Detailing: How-To: Clay Bar Your Car
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From: Rochester NH
How-To: Clay Bar Your Car
Hey guys, we're going to cover everything you need to know to make your car smooth and shiney! There is really nothing to fear when using the clay bar, but there are something to look out for. Let's start with some basics.
What: Meguire's Clay Bar Detailing Kit, Meguire's Deep Crystal Polish, Dawn Dish soap, Windex, roll of paper towels, 2 Terry cloths.
Where: Autozone, Wal-Mart
Price: $16.99 for me, shouldn't be too much more or less in your area.
They should look something like this:
The kit is an all-inclusive kit, with white bars of clay, a smooth terry cloth, Quick Detailer, and a "free-sample" size wax. I bought the polish for the icing on the cake.
Alright guys, here we go.
Step 1: Hand wash your car with a basic soap. I used Dawn Dish soap. You'll find that it works JUST has great as that $9.00 touchless car wash. Let the car air dry or use those super-absorbant yellow towels.
Step 2: If there are water spots or some small blemishs or even oil-based grim, hit it with Windex, you will be amazed at how much stuff you can get off with Windex. With me, I had to hit my whole trunk and the side skirts. Do not be frugal with the Windex, because the clay bar is suppose to remove the micro-particles, not large areas of dirt. We'll over why in a bit.
Step 3. Now that your whip is spotless, with a bare clear coat, its time to use the clay bar. The kit comes with two bars, open one of the bags and break the clay bar in half. A whole bar in your hands will become quite large and unmanagable. Grab your quick detailer and spray down a small portion of the hood and start rubbing the clay. You must keep the surface WELL MOIST otherwise the clay will stick to the clear coat, and instead of pull up the dirt, will move in with the dirt, and will probably be a PITA to get out. So keep a constant spray going in front of the clay. You can re-clay any part of the surface that you want, but if you move from one area to another for more than a few seconds, the detailer will have evaporated off, and will need some more sprayed on. Once you are done with the panel, place the clay inside the car, or even better, right back in the soap container box it came in. If you drop the clay on the ground, it is USELESS and grab the other clay. Grab that yellow towel from the kit and fold it into 4ths. Wipe down the entire hood and just soak in the beautiful awesomeness of that flat hood. And thats without wax and polish!
After you finished claying a panel, it will look like someone spooged over your car, and with good reason too!
But with a good wipedown, the panel will go from that, to THIS: Keep in mind, this pic is with BARE clearcoat!
Step 4. Continue around the car, doing one panel at a time. You MUST listen and feel the clay bar slide across the clear coat. You can easily hear when the clay picks up a solid piece of dirt. Examine the clay, if it is dirty after doing about 1/2-3/4 of the car, either flip over or get the other half of clay as it will have pressed out into a sheet of clay just from the force of holding it. Look at my piece of clay, if you look at where my middle finger is, you'll se a dimple in the clay. That was a large grain of sand that I picked out. If I left that in the clay, it could have dug up the clear coat. The clay will sound and feel like a hard grinding noise. IMMEDIATELY check the clay. Either pick out the dirt or flip the clay over. After half of my car was done, my clay looked like this:
Step 5. With the body completely free of the slighted particle of dirt, its time to make it stay that way. This part is more to your descrition. You can either go straight to polish or go about your waxing process. Just be very careful with what you do on and around your car because there is nothing to properly protect it. What I did was take the small bottle of wax, which will probably do 2 cars at the most, and went bumper to bumper with it. Once you wax the entire car, take a terry cloth that has never been used, and fold into 4ths. Rewipe down the entire car, as the previous terry cloth will have collected some wax and will smear eventually. The clean terry cloth removes these and leaves a flat and super-smooth surface. You can either stop here and blue-ball over how hot your car is, or you can take it a step further with the Deep Crystal Polish. I only polished my hood and trunk, as those are the two areas that collect the most dirt and grim.
Step 6: Maintaining. With your clear coat reenforced and protected properly, maintaining the sex-on-wheels appearance will be a cake walk. If the crap on the car is dry, (Pollin season!!
and dust) it will not have settled onto the wax/polish, but rather just lie on top of the wax. Take a clean terry cloth and rub down the entire car, and without any rewaxing/repolishing. If there is a large clump of dirt, turn your hand upwards to collect all the dirt without draging it across the car. Then flip/turn to a new/clean section of the terry cloth. Once again, the car will be cleaner than when you bought it off the showroom floor.
That should be all guys and gals! I hope you were able to learn a lot from my How-To! We all look forward to what you all have to produce with the clay kit. Please post before/after shots so you're not the only one wetting yourself over the car! If I missed anything, someone chime in with any corrections or whathaveyou. If you thought you had a head-turner before you clayed your car, you're in for a REAL treat now! Tehehe, I'll leave you to ponder that thought. Enjoy your whips guys!!!!
