Anyone use a clay bar on your car's paint

[rifleman]

Clay utilizes its natural though very fine abrasive qualities to shear off or pull up paarticulates embedded into the paint. I was in close contact with Barry Meguiar when they developed their product quite a few years back. It was seen as a consumer level product meant to be a quick but not entirely optimum alternative to a prop& final buffing of the finish. You'd best know what you're doing if you apply even special types of sanding paper to your finish, hence they came up with the clay idea.

It CAN, and will, and does, carry the removed abrasive material everywhere you subsequently rub it, which can generate small, or even, fairly noticeable, scratches into otherwise undamaged paint. When you use automotive-spec sandpaper (usually a minimum of 1000 - 1200 grit, and all the way down to 3000 grit) you continuously spritz with distilled water the surface you're working on, as well as the surface of the block mounted paper. That prevents contamination scratches, which are v. hard to avoid with clay. I can almost always tell when a defect or chemical fallout damage has been "repaired" by a consumer, versus a block-sanded or buffed repair by a pro.

Just be carefull, read the instructions, and try to make sure you only expose your paint, especially dark colors, to a fresh clay surface. Replace the clay often; it can only hold so much gravel!!!

[LEXpert]

I took my wife's van to a local car wash. Somehow, I ended up with a nice, but ignorant guy who wanted to take a scratch out of her paint. He got out a clay bar and started to run over the scratch. It looked like the guy used sandpaper. I now have about a 3" by 3" area of dull scrached paint in the fender. Thanks car wash dude!!

[Shiba]

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

Just wondering what your impressions were. Worth it? How often?

Yeah! Leaves the clear coat on my Vette, smooth as a babys' bottom, and ready for detailing.

[CityGrrl77]

This is what I use all the time. Works like a charm. Plus if you can get to one of the 3 Summit Racing retail stores, they're awesome. Im not biased tho

Mothers 07240 - Mothers California Gold Clay Bar Paint Saving Systems - summitracing.com

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by Nepenthe

Thanks!

What would you recommend for wax?

Sorry, I didn't see your question before! I use Meguiar's Gold Class soap (suds nicely), Mother's clay bar, SctatchX (only if needed), Meguiar's Deep Crystal polish, and then Meguiar's NXT tech wax.

What I like most about synthetics is the ease of application. Not many of us have time to spend all day detailing a car. I need to wash, clay, polish, wax, then move on to other things. The synthetics are easy on, easy off.