best clay bar? / Clay kits / advise please :)

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jools soul

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Joined
May 17, 2013
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Car
CLC 180 Kompressor
best clay bar? / Clay kits / advice please :)

Hello Guys,

Ive just got a used CLC in Tenorite Grey.

The paintwork has a few stone chips, small scratches etc.. so I'm gonna get them taken care of (prob use 'Chips Away'-Are they any good??).

Anyway, once I have had the chips taken care of, I intend to clay the car to get rid of any overspray and then polish and wax.

Iv'e always used autoglym products, but I'm strangely drawn to the Meguiares Clay bar kit, It seems very good value for money at around £25 for the quick detailer, 2 clay bars and quality ficrofibre finishing cloth. (and £15 for the Megs' smaller starter kit).

(also 'Hell-frauds' are offering a 3 for 2 on all cleaning chemicals at the mo). So even better value...

The paint is Tenorite Grey, not in bad condition, but the previous owner looks to have only taken it to the car wash once a month etc... not a bad thing for me, as not many scratches or swirl marks, but I'd like to bottom it and seal it. As I know the car can look so much better than it does with a bit of elbow grease :).

Any advice on Clay bars / lube / kits /and so on.. would be great guys.

I've never clayed a car before, just washed, waxed and polished, using quality products (AG, SRP, UDS, HD wax etc)... however I feel this needs bottoming first (especially after the chips have been painted.
Ive never used Dodo, Poorboys or the other indie products, just the larger comercial brands, so I'm open to suggestions....

Thanks guys

All The Best

Jools
 
Last edited:
Most clay bars recommend some form of pricey lubricant when claying - except Bilt Hamber, who say use just a water spray! Their clay bar is also larger than many others - the one that sells for about £10 is enough to do the car 4 times, so is economic. I've done my 968 coupe, 968 cab and S204 so I know it works fine, and I still have enough of the bar left to do at least 1 more car!

Have a look on Europes Largest Resource for Detailers, Valeters and Car Cleaning for their idiots guides to paintwork correction - but be careful on that site as they allow praise but not criticism - as I found when a supposedly pro detailer made a pigs breakfast of my 968 cab.

The devil is in the preparation - you need to carefully wash and dry the car before and after claying, then possibly correct the paintwork before polishing and waxing.
 
To be honest you can't go wrong with autoglym products I find they really punch above their weight considering their price and they are easy to use. SRP has to be one of the most useful products in any cleaning ****nal.

The problem with cleaning products is a lot of it is down to personal preference and you can get drawn into using this product then that then this and before you know it your garage is a meka to OCD and you have wasted a fortune on products lol.

Clay wise some are easier to use then others the megs one is good value and easy to use I have found.
 
Thanks guys, some really useful tips. Is it best to clay in cool weather to stop the lube drying out, or doesn't it really matter.
 
You should never wash or clay when the sun is heating the car up, so you should be lucky most days in this country.
Never let the clay dry out always use lots of lube on all clay types.
 
We only use 3M clay at our shop. No special lubricants needed other than water and shampoo.
How we use it:
First off, apply the kind pre-spray you need. Rinse the car good. Shampoo the car. Rinse again. Shampoo one panel on the car, clay the panel until you feel that the panel is completely smooth. Continue to the next panel the same way until the whole car is done. Rinse it again and then give it a final wash with shampoo all over again and then dry it. Finished.
There are several different clays on the market to buy. Just beware of that some are to rough and will leave fine scratches all over your car that you will have to machinepolish to get off.
 
If you have the time look on Youtube at junkman2000 his how too's are well worth a watch.

Tony.
 

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