The Clay Bar

[blue2000s]

The purpose of the clay bar is simply to pick up the debris that sits in the car's finish that simple waxing and washing can't break loose or it would take the removal of some of the paint layer to remove with a polish. It literally is a bar of clay, like the kind you can get from the crayola box (but probably different in formulation). As stated, you just rub the bar across the car's surface with a lubricant to allow the clay to glide. The bar picks up the little contaminants and leaves the finish very smooth. I would always wax the car after a clay bar treatment. Picking up the little bits leaves those parts of the paint unprotected and I have to believe that the bar picks up some wax in the process as well.

I was really impressed with all the little bits of dirt you can see in the bar after rubbing over a few parts of the car. It''s very surprising.

The entire Boxster takes maybe a 30 minutes to an hour to run over with the bar and then I wax it immediately.

I've used the Zaino bar and spray, but I have to believe there isn't a great difference between different manufacturers. It seems expensive, but you can use the bar several times. The little bits get pulled into the bar through kneading and the lubricant helps to keep them from scratching as you rub the bar across the car.