The Clay Bar

[chrisdridley]

Originally Posted by 23109VC

would someone give me a quick run down on how this stuff works, what is it?

I've heard of a clay bar, but never really knew what it was. When I first picked up my car, used - it was in need of a waxing. The paint looked nice, but it felt rough and didn't look shiny. I gave it a nice wash and waxed it with some Meguiar's. It looks really nice, but it's not "perfect".

Are you guys saying that if I clay bar the car it will look even better? I know my car has never had a clay bar done to it in the past 5-6 years it was owned by my dad... (i bought it from him)

Do I use the clay bar and then wax it? or is the clay bar a high grade of wax?

Does it matter where I get it from? is there a good brand / crummy brand of clay bar - or can I just pick up anyting at the auto parts store that says it is a clay bar. is it really some "bar" of clay...i'm imagining something that looks like a brick of clay that i rub all over my car....

i'll have to google this anf find out what it is.

Meguiar's and Mothers market clay bar kits. You can pick these up at most auto parts stores. These kits contain a small bar of clay and a bottle of spray lube.
You can also go for a pro clay bar but if you have never performed this type of detail, go with the above mentioned kits.
You wash and dry the car. Next, you spray a small section of the car at a time with the spray lube, then just gently rub the clay on the sprayed area. Wipe the spray off. Then wipe it again. I use only microfiber towels. After each section kneed the clay. Next, wax the car with the carnuba wax that is included in the kit.
Afterwards, you can use the spray to clean up the car and get bugs and bird droppings off easily.
Each time I wash the car, I go over the car with the Showtime spray to remove any waterspots and to re-new the shine.

I perfer Mothers because I like the Showtime spray that comes in the kit better than the spray that comes in the Meguiar's kit.

I have a black car that has almost 100,000 miles on it and I have used the process to clean the car since it was new and the paint shines better now than when it was new.