What: Meguire's Clay Bar Detailing Kit, Meguire's Deep Crystal Polish, Dawn Dish soap, Windex, roll of paper towels, 2 Terry cloths.
Where: Autozone, Wal-Mart
Price: $16.99 for me, shouldn't be too much more or less in your area.
They should look something like this:
The kit is an all-inclusive kit, with white bars of clay, a smooth terry cloth, Quick Detailer, and a "free-sample" size wax. I bought the polish for the icing on the cake.
Alright guys, here we go.
Step 1: Hand wash your car with a basic soap. I used Dawn Dish soap. You'll find that it works JUST has great as that $9.00 touchless car wash. Let the car air dry or use those super-absorbant yellow towels.
Step 2: If there are water spots or some small blemishs or even oil-based grim, hit it with Windex, you will be amazed at how much stuff you can get off with Windex. With me, I had to hit my whole trunk and the side skirts. Do not be frugal with the Windex, because the clay bar is suppose to remove the micro-particles, not large areas of dirt. We'll over why in a bit.
Step 3. Now that your whip is spotless, with a bare clear coat, its time to use the clay bar. The kit comes with two bars, open one of the bags and break the clay bar in half. A whole bar in your hands will become quite large and unmanagable. Grab your quick detailer and spray down a small portion of the hood and start rubbing the clay. You must keep the surface WELL MOIST otherwise the clay will stick to the clear coat, and instead of pull up the dirt, will move in with the dirt, and will probably be a PITA to get out. So keep a constant spray going in front of the clay. You can re-clay any part of the surface that you want, but if you move from one area to another for more than a few seconds, the detailer will have evaporated off, and will need some more sprayed on. Once you are done with the panel, place the clay inside the car, or even better, right back in the soap container box it came in. If you drop the clay on the ground, it is USELESS and grab the other clay. Grab that yellow towel from the kit and fold it into 4ths. Wipe down the entire hood and just soak in the beautiful awesomeness of that flat hood. And thats without wax and polish!
After you finished claying a panel, it will look like someone spooged over your car, and with good reason too!
But with a good wipedown, the panel will go from that, to THIS: Keep in mind, this pic is with BARE clearcoat!
Step 4. Continue around the car, doing one panel at a time. You MUST listen and feel the clay bar slide across the clear coat. You can easily hear when the clay picks up a solid piece of dirt. Examine the clay, if it is dirty after doing about 1/2-3/4 of the car, either flip over or get the other half of clay as it will have pressed out into a sheet of clay just from the force of holding it. Look at my piece of clay, if you look at where my middle finger is, you'll se a dimple in the clay. That was a large grain of sand that I picked out. If I left that in the clay, it could have dug up the clear coat. The clay will sound and feel like a hard grinding noise. IMMEDIATELY check the clay. Either pick out the dirt or flip the clay over. After half of my car was done, my clay looked like this:
Step 5. With the body completely free of the slighted particle of dirt, its time to make it stay that way. This part is more to your descrition. You can either go straight to polish or go about your waxing process. Just be very careful with what you do on and around your car because there is nothing to properly protect it. What I did was take the small bottle of wax, which will probably do 2 cars at the most, and went bumper to bumper with it. Once you wax the entire car, take a terry cloth that has never been used, and fold into 4ths. Rewipe down the entire car, as the previous terry cloth will have collected some wax and will smear eventually. The clean terry cloth removes these and leaves a flat and super-smooth surface. You can either stop here and blue-ball over how hot your car is, or you can take it a step further with the Deep Crystal Polish. I only polished my hood and trunk, as those are the two areas that collect the most dirt and grim.
Step 6: Maintaining. With your clear coat reenforced and protected properly, maintaining the sex-on-wheels appearance will be a cake walk. If the crap on the car is dry, (Pollin season!!
and dust) it will not have settled onto the wax/polish, but rather just lie on top of the wax. Take a clean terry cloth and rub down the entire car, and without any rewaxing/repolishing. If there is a large clump of dirt, turn your hand upwards to collect all the dirt without draging it across the car. Then flip/turn to a new/clean section of the terry cloth. Once again, the car will be cleaner than when you bought it off the showroom floor.That should be all guys and gals! I hope you were able to learn a lot from my How-To! We all look forward to what you all have to produce with the clay kit. Please post before/after shots so you're not the only one wetting yourself over the car! If I missed anything, someone chime in with any corrections or whathaveyou. If you thought you had a head-turner before you clayed your car, you're in for a REAL treat now! Tehehe, I'll leave you to ponder that thought. Enjoy your whips guys!!!!
