 6 months (optimal use).

What is the difference between polish and wax?

 

[t2raz]

Spelling?

 

[bmanice]

What is the difference between polish and wax?

Ok, first off, Clay Bar every 6 months isnt a good idea, and also polishing every 6 months isnt so bright either. Reason being, this is a very aggressive process, even with the finest clay/ploish you will be removing clear/paint. continue this 6mo schedule for a few years and youll have not a touch of clear left.

i would say, clay bar once a year (at most). and polish as needed or once a year (those pesky fine scratches and what not). if you use touch up paint, of course you will need to wetsand/polish/wax, so go for it.

Just a little piece of opinion... not trying to flame/bash/argue...




... and for the Quoted Question...

Polish = Aggressive, contains some sort of grit to even out scratches (comes in MANY varieties, rubbing, polishing heavy/fine ETC.) Do some research before polishing your car, dont apply in circular motions either unless you know what your doing obviously.


Wax = Top layer, last thing you want to do to finish a detail off. This is your first line of defense against dirt, oxidation, acid rain, and any other x-factors. It is in most cases optimal to apply thin layers with gentle/moderate pressure in non circular motions. Let wax dry (not for a long time maybe a few minutes, use your judgement) Then buff (rub off by hand) off with a microfiber towel. If you dont let your wax dry, have fun taking it off. I stand by P21s

Happy Trails.

 

[67Customs]

A clay bar will not remove clear, no matter how aggressive the clay is. It is safe to use every six months or even every month if you desire. I clay my own cars twice a year and I spot clay as needed.

 

[kvenner]

Clay bar? Too time consuming. Just Line-X the sides and be done with it.

I love my trail rash!

 

[JeepJeepster]

A clay bar will not remove clear, no matter how aggressive the clay is. It is safe to use every six months or even every month if you desire. I clay my own cars twice a year and I spot clay as needed.

Yup, cant remove clear with a clay bar. Sometimes you will be a light marring if you use a really aggressive clay but its not actually removing the clear.

Depending on how aggressive the polish is determines how often you can do it. Something like meguiars #80 could probably be done safely once a year with no problems throughout the paints life. If you polish with a more aggressive polish I wouldnt do it to often.

If you look up the definition of polish you should see something like this: "To make smooth and shiny by rubbing or chemical action." Probably 95% of the people driving a vehicle do not understand that waxing isnt meant to make the vehicle look better, its meant to protect the paint. You could look at it as being a sacrificial barrier 'on' the paint. Some waxes will make the paint look better, some of which being a cleaner wax or NXTv2. A cleaner wax is meant to take the paint cleaning(chemically), polishing, and waxing, and slap it all into one step. NXTv2 just has tons of fillers that hides swirls.

So... polish=pretty and wax=pretty along time.

Nice post sven and welcome to jeepkj!

 

[ms5490renegade]

i used the turtle wax ICE liquid clay bar and it worked really well

 

[JeepJeepster]

i used the turtle wax ICE liquid clay bar and it worked really well

TW has a misleading advertisement there. Its actually just a strong cleaner, it cannot remove things like physically rubbing clay over the surface will.

 

[Treyz02KJ]

Whats a good low priced option for a clay bar kit, All i've seen is upwards of $50 is that right? looking for brands to ask for.

 

[cdh1125]

where do you shop? You can get the meguiar's or mother's kit for less than $20 anywhere

 

[Treyz02KJ]

Clay bar? Too time consuming. Just Line-X the sides and be done with it.

I love my trail rash!

How much did it cost you to spray the sides? Is it holding up well? I really want to do that.

but clay bar isnt bad either. =) i like shiny paint too.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I know this is probably a dumb question but would it be wise to clay then wax, skipping the polish step??? Last I checked, clay is aggressive right??, and misuse will ruin the finish, right?? I'm a little nervous about doing it. Thanks...

 

[hyde]

Whats a good low priced option for a clay bar kit, All i've seen is upwards of $50 is that right? looking for brands to ask for.

Time to time Amazon posts deals on car products, you can sign up for their deals and choose only "Automotive Care" they will e-mail you. Recently meguires full clay bar, spray wax, microfiber, and few other trial products was $9.99 now a similar one is $15
http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G101...1?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1239322533&sr=8-11

Or you go with mothers (don't tell jeepjeepster) http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-07240...0?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1239322506&sr=8-10 $13 whole set

 

[HoosierJeeper]

The Megs clay is $15 bucks at my Wal Mart....I don't know about the Mother's....I'll check next time I'm there.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I bought the Mother's and loved it. Got it for $12 at Advance Auto. It was a better value than Megs (2 50gram bars) Mothers was 2 80 gram bars...

 

[Treyz02KJ]

where do you shop? You can get the meguiar's or mother's kit for less than $20 anywhere

Found it, Used it, Love it.

The Meguiar's kit resurrected my faded paint. As soon as its going to be dry for a couple days, I plan on getting the polish/waxing done.

 

[2003renegade]

will that take out trail rash?

 

[HoosierJeeper]

will that take out trail rash?

I doubt it. A polish or cleaner wax will probably if it's not too deep.

 

[desertkj]

ScratchX also works well for light trail rash. Polish should with the correct procedures, but wax will not remove it.