using clay bar for the 1st time

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Permalink Reply by Blockhead on October 22, 2008 at 7:28am

Okay, the fact that Ed hasn't jumped in here worries me!

Ed, and by extention I'll include Laura, both use Zaino and swear by it. I've seen them in action and I can't argue with the results since their cars look absolutely amazing. (http://www.zainostore.com/)

Being a lazy ass, though, I just went to Advance Auto Parts and picked up whatever they had on hand and that ended up being Meguiar's. Haven't done a full car treatment but the claybar worked in getting out some nasty black streaks that wouldn't come off with anything else.

Glenn :)

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Permalink Reply by La Strega on October 22, 2008 at 11:02am

Thanks, Glen I was going to try something different than Zaino ( a couple of people including the guy who did my clear bra install said that it was overpriced ) Bavarian autosport back in June did the whole newsletter on a 7 step car detailing with pictures and detailed instructions. The products suggested were P21S and Zymol and the Autosol Clay cleaning kit. I was wondering if somebody used this before.

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Permalink Reply by SpitfireMkI on October 22, 2008 at 12:36pm

I've used the Meguiars clay and it works, noticable improvement in smoothness and blemish removal. I use the Prima stuff and it works great, finish is noticeably better. I'm still in the learning stages with the PC buffer, just ordered more stuff plus the new Banana Gloss.

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Permalink Reply by OctaneGuy on October 24, 2008 at 1:36am

Most claybars will give you the same results. What matters is..how long it takes you to get there, what does it do to your paint to get there, and whether the clay you're using is easy to use or not.

Some clays make your fingers turn the color of the clay. Griots yellow clay is like this.
Some clays like Meguiar's consumer clay crumbles when you use car wash soap as a lubricant.
Some clays will mar the finish of the paint such that you need to polish it out. The only way to know what works is to try them. Meguiar's professional Mild blue clay is my favorite. You'll see some people wear gloves when they clay and that's because they don't want their fingers to get stained or have clay get stuck to it. The problem with that is you need to be feeling the paint as you clay. Feeling it with gloved fingers is pretty tough. Also some clays are so hard to knead that you don't want to knead it due to the extreme effort it requires. Add to all this knowledge that claybar's are manufactured by one company, so in essence they are all the same except for color& aggressiveness, But despite that, they still differ in hardness and effectiveness.

Choose a clay that is easy to knead because it's important you constantly expose fresh new clay. Also beware there are mild and aggressive versions. Aggressive tends to be Red or Purple. Always ask before buying it. The Meguiar's Professional Red Clay will make your paint look like you just sanded it with sand paper, making it dull and scuffed.

I sell the Meguiar's blue clay because I like it, and I also sell a clay similar to the Prima clay except it comes in it's own container and is larger which unless you prep it, is pretty hard, but it costs less than the Meguiar's clay and often saving money is valued more over ease of use.

Both of these clays work about twice as fast as the Meguiar's consumer version.

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Permalink Reply by SpitfireMkI on October 24, 2008 at 9:35am

Can't get better advice on clays, OctaneGuy is the master !

With all this detail work going on Marina, you may want to give up the dealer car wash's though, you'll be wasting your time after the first wash they do ! Swirl city !

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Permalink Reply by OctaneGuy on October 24, 2008 at 2:05pm

I agree. Free car washes are never truly "free". Before I had my MINI, I always thought it was a luxury to have the dealership wash my car and if I took it in for service and it didn't get washed, I was disappointed. But that was before I became a detailing enthusiast.

Just in the same way that you can tell a MINI from an HHR (arrrgh, I'm having a brain fart right now about the "other" cars that look like MINIs), as a detailing enthusiast, you can tell what a good finish looks like from one that is neglected. In fact, as I've been in this detailing business for awhile now, a swirl free finish isn't the determining factor of whether you are an enthusiast or not--heh heh, I say that because my daily driver, the MINI, isn't perfect. But relative to other black cars on the street, my paint looks nearly perfect. I don't have buffer swirls, holograms, towel scratches, dings, clear coat scratches, etc... What I'm trying to say is that a car that is neglected, is one where the owner intentionally or unintentionally lets their paint get damaged and does nothing to correct it.

Dealer car washes are bad. Take a car that's flawless, and let a dealer wash it, and in most cases, not all, you will find new things like scratches or swirls that weren't there before. Automatic car washes are bad too, whether touchless or not. Of course, there are situations where people are unable to wash their cars themselves and they must resort to having someone else wash it for them.

Damage can occur at all stages of washing. From rinsing, to soaping, to drying, to maintaining. Most damage is correctable, but how many times you can correct it becomes a concern. So you want to do the least damage to your paint to make it last the longest.

I can go on and on, but let me just say that the kind of cars I do the most polishing restores on are cars messed up by other detailers or dealerships. =)

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Permalink Reply by La Strega on October 25, 2008 at 6:11pm

I wish I had the reply from Octaneguy .. I ordered a starte kit from Griots.. but thenk you for you suggestions. I will keep you in mind for my future purchases

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Permalink Reply by PlayPlay on October 25, 2008 at 7:34pm

Thanks for your reply OctaneGuy. I really need to learn more about detailing and I look forward to reading more on this thread. I do know this. I'm gonna get your NOMAD! I've been saying that for the last couple months, but I swear I will get it in the next month ;-) !

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