Ok so i bought, Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay kit. it was either this or the Mothers. the reason i chose this is because the Meguiars offered a bigger Gram Claybar (100 G over Mothers 80 G),and also because it comes with a moisture-sealed case and MF Towel. Other than that i think there pretty much do the same job.


Anyway i already tried it on my Headlights, and all i can say is Wow this claybar stuff really works( First time using it). I'm going to do the whole car tomorrow and post pics.

I have a Few questions tho.

How hard should i press down on the claybar when going over the paint?

The claybar doesn't seem too big will it last for the entire car? Do i need to keep turning it over or kneading it ?

the claybar is white in color and when i got done with the Headlights the back was very dirty and there was little and big black dots, this is normal right?

How should i store the claybar? i put it in the moisture-sealed case it came with, but i want to make sure thats going to work.

Will i have to clay a second time just to make sure ALL the contaminants are gone?

Finally can i just buy claybars by themselfs when i run out? I really dont want to spend $20 everytime for a new kit just for the Bars.


Thanks



Sorry so many Q's but i just wanted to know.

 

One clay bar will do the entire car. I bought the same kit myself.

Did you was the car first?

When I store mine, I spray a little QD in the container, then put it in a ziploc bag.

You knead the claybar to expose clean areas. If you drop it, trash it, or you will add scratches to your paint.

Yes you can buy clay by itself. I bought some sonus clay from Autopia.

Can't wait to see the pics. Good Luck

 

and your other question- you dont need pressure to clay... its just drag it across the surface type of application. it will pull out the contaminents.
keep kneading it/ turning it.
btw, pull apart the bar- you dont need the whole bar to clay with. put back the extra.
and if you drop it, trash it as crazy said

 

more dumb questions from me. you don't reuse the clay bar, do you?

 

Like Wannabe said, definitely pull the bar apart I'd make a 100gm bar into 4 or 5 pieces...flattened into about silver dollar sized ones. That way if you drop it you're not ruining a whole bar. Which is much easier to do than you might think. You'll be gliding along slick and smooth as can be and it'll suddenly stick on a bad spot while your hand keeps going, and plop right on the ground. Plus you have pieces that you'll use in the usual bad areas (rear quarters, rockers, and nose) and have nice fresh brand new pieces for the highly visable areas. (hood, trunk lid, fenders)

When your done, I'd save less contaminated pieces for use on wheels and/or to remove the occasional stubborn bug splat or tar chunk.

 

Nice, I clay my car when it fails the "test". I've stopped buying the expensive Meguiar's kit since you're paying primarily for the lube I think. I've found that using the Zaino soap to work incredibly well as a lube, so I only buy the clay bars alone now.

 

where are you getting your clay bars? I'm having a hard time finding just the bars.

 

autogeek.net
autopia.com

those are a couple of places. I got Sonus clay from autopia

 

Thanks guys, i will finish the job later today if the weather holds up, and i'll post before and after pics.

I got everything i want to detail the S now, I just need to find a good SYN wax for my base coat, Because i just ordered some P21S carnuba wax for my top coat. Any suggestions on a SYN? i already have the 3m Perfect-it swirl and scratch remover-( i believe they changed the name of it-I think wanabe uses it) can i use that as the base? and is the 3M a SYN or a SG?

Also, is it possible to Claybar your windshield? or will it leave scratches on it?

 

The 3m Perfect-it is a light polish/sg if I remember correctly. So I would use something ontop of that.

For a Synthetic wax, Autogeek breaks it down by carnuba's and synthetics on their page
Link: http://www.autogeek.net/carwax.html

Using claybars on win'dows is up in the air, Some people say yes, some people say no. Depends on the type of clay. Test it on a small spot, that won't be noticeable. I've heard great results from it, but some people are really weary about it.