Clay Bar: WOW!

I clay bar my cars all the time and you dont need the lubricant it comes with.. All you have to do is wash your car and while its still wet clay bar it and keep spraying it to keep it lubed. Works just as good as that spray the kit comes with, all the lubricant does is keep it from sticking.

 

I just used a clay bar the first time on a 4 runner never never never never ever ever ever again! ( it looked really sweet but now I cant move my right arm. )

 

My first experience with Clay bars was several years ago to get overspray (I work in a shipyard) off of my vehicle. Awesome stuff. Now I use it annually on all my vehicles.

One thing I learned quickly. Always have a spare bar. If you drop it, even on a clean paved surface, throw it away or you'll scratch your finish.

 

I used the Clay Bar on my truck 2 days ago , remember this is cleaning materials off of the surface. You need to get some sort of protectant back on the finish. My truck is a 2008 (bought it 3 days ago and the previous owner didn't wash or wax) and the top had turned to a Chalky look..... Heres what I did - Sprayed Meguiars spray wax on 1 section at a time Clay Bar then wipe dry with a 100% cotton towel , used Meguiars Scratch X 2.0 one section at a time with a foam applicator ( this stuff takes off any swirl or scratch especially around the door handles) , then Meguiars Polish with foam applicator and removal with 100% cotton towel , finally Meguiars NXT wax light coat all over the truck and removed with the cotton towel
It takes a few hours but this makes a heck of a differance , I use the Meguiars brand because of the incredible results that I get

 

I am never claying a 4 runner again. when my arms stop hurting i am going to do my tacoma. This is probaly the only time I will be glad I have plastic fenders

 

I'm probably going to do this to my truck here soon, I am just worried about my clear coat. Before I knew better I washed the truck with dawn soap bc my dad swore by it and now you can tell it slowly ate away at my clear coat and I don't want to do any more harm to her. But the paint is deff bumpy feeling due to the crap it has collected over the years and I wax after every wash so I'm sure the clay bar would do wonders ... Ahh what to do

 

Dawn shouldn't eat your clear coat. Rubber and plastic yes but no the clear coat. Probably would be best to post some pics of the paint. You may have clear coat failure if that is the case you probably want to skip clay bar.

 

I never heard of dawn hurting a clear coat. Most detailers will use dawn to strip old wax off a car before rewaxing or prepping for a coating.

 

Another zombie thread. 5 year old wakeup call.

And no, you don't 'know better'. Dawn didn't do a thing to the clearcoat.

Dawn will strip the wax off, and it is often used as a pre clay wash detergent.

In the areas of no clear, nothing you do will make it look any better. Either start saving for a paint job, consider a www.monstaliner.com refinish, or let it go and just keep it protected from surface rust. That's about it for choices.

For those looking for info on clay, Nanoskin Autoscrub is the better route.

 

Love Clay Bar - Amazingly, I had never heard of it until joining TW. I do my hood, roof and truck cap top annually and the sides & tailgate every other year as they don't collect as much "stuff".

 

Just to add... Someone mentioned using spray wax to clay with. While it might work, it is much better to use a detail spray or soapy car wash solution. They have much more lubricity than "spray wax" and are more likely to prevent marring of the paint.

 

"Lubricity"

 

Still split on these. Worked my hood pretty well with the medium cut red and went over it with some Meguiars clay after to check and still pulled garbage off. Definitely not my first time claying and I might have done something wrong but they didn't impress me.

 

I recently "clayed" the wife's truck and the results were very nice. I say "clayed" because it wasn't traditional clay, but I'll call it the lazy man's clay. I tried Surf City Garage's Clayzilla kit and was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting clay results, but I got pretty close to it. The wife was happy when she saw her truck was all shiny again, so I'll call it a win.

 

For those of you using the 'special' lubricant that comes with clay bar systems, Meguires includes their final inspection as a lubricant with their system, save the lubricant and use a clean bucket of soap and water AFTER the truck has been washed. Simply apply soapy water to the surface with your wash mitt and clay bar like you normally would. Final inspection, not sure what Mothers calls their stuff even though it's their system I use, can the be saved and used to freshen up your paint between washes. By freshen up I mean when there is fine dust on your paint after 4-5 days of sunny weather with no rain. I use the California car duster to get excess dust off and the use the final inspection and a microfiber cloth.