Unintentional Product Review - Meguiar's Ceramic Quick Clay

As the thread title says, "Unintentional" by virtue of the fact that this was not the product I intended to buy, and only bought by accident because I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed it as I was talking to a buddy I met in the store... I could have easily returned it, but I thought I would give it a try.


This is a "synthetic" clay product which means that instead of a traditional Plasticine-like "clay" bar, you get a foam applicator pad with a thin, grey layer on one side which is the "clay", and the traditional bottle of lubricant. First off, this product is expensive; over $40(Cdn), and there was only enough spray to do my Tacoma and a Mustang, and barely enough at that. For that kind of money, it I think a little more liquid isn't a huge ask.

As far as performance goes, it's marginally adequate at best. Now, to be fair, the packaging does state that it's not for heavily soiled paint, but even though I take good care of my truck's finish, this product really picked up very little and required multiple passes of the same area to remove even the lightest of contamination. Where it did do an excellent job however was on glass. I will say that my windows haven't been so clean and smooth on the outside since the truck was new! It also left a nice finish on the paint (even though it didn't remove much).

The worst feature by far however was the tendency for the "clay" to "grab" and leave dark, dirty smears behind if there wasn't enough lubricant on the finish. There were several occasions where I had to go back and use other cleaners to remove these marks. Granted normal "clay" will leave marks if it's rubbed on a dry surface, but they're not nearly as tenacious as these.

Overall, I would suggest that this is a product to leave on the shelf, UNLESS your vehicle is garage-kept, and you want a relatively quick & easy SiO2 finish which I don't imagine on its own it would last long. There are MUCH better clay-bar products and even though it takes a little more effort to use a traditional bar, that, along with a good-quality SiO2 coat will do a MUCH better job for the same money.

 

likewise, after using this product last year i bought real clay bars this year and dealt with the kneading of the clay. It works, but not nearly as well. I'd only recommend the synthetic if you have arthritis or similar condition.

 

Have you tried Nanoskin? Much easier and quicker to use instead of clay. After using synthetic never going back to regular clay.

 

Nope, I'll have to look in to it, thanks! I tend to prefer the "real thing" though, as I find it does a better job.

 

i have used numerous clays. Bought a Nanoskin wash mitt, will never buy regular clay again.