Another affirmative from me! Clay bar is the most effective paint prep, period

Although elbow grease is high, results after wax are totally worth it.

Cars coming from overseas benefit even more from immediate clay-bar. The salt air from the ships as well as rail dust and diesel soot make the car's paint gross the day you get it.

 

I'm a bit concerned about what using a clay bar may do to some of the surface imperfections in the car's finish present from the factory. I'm sure if you look closely at the finishes on most cars you'll find small particles that got embedded in the finish as the car was painted. It seems that removing these (assuming clay bar would) may disturb the surrounding finish and possibly lead to paint peeling or perhaps even corrosion if the particle extended down to bare metal.

What do you think? Thanks.

 

Well I went out tonight and got the Mothers Clay bar. Only one is Louisville I could find. So now I have to wait for some warm weather so I can take the current 2003049 coats or wax off and clay it. the bars are alot littler than I picutred.

 

Clay bars seem to cost a small fortune,as a matter of fact at my local Pep Boys they place an empty Mother's box on the shelf with a note taped on it saying "asked clerk for product"....my questions...do you just get the clay bar wet and start rubbing it all over the car?...do you soap the car?...before/after?I'm thinking about giving it a shot but don't know much about it.

 

Does anyone buy their clay bars on the internet? If so, where?

 

You can buy clay bars at Walmart for about $10.

You will need to wash the car first, then spray a small area of the car with an instant detailer and then very lightly move the clay bar back and forth across this area. Move it in the direction of the air flow and keep the area lubricated. You will feel the difference from when you start to the time when you are finished and ready to move to the next section.

This is very easy to do and doesn't require any elbow grease. With a small car like our's it doesn't take much time to do the whole car.

The clay bar is also very good for removing tree sap and overspray.

HINT: Throw the clay bar away, if you drop it. It is very good at picking everything up that it touches. Some folks only use half of the bar at a time, so they don't waste the whole bar if they drop it.