Claybarred

[focusspelledbackwards]

I bought a Clay Magic claybar kit and used it yesterday. What a difference! I cant believe how much better the finish feels. I put on a coat of wax after the claybar, omg, I love it. This thing is a must have for everybody. Not the easyist thing to do, but it's well worth it. my finish doesnt have that sandpaper feel anymore and I can't see anymore waterspots. My only question is how long is a claybar good for? I mean, when is it too dirty to use? and what do you use after the spray stuff is gone?
ps Everybody do this! $12.99 well spent!

[Honkeytonk Monkey]

I bought a Clay Magic claybar kit and used it yesterday. What a difference! I cant believe how much better the finish feels. I put on a coat of wax after the claybar, omg, I love it. This thing is a must have for everybody. Not the easyist thing to do, but it's well worth it. my finish doesnt have that sandpaper feel anymore and I can't see anymore waterspots. My only question is how long is a claybar good for? I mean, when is it too dirty to use? and what do you use after the spray stuff is gone?
ps Everybody do this! $12.99 well spent!

If you run out of the spray that came with the bar, just use a solution or water/dishsoap. All the liquid is for is lubrication anyways

[focusspelledbackwards]

Wicked cool!

[schrader]

for a hatchback the caly will last aprox. 5-6 full car details... for the sedan 4-5

happy clay'n

[svt4real]

[/QUOTE]

If you run out of the spray that came with the bar, just use a solution or water/dishsoap. All the liquid is for is lubrication anyways

[/QUOTE]


wtf never use dishsoap on your paint you can use some of the spray detailer..

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

All dishsoap does is stip the wax. If you claybar and don't wax after you've got bigger things to worry about.

[svt4real]

All dishsoap does is stip the wax. If you claybar and don't wax after you've got bigger things to worry about.

I agree but I never let tht stuff touch my paint because it also can eat through your clear coat

[svtpa]

Yeah the clay bar is a great product. I have used both the mothers and clay magic and both are fine. I wouldnt recomend dish soap either, quick detailer or similar is what to use. It is just ment to lube the paint but I would still not use dish soap. The bar should last at least 3 times depending on the amount of grime on the paint. Small specs of tar on the bottom of my car consume the bar pretty quick. Store it in a ziplock bag with some of the quick detailer sprayed in it. And if you ever drop it on the ground throw it away.

[SilverSVT]

[

I agree but I never let tht stuff touch my paint because it also can eat through your clear coat

What?

[240ZX34V8]

What?

It will NOT eat through your clear coat. It WILL strip any wax you've put on, exposing the clear coat to the elements.

[Honkeytonk Monkey]

If you run out of the spray that came with the bar, just use a solution or water/dishsoap. All the liquid is for is lubrication anyways

[/QUOTE]


wtf never use dishsoap on your paint you can use some of the spray detailer..


[/QUOTE]

If you're going to use a claybar, you have probably decided to refinish you vehicle's surface anyways. You should strip off your old wax before you use it. I use Dawn to remove any old wax, and at the same time go over the car with the bar. I do it about once a year before I go crazy with the wax in the spring. So far I've never experienced any paint damage to any of my cars.

If you strip the old wax off your car before you use the claybar, alot of the crud will go with it, so you aren't picking up as much grit with the bar. Two benefits of this are, less chance of the bar catching something that will leave scratches, and also the bar itself will last longer. Obviously, you dilute the soap, and again, obviously, you don't let it dry onto the car.

You should only really need to use the bar once a year if you take care of your finish between times.

[blkse03]

If you run out of the spray that came with the bar, just use a solution or water/dishsoap. All the liquid is for is lubrication anyways

wtf never use dishsoap on your paint you can use some of the spray detailer..


[/QUOTE]

If you're going to use a claybar, you have probably decided to refinish you vehicle's surface anyways. You should strip off your old wax before you use it. I use Dawn to remove any old wax, and at the same time go over the car with the bar. I do it about once a year before I go crazy with the wax in the spring. So far I've never experienced any paint damage to any of my cars.

If you strip the old wax off your car before you use the claybar, alot of the crud will go with it, so you aren't picking up as much grit with the bar. Two benefits of this are, less chance of the bar catching something that will leave scratches, and also the bar itself will last longer. Obviously, you dilute the soap, and again, obviously, you don't let it dry onto the car.

You should only really need to use the bar once a year if you take care of your finish between times.

[/QUOTE]

Only use dish soap, for washing, if you are going to do a complete detail. Cleaner, polish,wax. I have never known of dishsoap to harm the clearcoat. imo

Has anyone done a black car with the claybar. I would love to try it out on mine, but am very..very afraid

[Virtual_Insanity]

Has anyone done a black car with the claybar. I would love to try it out on mine, but am very..very afraid

Claybar only removes embedded contaminants including tree sap and industrial fallout on the paint finish it is perfectly safe for all colors of vehicles.I have a black SVTF and works great on it.I hope that answers your question.

