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And woah, it made such a difference. The price was a little steep ($34.99 for the Meguiars kit) but the results were great. The paint was smooth to the touch and days later the car is still shiny.




AAA+++++++++, good product, will use again!!!!

Wow.. thats pretty shiny innit

damn that very shiny!!! and that front right quater panel looks great!
hmm im tempted to get some of this stuff now

how long did it take you?

I've had that stuff sitting in my garage for over a year now. 'Spose I'd better try it out!

Did you wax afterwards to seal the paint??
Looks bloody awesome. Just needs some brake fluid now!


Jules

I reckon clay bar'ing added another 45min to the process. I didn't find that easy to push it around on the paint. Also, it was very easy to spray too much quick detailer on. I didn't even read any guides on using the stuff before trying it out. But, the results were still worthwhile. The second thing you notice after using the stuff is how smooth to the touch that the paint becomes.

I followed up the clay bar treatment with a quick chamoising (to get rid of the quick detailer residue) and a hit with the Meguiars polish (step 2 of the 3-step) to protect the paint.

Haha, I'm not going to live that one down, am I... Your car's shiny enough, Jules. Maybe Malibu needs some brake fluid?

I used to clay bar my cars, but I don't anymore.

I get the guys at the carwash to do it for me!

Did you know, that if you have some overspray on your windscreen, or other hard to get off dirty marks on your glass, the clay bar works really well on those too.
You still have to use the Quick Detailer as a lubricant, but you can always wash it off with glass cleaner afterwards.
Works a real treat!

sabretooth wrote:I didn't find that easy to push it around on the paint. Also, it was very easy to spray too much quick detailer on.

I wash the car, then clay bar it while it's still wet using a fresh bucket of water and car shampoo (instead of the quick detailer spray). Just keep dipping the clay bar in the bucket and it'll glide over the paint easily. Only takes about 15 minutes to do the whole car. Rinse and dry after that as normal.

Just one warning: don't tip the bucket out and forget you've left the clay bar in there.

I seem to recall a suggestion to wash the car with dishwashing liquid before using the clay to remove all the old wax etc..


Jules

wow, looks like it just came out of the showroom
good stuff sabretooth

Daz 27 wrote:

jules wrote:I seem to recall a suggestion to wash the car with dishwashing liquid before using the clay to remove all the old wax etc..


Jules

DON'T WASH YOUR CAR WITH DISHWASHING LIQUID.

How come? What's in it?

Jules

Evil stuff that will rust your doors out!

jules wrote:

Daz 27 wrote:

jules wrote:I seem to recall a suggestion to wash the car with dishwashing liquid before using the clay to remove all the old wax etc..


Jules

DON'T WASH YOUR CAR WITH DISHWASHING LIQUID.

How come? What's in it?

Jules

Think of the marketing, lifts grease and stains.... It also lifts off any waxes, polishes or sealents on your paint and will leave it dull and without a shine.

Some people (not me) even use kerosene to wash their cars as it's oil based and leaves an oily film on their cars to protect them from the sun, bird crap and probably even rust.

I wash with a good car shampoo and follow it up with a quick detail spray. Then once month I wax it with a good quality (ie, not Meguiars) wax, like Swissol, Pinnacle, or P21s.

Then once every 6 or so months I clay, polish, seal and wax the paint... and I think it's due for it this weekend.

Hang on....
Why clay a car that has all that old crap on it.
Don't you want to clay JUST the paint, not wax and protectants and oils and other rubbish.
I thought the whole idea was to strip off EVERYTHING other than the paint, clay the paint to remove acid rain, contaminents and other yukkies that bond to the paint, and then protect with wax/ polish??

I never said I usually clean Malibu wish dishwashing liquid!

Jules


PS: I also believe you should only clay once a year, and only if you don't use good secondary protection (waxes, polishes etc..)

They clay bar will do that in a non-abrasive manner. Some clay bars can supposedly remove contaminants from the paint without removing the wax, but I don't see how.

I think dish washing liquid is also slightly acidic where as car wash shampoo isn't.