Last edited by TommyP; May 17, 2012 at 09:16 PM.
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Same here waiting to for the weather to break and clean this bugger from end to end with the clay bar, after the long winter it sure needs it.
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From: Somewhere
Having worked in a detail shop, the only other suggestions i would make is to foam-pad-buff your car and then use a protector wax the first time after. After you clay bar it, there will be scratches that you cant see. Over time they will develop into haze. If you clay-bar, foam-pad-buff, you will take out all those minor scratches. It makes a world of difference. Now obviously not everyone can use a buffer. But if you can get access to someone that knows what they are doing, it is all for the better. And i recommend using a protective wax the first time after, is because using a harsh soap like dish soap, strips EVERYTHING out of the clear, including some chemicals that protect your car. Use a paint sealer first, then a week later, wash, dry, and use a high finish wax to make it shine. You will protect your car's clear this way. I do this to my car(s) at the end of every spring and it typically takes me a day and a half, but im picky, and i tape everything off before i buff (a good hour or right there). But i can also make other colors, rather than just black, look like glass 
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From: Rochester NH
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From: Somewhere
http://www.tylertool.com/mak927elsan.html
This link highlights the Makita, but on the right hand side there is a DeWalt and a Milwaukee. I recommend the Makita even though it is the most expensive, its worth the extra money as it is lighter and i feel that the trigger action is more precise to feather. You definitely need variable speed. With nothing more than a max of 3-3500RPM. Low speed for polish, high speed for scratches.
http://www.amazon.com/Edge-2000-Whit...657240&sr=1-16
Here is a "wave" type foam pad, which is what i perfer. You will need to purchase a velcro backing pad to use a foam pad.
http://www.malcopro.com/cgi-win/mselect.exe/1199
This is what i use with the foam pad. It is a very minor cutting cream with polishing additives.
http://tfppolymer.com/
This is the sealant that i usually use. I dont know if you can actually buy this stuff. I get it through...um....car dealership insiders
. http://iasdirect.com/products/polyshield/
There is no picture for this, but i use this also if im out of TFP. Its pretty good too. Again, no clue if you can buy this stuff anywhere other than a dealership.
Basically anything that seals the paint. Wax does not protect/seal, just shine. Im sure maguires makes stuff too that will seal. The stuff i listed above is often coupled with "you only have to use this stuff once a year, or twice a year". Its all bullshit. Ill use sealer once a month and then wax for the rest.
This stuff is all for commercial use. I think a consumer can buy most of it, or find an auto detailing supplier that will sell it to you, but you must be careful with it. The MAG 2 will stain the paint if not used properly. You will burn the paint with the buffer if you are not careful. If you DIY, practice on something that is either inconspicuous or something that doesnt matter.
Best thing to do is to take your time. Dont start this project and think you will be done in 2 hours, or get bored and not want to finish after 2 hours. When done right, it will be dam close to show car quality or at least in most cases, better than the paint came from the factory. If its not done right, there is a chance you will be paying someone to fix your paint. Hope this helps.
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From: Farmington Hills, MI
It is extremely imperative that you keep the surface of the car wet... and also wet the clay bar. It will stick to your hands and it will leave a ton of residue on your hands as well. The lighter color cars like silver, white, and gold can all probably get away with just a coating of wax. But most of the other colors like blue, red, especially black all need to be buffed with polish and a gray foam pad with a coating of wax. However, this depends on how many "scratch and shines" (Drive thru car wash) you go through.
Also, Windex may not be good for the car due to the high ammonia content. If you keep the car wet, and clay it at the same time, then dry it off with a good polish, you dont have to worry about any water spots. I have also heard that the detergent in dish soap is no good either. This is advice from my boss, who has been a detailer for over 15 years...
Also, Windex may not be good for the car due to the high ammonia content. If you keep the car wet, and clay it at the same time, then dry it off with a good polish, you dont have to worry about any water spots. I have also heard that the detergent in dish soap is no good either. This is advice from my boss, who has been a detailer for over 15 years...
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From: Edmonton, AB
I would agree that Windex may not be the best. It is one of the harshest products you can use on a car and if you get any on your rubber or moldings, you will speed up the aging process drastically. I understand you are looking to get rid of as many impurities as possible with the Windex but doesn't the damage it does to your clear make it a poor choice?
Also, out of all the detergent soaps, I've heard that Dawn is the least harsh on car finishes, but it is still pretty strong. Why wouldn't a person just use a commercially available car wash product instead of dish soap?
Also, out of all the detergent soaps, I've heard that Dawn is the least harsh on car finishes, but it is still pretty strong. Why wouldn't a person just use a commercially available car wash product instead of dish soap?