[blkse03]

Thank you

[Virtual_Insanity]

Thank you

Anytime

[GapBoyPCS]

Has anyone done a black car with the claybar. I would love to try it out on mine, but am very..very afraid

You will LOVE doing this to your car. Our Chapter recently had a Detail Day and our test subject was a black Lightning and some Zaino Bros':

SVTOA-Toronto Detail Day

There's a picture of what was left on the clay bar after just treating the hood of his truck!

As for the soap debate, follow as people have posted:

- Dish soap (e.g. Dawn) - use when you are doing a COMPLETE detail i.e. wash, clay bar, paint pre-cleaner, sealer/glaze, wax/polish surface

- Car wash soap - use when doing a normal washing

[Nells]

Only use dish soap, for washing, if you are going to do a complete detail. Cleaner, polish,wax. I have never known of dishsoap to harm the clearcoat. imo

I've always heard that dish soap is really bad for cars too, so I don't think I could bring myself to try it. What else can you use to strip off the wax?

Also, I live/work near a Foundry. They put off these little orange particles in the air that settle on the car. So my white car has tiny rust looking spots EVERYWHERE on it. The claybar isn't working the best for me- but I've seen it done on my car at the dealership and it works fine for them. What am I doing wrong??

[ax0n]

I've always heard that dish soap is really bad for cars too, so I don't think I could bring myself to try it. What else can you use to strip off the wax?

Also, I live/work near a Foundry. They put off these little orange particles in the air that settle on the car. So my white car has tiny rust looking spots EVERYWHERE on it. The claybar isn't working the best for me- but I've seen it done on my car at the dealership and it works fine for them. What am I doing wrong??

Not being patient. keep it lubricated, and just keep rubbing. Apply light pressure. You'll eventually see the spot shrink as it's sheared off, little by little, and then finally, it will disappear.

I won't claim to know the wax removal side of things. I've heard too many opinions and don't know what one to believe.+

[Nells]

Axon,there must be literaly thousands of tiny pin-sized spots on my car (I'm sorry I should have been more specific about what it looked like). You're right, I'm probably not the most patient person out there
How wet does it have to be?

[ax0n]

Axon,there must be literaly thousands of tiny pin-sized spots on my car (I'm sorry I should have been more specific about what it looked like). You're right, I'm probably not the most patient person out there
How wet does it have to be?

has to be lubed up enough that the claybar can slide across it. on a totally clean area of your car, the claybar should just slip right across the surface. where there's contaminants, it will feel like it has some resistance. that comes from the shearing action.

If it doesn't slide across a clean area, you're either pressing too hard, or not using enough lubricant.

I, too, had hundreds (not thousands, god it must suck to be you) of visible fallout particles on my car, and lots of invisible fallout that was making my paint slightly rough to the touch, all of which were fixed by the claybar. I worked on all the areas of my car where the paint didn't feel smooth as glass, and all the areas where I could see fallout like you're describing.

Since you live in such a wonderful area, be sure to re-wash and re-wax your car immediately afterwards. Since Meguiar's NXT Wash, Tech Wax, and Spray Wax are supposed to reduce static cling of your car's surface, you might have better luck avoiding fallout getting as deeply embedded into your paint as it has already. I've found that a wash at least once a week and a sealant refresher like Wax-as-U-Dry or Meguar's NXT Spray wax, will help keep fallout in check as well. I claybarred my ZX3 for the first time a few weeks ago, and I bought it in may 2000, and it was not what I consider to be "really bad". My parents don't wash their cars very often, and they bought their PT Cruiser just a few days before I got my ZX3, and it is REALLY bad.

[chris_k]

what can be a substitute for the clay bar lubricant when it runs out? can i use soap and water? will it be safe on the paint?

[ax0n]

NO! Water bad! use a detailer spray. Meguiar's Quik Detailer will work just fine. My Mothers clay bar came with Mothers SHOWTIME Instant Detailer. You can also find that in plenty of stores, too. Those are the 2 things I'd recommend using.

[blkse03]

what can be a substitute for the clay bar lubricant when it runs out? can i use soap and water? will it be safe on the paint?

Buy a new box. The stuff is like 12-15 dollars. Cheap when we are talking about your cars paint.

[Virtual_Insanity]

chris_k,
I agree with axOn and go with either Meguiar's Quick Detailer or Mother's Showtime as a lubricant for the clay bar as both can be picked up at auto part stores like Pep Boys,AutoZone or Advanced/Discount Auto Parts plus a lot of Walmart stores carry it in their auto parts section.

[dan-d]

I've been using a claybar for several years now on both our black and liquid gray ZX3's. When I ran out ot the solution I just started using plain water and it works just fine. The clay bar hasn't created any scratches and as long as you keep a trickle of water flowing it lubricates just fine. It remoes everything from road grime, tree sap, and dead bugs. You just gotta love this stuff.