Lvangundy

I just did a small section of my hood and a fender and there's such a HUGE difference!

My hood was extremely hard to wax before and I think I'll have a easier time waxing before the big carson meet.

Daddy-O

....I do know one thing...Claybar Good!

Just use plenty of lube.

garnet92

Lvangundy – totally agree – I bought my first one along with an order of Zaino goodies – didn’t know any more than what Sal Zaino said. Really deep cleans the paint. I used it on my old ’92 SC4 and now on the GS and I wouldn’t want to do without clay any more. It’s almost a secret, except for the detailing crowd. Probably most of the guys on here haven’t been exposed to the benefits of CLAY! Spread the word!

SC300Es

Do you use the clay on the bumpers and other non-metal surfaces?

Daddy-O

Clar bars can be used on any hard surface that you can apply plenty of lube.

I clay my windshield. Helps eliminate chattering wipers.

Cadd

When do you clay? Before the wash or after the wash?

Do you have to remove the wax/polish before you clay?

SC300Es

Thanx Daddy.

Cadd, I think you have to wash it with dishwashing liquid to remove all the wax then clay..

Cadd

Can you clay without washing with dishwasing liquid?

If I wash with car wash shampoo, can i still clay? Would it be as effective?

Guitarman

Absolutely. I would wash the car first with your normal car shampoo, to remove the loose dirt, then rinse and use some clean car shampoo/water in the bucket as your lubrication for the clay. Keep it sudsy and don't rub with too much pressure.

Daddy-O

I wash and rinse.

I then start again with a fresh bucket-o-suds, a clean mitt and clay.
New clay for the paint and the last-used clay for the windshield.

Car shampoo makes great clay lube

Cadd

Is there an advantage to use dishwashing liquid to wash car before claying?

LB Lex

It cleans off all the old wax so you will have a cleaner surface to work with. You have to polish and wax your car after claying because the claybar removes contaminants from the paint but it does not polish or lay down a layer of wax.

Lvangundy

I just noticed when I clay bar'd the hood section it left a bunch of small vertical scratches. It could have been the mitt I used to quickly clean that small section or my drying chamois.

Maybe there was so much road debris there the bar got dirtyand ended up scratching the paint.. how often do you flip / squish the clay bar?

retrodrive

I used claybars before but it can not beat the professional buffer. Besides you constantly need to worry about lubrication and scratches. I only use it to remove some dried out dirt from paint.

Guitarman

That's something that should be mentioned more when it comes to clay ; Indeed ,claying CAN be risky if you're not careful( sometimes even when you are), and most beginners will wind up applying either too much pressure, not using enough lubrication, or failing to knead the clay when it starts to get dirty. It's not an exact science unfortunately, there are many subjective decisions to make while doing it.. One other thing is to ALWAYS wash the car (I know you did this, just mentioning it again for the masses) FIRST to get the loose stuff off the finish, otherwise you'll contaminate your first bar of clay in very short order, and get scratches in the process.

Even then, all it takes is 1 single grit of sand or dirt in that clay to scratch the paint, so light pressure and kneading the clay after it looks dirty is necessary. No one can really say to knead it after 1 panel, 1/2 panel, etc. ...it all depends on the severity of the bonded contaminants. The best rule of thumb is to knead it over itself every few passes to be safest. Remember; always cut the clay into ( 3 or 4 or ?) pieces so you always have a fresh clean piece in the event you drop a piece, or when it loads up with dirt.

It's not a lot different than washing your car, because if you're not careful you can scratch it then too.

You might have to use an abrasive to remove the scratches. Meguiar's Scratch X might help before you break out the heavier compounds. Good luck, it's all a learning experience.