Clay Bar

Body, Paint, Interior and Trim questions and answers

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Clay Bar

Postby End User » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:59 pm

I want to detail my car so I can take some photos (once it stops raining).
Anyone know where I can get a clay bar from?

I've tried the regular haunts. ie supercheap auto, repco etc, but none seem to stock clay bars.

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Wotsa
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Postby Wotsa » Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:18 pm

All those stores sell Meguiars products. They have a clay bar kit.
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NMX516
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Postby NMX516 » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:39 pm

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marcusus
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Postby marcusus » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:53 pm

A vote for waxit here. I bought the pinnacle ultra clay kit, and my god, what a difference it makes. I only clayed the car (didn't get around to buffing/polishing/cutting/etc) but the car already shines a lot more than it did before.

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JBT
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Postby JBT » Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:55 pm

As above - waxit is goodness.
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Steampunk
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Postby Steampunk » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:40 am

I'm gonna try claying as well. Maybe you missed the clay bar as it doesn't come by itself. It's in a largish box that also contains the Quick Detailer (or Quick Wax one of the two).
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Benny
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Re:

Postby Benny » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:08 am

marcusus wrote:A vote for waxit here. I bought the pinnacle ultra clay kit, and my god, what a difference it makes. I only clayed the car (didn't get around to buffing/polishing/cutting/etc) but the car already shines a lot more than it did before.


I've noticed your car is nice and shiny Marcusus.
It gleams in the sunlight.
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jules
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Re:

Postby jules » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:24 pm

marcusus wrote:A vote for waxit here. I bought the pinnacle ultra clay kit, and my god, what a difference it makes. I only clayed the car (didn't get around to buffing/polishing/cutting/etc) but the car already shines a lot more than it did before.


You should put some protection on your paint. At the moment it's naked and exposed.....


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GP
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Postby GP » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:04 pm

:shock: WTF is clay bar and what does it do? Cutting compound?
Never to old to learn something new I suppose :D
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JBT
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Postby JBT » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:07 pm

Go to this websiteand search \"clay bar\" or click on the \"how to\" icon.
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mr_rotary
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Postby mr_rotary » Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:46 am

I use the 3M clay bar on my RX-7 engine bay (which is still a shell) and it cleaned up the overspray and lumy bits extremely well. It's expensive but well worth the coin. It was nearly $40 trade price from memory.

wun911
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Postby wun911 » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:35 pm

Are these things better than using wax?
every ounce counts

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Garry
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Postby Garry » Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:27 pm

Wun,

The clar bar is a cleaner to clean the impurities off the paint. Wax is a sort of sealant to stop the impurities getting into your paint. You should clay bar first and then wax, with a polishing step in the middle if your paintwork has swirls or scratches.
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marcusus
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Postby marcusus » Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:35 pm

Benny wrote:I've noticed your car is nice and shiny Marcusus.
It gleams in the sunlight.

Indeed it does :)
The car's actually dirty at the moment too because of the rains we had early in the week, yet it's still quite reflective and shiny. Smooth to the touch as well ;)

jules wrote:You should put some protection on your paint. At the moment it's naked and exposed.....

Shoulda also mentioned I did a quick job of spray on wax afterwards. I just didn't get around to using the random orbital buffer to get the swirls out. So at the moment it's shiny and smooth, but still a bit swirly. Next detailing session (once I've gotten a new bar... my mates car really gave it to the one we have) I'll go all out and get rid of the swirls too.

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Steampunk
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Postby Steampunk » Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:23 pm

Every time I wax the car, I do run my fingertip along it to feel the smoothness ... and my personal test is to drop a magazine on the bonnet and watch it slide :P

Now ... I definitely have swirls/spiderwebs, does clay get rid of this? or does a quality wax?
Anyone tried the Meguiar's Tech Wax?

(Why does Mequiars make so many products?!)
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