Clay bar or not

[flowrider]

Yes it wll

What, my experience is wrong! Unfortunately that's the problem with past experiences, it cant be changed.

 

[Londonscottish]

I used to bar but have found clay-mitt and also clay-cloth so much easier to use, quicker and also less forgiving to damage/marring.

Would never dream of claying if not undertaking a full-on build (eg strip,clay, polish, glaze/seal, wax) thus ALWAYS polish after clay.

Thanks for the tip. My poor 212 is badly in need of a proper deep clean. I've bought a clay mitt and a big bottle of Dodo Juice (Born Slippy). I've got plenty of wax & polish in the shed and a d/a polisher which I've never used.

In the next few weeks when I can find a spare half day the plan is to hand wash it, dry it, clay mitt it, wax it, polish it and then maybe add some sort of sealant/top coat* ** ***

What do you apply (if anything) after the wax?

*and then, at some future date, polish & wax the wheels.

** and then, after that, revert to hand washing it myself the majority of the time.

*** must buy some wellies

 

[Will]

1/2 a day won’t be anywhere near enough time to prep/polish/wax a 212 estate.

My advice if you’re short of time would be to do it in stages - that’s what I have done in the past. Wash the whole car as usual then use iron fallout remover and then go around and decontaminate one or two panels thoroughly (tar remover and clay) then polish and apply wax or whatever you choose to those individual panels. If you do a couple of panels at a time in the summer evenings you can get the whole car up to a really good standard over a week or so.

Makes it a less daunting process and much more realistic if you don’t have whole days at once to dedicate to car polishing etc. Even a whole day won’t be enough time to polish the paint properly, the paint used by MB on this era is incredibly hard (might be the ceramiclear/nano lacquer - not sure?)

Once up to a good standard you should find it much easier to maintain. But it does take a long time to begin with!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

As an interim you could wash, fall out remover, wash, clay mitt, poorboys black hole (if it’s a dark colour, or autoglym super resin polish if lighter) then a good wax. If short on time a liquid wax like Meguiars ultimate liquid wax is good and easy to use. You could just about do that in half a day by hand If the weather is on your side, and you should see a good improvement. If you have a bit more time you could use meguiars paint cleaner after the clay mitt. But as said above to do it properly you’re probably looking at a couple of days or more, especially if there’s a lot of paint correction to do (swirls etc). But I’ve found the black hole is a great cheat step if you’ve got a dark car. My E250 Estate is Tanzanite blue and it works a treat if you want a quick improvement.

 

[David404]

Vote for clay mitt, easy to use and yes you can feel the panel getting smoother.

An expert with clay bar may get better results but as beginner a mitt will work well.

 

[Londonscottish]

1/2 a day won’t be anywhere near enough time to prep/polish/wax a 212 estate.

My advice if you’re short of time would be to do it in stages - that’s what I have done in the past. Wash the whole car as usual then use iron fallout remover and then go around and decontaminate one or two panels thoroughly (tar remover and clay) then polish and apply wax or whatever you choose to those individual panels. If you do a couple of panels at a time in the summer evenings you can get the whole car up to a really good standard over a week or so.

Makes it a less daunting process and much more realistic if you don’t have whole days at once to dedicate to car polishing etc. Even a whole day won’t be enough time to polish the paint properly, the paint used by MB on this era is incredibly hard (might be the ceramiclear/nano lacquer - not sure?)

Once up to a good standard you should find it much easier to maintain. But it does take a long time to begin with!

Hadn't thought about doing it in stages. Good tip.

 

[Londonscottish]

As an interim you could wash, fall out remover, wash, clay mitt, poorboys black hole (if it’s a dark colour, or autoglym super resin polish if lighter) then a good wax. If short on time a liquid wax like Meguiars ultimate liquid wax is good and easy to use. You could just about do that in half a day by hand If the weather is on your side, and you should see a good improvement. If you have a bit more time you could use meguiars paint cleaner after the clay mitt. But as said above to do it properly you’re probably looking at a couple of days or more, especially if there’s a lot of paint correction to do (swirls etc). But I’ve found the black hole is a great cheat step if you’ve got a dark car. My E250 Estate is Tanzanite blue and it works a treat if you want a quick improvement.

I've been using Super Resin but will have a look for some Black Hole thanks.

 

[chrisk2010]

I love a clay mit i use it before claying to make life a wee bit easier, no point working that big 'ol' lump of clay over bad paintwork you'll be forever folding it over.

A clay mit well remove tar spots but on larger contamination it's better to use chemicals again ... easier and safer.

I like to fill up the soap bottle on the pressure washer (Karcher/Vax) then just soak the area i'm working on and have a bucket of soapy water to rinse the mit in, then soap and pressure washer to rinse couldn't be easier.

