Clay bars

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Well if you have been holding off on using a clay bar to smooth out and clean your paint, DON'T. It really does a great job and is very easy to do. I used Maquires but I also have Griot's that came with the orbital polisher kit and I am sure the Griot's works as well. Doesn't take that long to do a Boxcar and it is well worth the effort. I am really pleased with the results and have forged ahead and used the orbital polisher and it works quite nicely, nothing to fear here and it does NOT burn the paint at all, just polishes as advertised. Glad I followed some advice here and tried it. If the car gets any more shiny, I will blind oncoming traffic. I wonder if it would confuse laser.>>?????

AKL

[kabel]

it really is a simple and effective process. we have had a few lengthy discussions about the use of clay bars, here's a couple:
claybar your car
Used a clay bar for the first time today

Confuse Laser?!?! We could only hope it was that simple lol

[Perfectlap]

try the GLiptone clay bar comes in a convenient Jar. $15 Sold at Pepboys and Strauss. Cheaper than the Meguiars or having to wait for mail order.

[YellowJacket]

I also used a clay bar last weekend for the first time and found it to be amazing. I did the following:

-Washed the car with dishsoap, dried with a water blade and microfiber
-Used Meguiars clay bar, dried w/ microfiber
-Meguiars 3-step paint cleaner + polish + carnuba wax (using microfiber applicater and polishing towel)

The part I found most amazing is that the car felt completely smooth after the clay bar; the 3-step finishing process seemed only to add depth to the color, but didn't really add any incremental smoothness!! Just goes to show how effective the bar is.

[SC986]

You're right YellowJacket! It probably is overkill, but I wash the car again after the claybar before using the Porter Cable.

I was 100% skeptical when I first tried it, but the results are amazing. Funny thing, most of my friends do not detail their car and I can't even get them to try the claybar.

[FrayAdjacent]

Turtle wax has some new stuff out called 'liquid clay bar' or something like that. Saw it at the local Pep Boys. Looks like you use it kinda like polish. I might pick up a bottle and see how it works.