Having a white car in Sweden is hard work. After a winter, we have to clean with a product to get rid of tar thrown up by the studs, as well as rust stains from the metal worn off the studs, and granite dust.
Someone suggested using clay after the cleaning to get rid of all the marks and cleaner residue.
So what is it, how does it work, and how do you use it?
Edited by rtj70 on 26/02/2009 at 16:01
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You refer to a clay bar. It's a form of clay that you go over the car (rubbing) with a lubricant to remove marks from the car. You'd be surprised what is left on the paintwork after its washed.
Edited by rtj70 on 26/02/2009 at 16:01
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I think they're great. Run your hands over the paintwork before hand and it feels like ploughed soil, after claying it's like polished marble.
I try to do ours once a year, keeps the tar at bay.
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A clay bar does a great job on tar. But they're not inexpensive so if you have a lot of tar on the car I'd recommend a good thorough wash and gentle removal of most of the tar with something like Autoglym's Tar Remover and a microfibre cloth. Otherwise the clay bar will soon foul up with tar spots. The clay bar will remove the last of the tar and any other contaminants such as fresh water spots, tree sap mist, fallout and other stuff that clings to the paint. Claying will also remove any wax protection on the car so polish and apply wax/sealant soon after claying. You'll be impressed with the results!
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I know the original poster is not a UK resident but Halfords now do a clay bar.
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NeilS, I've never used a clay bar, but am tempted. If the clay bar does become fouled up with tar spots, can't you just remove them from the bar, like cut them out?
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Does a clay bar remove any of the original finish, ie paint or clear coat, from the car?
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No. Unless the paint is damaged maybe?
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Thanks, because I'm going to try one on the Jazz. It's red and the leading edges of the bonnet and roof are slightly paler than the rest of the car.
May not work but it seems it can do no harm.
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So is a clay bar like:
1. blu-tac;
2. india rubber; or
3. chalk?
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A clay bar is like . . . plasticine?
It's unlikely to correct colour imperfections. There are colour restorers for that, such as Autoglym's Paint Renovator.
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>>NeilS, I've never used a clay bar, but am tempted. If the clay bar does become fouled up with tar spots, can't you just remove them from the bar, like cut them out?
As you use the clay bar the contaminants build up and you need to "fold" the clay bar to give yourself a clean, contaminant free face to use on the paint - you don't want to be wiping the paint with a clogged face of clay. You can pick out the bigger bits but IMO that's a fiddly job. If you've got a lot of tar, you'll find yourself folding the clay after clearing only a small area and eventually the bar will have contaminants all the way through it and because you don't have a clean face it will be less effective - still work ok but quite a bit less effective and will require more time and more lubricant. Used bars lift the grained in muck of windscreens really well.
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I used one for first time a month ago and it's great - I didn't use it specifically to remove tar but just to remove the bit's on paintwork - it worked a treat - give it a good polish and paintwork feels like silk - have a good read here - by way clay bars are more like blutak
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/forum/
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proably a silly question but is there any pitfalls for the first time clay-barer to watch out for, i've considered doing my sills with one where they have become stained from water draining off the car
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> A clay bar does a great job on tar
If you only need to remove tar, use white spirit or WD-40. No need to buy anything special. I've never found it have any effect on paint, especially since modern paint is water-based.
Edited by Andrew-T on 26/02/2009 at 23:40
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Modern paint is water based but the clear lacquer/top coat isn't.
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I've never used a clay bar but logic tells me that rubbing anything on a car's bodywork will remove some of the paint.
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It sounds like good stuff, so I'll have to try and source some.
What is the 'lubricant' that has been mentioned - or shouldn't I ask?
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...lubricant...
I think some bars come with a pot of lubricant, but the real pros (ho-ho) prefer other bars that only need water, or possibly a very mild soap solution.
At this point, reference is usually made to the detailingworld website, but it might be just as easy to have a look in your local motor factors/accessory shop.
I get the impression this clay m'larkey is becoming a bit more mainstream - a post further up the thread says Halfords now stock clay bars.
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As the above poster says, check out:
www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/
Those boys love their cars and there is lots of good advice about using clay. I have heard good things about the Bilt clay, but I also find Meguiars products very good and they do a clay kit, though I am too lazy to try it myself. I don't think clay will bring paint off (unless it's coming off anyway) as you are pressing and lifting it, not dragging it along the surface.
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After 95k miles my 3 year old Jag's paintwork looked a bit tired and felt rough to the touch, even after I had used an electric mop on the car with Autoglym polish.
After using a clay bar from Halfords (meguiars clay bar) about £20 the car looks like new. It was amazing the effect it had and the colour of the clay bar towards the end, a dirty black colour. It does not remove any paint nor scratches the car.
The silver paintwork now has a glass like effect and has had many a comment off the neighbours.
You need to finish off with a good polish such as Autoglym afterwards as the claybar will remove any polish previously on the car but you will be pleased with your hard efforts.
P.s. just looked online and you can pick the Meguiars clay kit a lot cheaper than £25. Ive just seen it on a couple of sites for around £12.
This video is great: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfEfLGL59GI
Edited by Xtype on 27/02/2009 at 10:33
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I'm afraid I must confess to having had a sneaky peak at the 'detailingworld' website myself and I have to say the results that some of these guys achieve can be quite startling. I was particularly impressed with the restoration jobs done on old, faded red cars that are such a common site. There was one guy who completely transformed a seriously scruffy mk3 Astra to the point where it looked like it had just rolled off the production line. The standard procedure seems to be wash, clay, machine polish and wax, followed by general trim tidying etc.
I think that nowadays most cars are very easy to keep in good mechanical order, regular servicing of a generally well built car is all that's really required to ensure mechanical longevity. It is good, therefore, to see a car restored to its original self cosmetically. It kind of completes the picture. I should imagine that a 95k mile X-type at just 3 years old will be just about run in, so it must be satisfying to have it looking fresh too!
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Check out this link on www.valetingcars.com it tells you all about clay bars and why you should use it. http://valetingcars.com/valeting-information.html
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