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From: Langley AFB, VA
WOW, I had to stop reading after you said you used DAWN DISH SOAP!!! That is the ABSOLUTE WORST thing you can use to wash a car!
EVERYONE, IF YOU VALUE YOUR CLEARCOAT, DON'T USE ANY TYPE OF DISH SOAP TO WASH YOUR CAR!!!!!!!!!!!
EVERYONE, IF YOU VALUE YOUR CLEARCOAT, DON'T USE ANY TYPE OF DISH SOAP TO WASH YOUR CAR!!!!!!!!!!!
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From: Rochester NH
Marerick, are you certain dish soap is "bad" for the car? I got that info from that Evo detailing guy somewhere, I forget. But he said a few times that Dawn dish soap was awesome to use. If we are incorrect, then link up some good detailing soaps.
Oh, and what makes the dish soap bad for the clearcoat?
Don't think I'm ball busting you man, I just want accurate info, as I have been using dish soap for a long time with great results. So if we need to fix something, then we shall.
Oh, and what makes the dish soap bad for the clearcoat?
Don't think I'm ball busting you man, I just want accurate info, as I have been using dish soap for a long time with great results. So if we need to fix something, then we shall.
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From: Canada
maybe some proof?
All i see here is your opinion.....
writeup looks good, handy info for me as ive never claybar'd and im planning to very shortly.
thank you.
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From: Langley AFB, VA
Here's why not to use dish soap!
The reason you don't use dish soap is that it breaks down and removes the layers of wax and even you clearcoat eventually. Honestly though, think about it, dish soap breaks down grease and oils; what is wax?!?!?
Older cars, like 70's and older could be washed with dish soap, due to the fact that their clearcoats where chemically different than the ones used today and could take it from what I understand. Nowdays the clearcoats aren't strong enough.
To further get information, go ask any detail shop...I've heard of a few that use a VERY small amount to strip all the wax but thats it....needless to say, I don't think I would take my car there.
Here are some references:
http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-a-Car-by-Hand
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/130234
http://www.web-cars.com/detail/wash.php
Older cars, like 70's and older could be washed with dish soap, due to the fact that their clearcoats where chemically different than the ones used today and could take it from what I understand. Nowdays the clearcoats aren't strong enough.
To further get information, go ask any detail shop...I've heard of a few that use a VERY small amount to strip all the wax but thats it....needless to say, I don't think I would take my car there.
Here are some references:
http://www.wikihow.com/Wash-a-Car-by-Hand
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/130234
http://www.web-cars.com/detail/wash.php
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From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Ya ditto on not using dish soap!!
Turtle wax has put out a liquid clay bar product. It runs the same line as thier ICE products.. It is very easy to use and comes with a pad to help removal, $19.99 here in 
as is thier polish etc..
DON'T EVER USE DISH SOAP ON YOUR PAINT!!!
Please
as is thier polish etc..DON'T EVER USE DISH SOAP ON YOUR PAINT!!!
Please
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From: Phx, AZ
it strips wax and clearcoat slowly but surely from what I understand ... its used to get stuff stuck on pans so in a short amount of time you can imagine what it can do to your car
delayed post for the lose thats what I get for forgetting to click save
delayed post for the lose thats what I get for forgetting to click save
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From: PA
This is a awesome thread. I never owned a new car or a real nice car like my Cobalt Ss/Sc. I always owned older performance cars because of the price and affordable upgrading. For example my older Camaro already had paint inperfections and I just would wash it real nice. Never would wash/claybar/polish or anything like that. This is all new to me and I would like to go over my entire car the next nice day. Does anyone make a kit that comes with everything you need? wax, polish, clay bar, car wash, towls and other materials? Would be awesome to be able to buy a kit that would last a few washes or something.
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From: AZ.
(N00b question) whats the diff between this and just WAXING?
And I'm curious as to why dish soap id bad for your car as well. Please explain further "Maverick". that is all, "goose" out.
Edit:: Neverminfd about the soap question, but stipp curious about the differences between clay and wax.
And I'm curious as to why dish soap id bad for your car as well. Please explain further "Maverick". that is all, "goose" out.
Edit:: Neverminfd about the soap question, but stipp curious about the differences between clay and wax.
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From: Phx, AZ
This is a awesome thread. I never owned a new car or a real nice car like my Cobalt Ss/Sc. I always owned older performance cars because of the price and affordable upgrading. For example my older Camaro already had paint inperfections and I just would wash it real nice. Never would wash/claybar/polish or anything like that. This is all new to me and I would like to go over my entire car the next nice day. Does anyone make a kit that comes with everything you need? wax, polish, clay bar, car wash, towls and other materials? Would be awesome to be able to buy a kit that would last a few washes or something.