With either a mit or claying the key the panel super lubricated so sparying lots of soapy water all over works well for me.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

I'd never clay a car unless I'm going to be machine polishing it afterwards.
You will inflict clay marring - where the clay surface picks up hard contaminants and you rub it across the paint.
Now if your car was a few years old and had lots of swirls etc then you may not notice the clay marring being inflicted.
Your car is a year old and in theory the paint is still in good condition so you are much better off using the tar remover on tar spots with several microfibre cloths. You will also benefit using a chemical decon in the form of Carpro IronX, or Bilt Hamber Korrosol.

Have you come across this YT video? -

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Cheers,

Chris

I can understand why a clay bar would damage the surface. It picks up the dirt and sits there scouring the paint until you knead/fold etc the chunk of clay. Ive always wondered what is so good about clay when the video shows all the dirt sitting in the clay, it has to be damaging the surface. I tested a clay mitt on my wife's car (then 3 years old) and rinsed it after about every 1/4 panel and there was no marring but the panel were lovely and smooth.

I've also used the mitt to carefully remove watermarks on my SL and there is no visible damage to the surface.

I don't clean cars for a living & have never used claybars so your experience may be better.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

I've been using Super Resin but will have a look for some Black Hole thanks.

The blackhole works well at hiding swirls (as does the fillers in Super Resin but for dark paint I prefer blackhole) but you do need to put wax on top or it won't last. Smells of grape as well!

 

[chrisk2010]

The blackhole works well at hiding swirls (as does the fillers in Super Resin but for dark paint I prefer blackhole) but you do need to put wax on top or it won't last. Smells of grape as well!

Love the smell!

 

[baxlin]

I've been using Super Resin but will have a look for some Black Hole thanks.

FWIW, Poorboys class bright solid red as a dark colour (I have both Black Hole and their White Diamond - for lighter colours - and I didn’t know which to use when I bought my red car, so I asked them!).

Having said that though, I now tend to use SRP more often, followed by G3 Super paste wax.

 

[T5R+]

I cannot get on with Poorboys Black Hole - it is useless in my hands.

SRP is a great all round product. My "go to" for correction is Scholl Concepts with a decent pads on the Dual Action polisher. Use differet grade of Scholl product depending on how much correction is required. Then switch to Meguairs finishing products to get a high level of finish. If I am waxing the car for looks, rather than longevity, then Dodo Juice is my favourite product.

An often overlooked item is that the weather can make a big difference to the outcome.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Thanks for the tip. My poor 212 is badly in need of a proper deep clean. I've bought a clay mitt and a big bottle of Dodo Juice (Born Slippy). I've got plenty of wax & polish in the shed and a d/a polisher which I've never used.

In the next few weeks when I can find a spare half day the plan is to hand wash it, dry it, clay mitt it, wax it, polish it and then maybe add some sort of sealant/top coat* ** ***

What do you apply (if anything) after the wax?

*and then, at some future date, polish & wax the wheels.

** and then, after that, revert to hand washing it myself the majority of the time.

*** must buy some wellies

I think that if you polish after waxing you will clean the wax off.

Maybe polish/seal/wax would work better.

 

[Londonscottish]

I think that if you polish after waxing you will clean the wax off.

Maybe polish/seal/wax would work better.

God now I'm confused.

Maybe I'll just clay mitt it then apply the polish. I've done that on my last two cars with decent results.

 

[tbourner]

Polish is abrasive and used to smooth the bare paint, so it'll need sealing afterwards with either wax or sealant.

 

[Londonscottish]

Polish is abrasive and used to smooth the bare paint, so it'll need sealing afterwards with either wax or sealant.

Ah OK thanks.

So maybe

- clay mitt
- then a polishing session with whatever polish & the DA polisher
- follwed by the wax?

 

[T5R+]

Ah OK thanks.

So maybe

- clay mitt
- then a polishing session with whatever polish & the DA polisher
- follwed by the wax?

Hi

Do not give up. Try this.........

1. Strip it first eg a TINY bit of washing up liquid in a bucket of water. Use a wash mitt and rinse thoroughly with hosepipe.
   
2. Clay it immediately ie do not bother to dry the car after rinsing at step 1. If bodywork dry then use your "born slippy".
   
3. Thoroughy rinse (again). Allow car to dry. You may notice some slight water marks/stains when dry.
   
4. Now you are ready to "polish". You can use SRP here by hand or with a DAP and Pad.
5. You can polish the entire car or simply one side only or whenever you run out of energy.
6. Wait a while (I give it at least a hour) and you can start with the wax process.
7. Wax is best apllied with a suitable applicator pad (I prefer by hand) and removed with a clean decent microfibre. Some waxes need to haze a little whilst others are a pig-to-remove if dry out. TIP - only ever work a panel or two at a time.

Couple of pointers

• Dual Action Polishers are pretty forgiving.
• Dual Action Polishers always need to be broken-in on the wife's car.
• Decent pads, cloths, applicators and products DO actually give good results
• The list I have cited has many intermediate steps once the OCD kicks in but is a good start.
• Try it and enjoy it - have fun.

 

[Blobsta]

Am I the only one who was worried the guy was going to expire before the end of the video? I wanted to call an ambulance for him!

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Agree that wax/seal etc needed after polishing.