r3velation

i just bought the meguiar's one because a forum member was like "look! i'm on the box!" so i was like eff it, why not. hahaha. i don't think you could go wrong with a set, just make sure you don't drop it, cuz once you do, it's right in the trash.

mygt500

Use once or twice a yr and yes they work.....

use the clay in a back and forth motion and make sure to use lots of quik detailer while claying the paint. Turn to a clean side of the clay frequently and the paint will be smooth as glass....then proceed to polish and wax!

Fink

Do you have to wax the car after you clay bar?

isjoining

yes you do

72MachOne99GT

I'd never done it before on my car *nothing more than waxxing* and i went out to 99 gt verts house one day before the meet and greet last year

we washed, clay barred, he polished with like 2 different steps, and then we applied maybe 2 coats of wax..

i wont lie.. the car looked awfully good,,but im not sure it was worth the 6-7 hours we spent..

HOWEVER,,, feeling the car, putting your finger or hand on it and FEELING the difference, you knew it was probably worth it..

i just wish I would have had a better place to take pictures as it was dark by time we finished, and then i had to drive home lol

02TrueBlueGT

The problem I have with those claybar kits at places like Pepboys and Autozone and all of them is that they give you such a small piece of claybar. If you want more, go to Glimmerglassdetail.com. They have such a huge selection of detail supplies. They might be a little pricey but so worth it.

jchambers

Go with Clay magic in the blue box. It is only 11 buck compared to 18 with the mothers and meguiars. Clay magic was the first clay and works just as well. Also you can use Optimum No Rinse mixed properly for great "lube" if you are worried about using all your quick detailer. One thing to remember is that even new cars can benefit from claying. Many have "rail dust" embedded in the paint from the train ride over (little hot pieces of metal). On white cars, you can usually see what Im referring to if you look close enough. Clay removes that as well. ANY real detailer thats worth it will clay before polishing. However, most detail shops do not include claying (if they do it is extra) because it just isnt economical for them as a shop. They have several guys working on your car for a few hours if that. I work on cars for 2 days. BUT, I charge.

mygt500

We are one of the same.... I am a detailer too and do charge and I would never start waxing a car without claying it first...new or otherwise. I had a discussion in the past in this forum about a member saying that new cars do not need to be clayed......they may not need it but they should get clayed regardless for the reasons you have stated....

clay magic works well too and I have used all of them....

jchambers

Yes! Some new cars are worse than cars a few years old. Some new cars only need to be spot clayed but it wont hurt to do the entire thing. Another trick to make sure you removed all contamination in putting your hand in a plastic sandwich baggie (like ziploc) and rub across the paint AFTER WASHING AND DRYING THOROUGHLY! The baggie will amplify the roughness (contamination) you feel still left in the paint. On a side note, I love your car and may need your help talking my wife into a whipple

TorchedGT

It's a great product to have laying around - you never know when you'll need it. I always use it before a serious polish/wax (and on the flip side, if you do clay bar your car, you need to polish/wax it to fill in the now-exposed swirls and such, then protect the paint since you've just stripped off any wax which was on it!)

I noticed some overspray (freaked me out!) on my car the other day, painting my calipers the easy way (mask everything up / shoot it on the rotor.) I busted out the clay bar, and it came off instantly (kinda cool to see the red caliper paint on the clay actually... except my car's red to, so it's a little unnerving, even though it's pretty much impossible for it to be the car's base coat since it's cleared and all.)

Awesome stuff, use it with a good wax and the paint somehow feels almost "soft" to the touch - hard to explain, but you'll know what I mean if you try it!