Heard of them, and what they do, which is remove contaminants on paintwork.
18 months ago i was given an Autoglym detailing kit, put in a dark corner and forgotten about. I suddenly remembered it, and in a rush of blood decided to clean the Vitara, something i do three times a year.
Snow foam, hose off, car shampoo, hose off. This time used my ‘white’ Bilt Hamner clay bar, kept the paintwork damp with a water spray bottle, and couldn’t believe how much crud it lifted off. Then waxed, left for 15 minutes, and polished off with a micro cloth.
It’s come up like glass, but does show all the minor stone chips.
A labour of love, two consecutive evenings work, total 6 hours, but kept me away from early doors beer.
Very impressed with the result
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I clay twice a year, your right in saying they leave the paint like glass, try it on your windows, you'll be amazed how much cack that it will remove.
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Strangely enough I have also gone through the same process with SHMBO's Soul. Spurred into action by a small paintwork job on a rear bumper corner. A lot of the paintwork had a slightly rough feel due to paintwork rectification done prior to purchase (second hand) and insufficiant masking off allowing overspray to settle.
I used a clay bar. In the worst areas some fine wet and dry with soap lubricant and then a machine polish. Looks really good. A bit of work involved in using a clay bar but it does lift the contaminants stuck in the paint and you can feel the difference immediately.
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Was the colour of the 'crud' the same as the paintwork? Clay consists of tiny mineral particles which are abrasive. A similar result would probably be obtained by using T-cut or Brasso. I would never use an abrasive on a car's paintwork which these days has a thin topcoat of lacquer, which, as it is only a few microns thick, you have probably removed. It'll certainly look good after a coat of wax, but not for long.
I only ever use rainwater to clean our cars, and have just waxed Mrs F's 6yr old Peugeot for the first time. Very occasionally a dab of WD40 for those pesky tar spots.
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Oh John you Really are a odd one, you really need to research what a clay bar is exactly, I well remember you stating on the old forum you only ever "clean" your cars using water from your water butt and a old t shirt.
Your attitude towards shoestring motoring are frankly boring...xx
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>> Your attitude towards shoestring motoring are frankly boring...xx
Just trying to be helpful, Paul. But......'shoestring motoring'? Owning two cars, one a 2 litre sports car and the other a 20mpg 12cylinder 6 litre German sports saloon? Plus Mrs F's top-of-the-range brand new (6yrs ago) Peugeot 2008? Come on!!
PS Here is an extract from my clay bar research...... '....what goes into a traditional detailing clay bar.......Pulverized Abrasives: Microscopic, uniform abrasives (such as fine silicates) are mixed into the resin.....' i.e. clay!
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A clay bar is used with a wetting agent and yes it's abrasive but it won't remove much of the surface, it picks up the things stuck to it by shearing them off.
I clayed my 6 months old MX-5 8 years ago and removed a surprises amount of muck. Because it's kept clean and waxed it hasn't really need doing since and an experimental patch yields hardly anything.
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Clay bars - Paul 1963
