Anyone use a clay bar on your car's paint (cars, wash, year)

[Nepenthe]

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

[cdelena]

Yes, I do one of my cars every couple of years. Does a good job of pulling debris out of the finish and leaves a good surface for final wax or finish coat.

[yo vanilla]

Clay bar for the win. I use it twice per year. There is a lot more dirt stuck deep into your paint than you may realize; certainly more than a wash is going to get off. Make sure you wax directly after; when you use the claybar it takes the wax off too!

[Hungry For Cheese]

2-4times a year is great
I do once a year though...broke.

[DezertGirl]

Clay bar once a year. Where I live, your pretty white paint will turn yellow with the dust residue if you don't give it a deep clean at least once a year. Washings aren't enough. I follow that with a hand-applied hard carnuba wax. My 27-year-old car's paint looks brand new and feels smooth and clean.

[AllenKarber]

Claying is great,but I don't do it nearly enough though. I do it once a year maybe.

It's definitely amazing what that stuff pulls out of your paint.

[Bail_Khan]

Never heard of the stuff before but I do drive a white truck. Maybe I will check this stuff out. Is it actually like a bar of soap?

[tigerfoxxie]

Yep. make sure you use plenty of lubrication and keep folding the clay. Let me post a link to a great instructional video.

The entire segment of videos is great, especially if you and fairly inexperienced.

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Videos_DVD5_16.aspx

[yo vanilla]

It's about the size of a bar of soap, but it's actual clay.

[travelguy_73]

Originally Posted by yo vanilla

Clay bar for the win. I use it twice per year. There is a lot more dirt stuck deep into your paint than you may realize; certainly more than a wash is going to get off. Make sure you wax directly after; when you use the claybar it takes the wax off too!

Ditto. I started using Clay Magic (Clay Magic Perfect Finish Kit) a few years ago and absolutely love what it does for the car. Removes grime, pollution, and scratches, and leaves the body ready for polish, then wax.