LovinLexi

8 day F Sport owner: LOVING my Dark Knight!! (#batmanfan) You can probably imagine the depth of that “love” with having went from a Jeep Wrangker to THIS!😍 In researching care for aesthetics (paint, etc.), continue running across “clay bar treatment.” Looks simple enough, for the detail-oriented person (which I happen to be). But before attempting, common sense dictated reaching out to those with experience...

tnilc

Clay barring is simple, just make sure you're well lubricated and you need to actually do it. You shouldn't clay bar too often. If you can run your hand over the paint and it feels a little rough, you should clay bar it. If it's super smooth, like glass, then wait a bit longer. This is simple enough for anyone to do, just make sure you use the right techniques.

LovinLexi

Thanks, tnilc! Feels really smooth, so will hold off. Am teaching 6th gd English virtually from home this year, so not doing much driving. Taking a road trip in it to St. Augustine (7-8 hour drive from “home”), the first part of April. Will assess again after that.

tfischer

If all you want to do is a clay bar treatment, don't pay a detailer to do this, as it's too easy for you to do yourself.
To see if it's necessary, use a thin plastic bag between your hand and the car to feel the surface. If you feel that it's not smooth, get a good clay bar, then wash the car, then use a lubricating spray to enable the clay bar to slide over the car. This spray can be any car wash soap (not a detergent), diluted with water. Clay the car, turning the clay over on itself from time to time. If you drop the claybar on the ground, throw it away and get another.
Claying is usually a preparation for some kind of a sealant. What are you going to use as a sealant, as you may be taking a lot of the protection off of the paint surface?
For a great finish on a dark paint job, take the car to a detailer who will strip everything from the car, clay it, and then apply a quartz sealant, like CQuartz or Geyon. Your paint will look deep and rich. Highly recommended.

Seattle SCone

Totally doable as DIY, but the entire process from washing, stripping old sealant, removing tar, claying and re-sealing took about eight hours the last time I did it. That's without doing any paint correction. Comes out amazing and is definitely DIY doable, but be ready to invest some real time to do it well.

Hint: cut your clay bar in half and keep the 2nd half in reserve as you do the 1st 2/3 of car. The 2nd half is backup in case you drop the clay.