Clay Bar

[NickCats]

Well guys, I took a clay bar to the old box this weekend, and I have to say I was a little disappointed with the results. I picked up the Mother's California Gold Clay Bar system Saturday morning, and after a good wash I went to town on the paint.

https://store.mothers.com/product_info.php?products_id=26

It did accomplish what I had hoped, which was to remove the dried cement / mud reside from when I went through a puddle a couple of weeks ago, but to be honest I really couldn't tell much of a difference in the paint from the before and after

Could it be because the car is garage parked at home and at work ? I use the Zaino Z-5 on a regular basis ( finally picked up some Z-2 though ). Is the Z-5 abrasive enough that it had already removed what the clay bar was intended for ?

Any thoughts or explanations would be appreciated

Thanks,

Nick

[chaudanova]

Maybe your car's paint surface is already really clean and free of gunk... How does the surface feel now compared to before? Any bit more smooth and glasslike?

[FrayAdjacent]

I just clay barred my car on Friday, first time I've done it. I did notice on most of the surfaces, it didn't feel like it was doing much, and the bar didn't look like it was picking up much. But on some other surfaces, I did see traces of gunk on it.

The clay bar is more about maintaining the health of the paint, getting contaminants and very small particles out of it. Stuff you might not be able to see. It's good to do it even if it doesn't end up looking better as a result. It will keep your paint 'healthier'.

ETA... the surface did feel smoother, even if the bar didn't appear to be picking up a lot of particle matter...

[Rodger]

My last clay bar job (several weeks ago) didn't appear to change the way the paint looked, only how it felt. It's pretty effective at removing road tar droplets, though.

[Perfectlap]

well in theory you're supposed to do the sandwich bag test to see if your paint requires clay at all. Place hand in bag and run fingers across the paint to see if there is any drag,bumpy lumps vs. smooth gliding.

Claying only "shaves" the top surface. If you have swirls that haven't been corrected you may have pollution and particles trenched in the swirl channels. Using Menzerna with an orbital buffer will flatten the paint surface so the particles have no place to hide. If you don't want to go the buffer route you can try paint decontamination which flushes out the swirls channels. FK1 1119/883 is one popular decontamination kit for about $50.

p.s.
if you are claying and nothing is coming off that's a good thing. Kinda like spraying for roaches before you get them.

[Sammy]

I have never noticed a change in the appearance of the paint after using clay; however, I could always feel a huge difference. I sleep comfortably knowing that contaminants aren't eating at my paint.