How To Claybar?

when they claybarred my car after the whole construction overspray incident, they washed it (i think they washed it like normal), claybarred it with some kind of lubricant to keep the clay moving on the paint, then waxed it. the claybar strips off any wax that's already on there and leaves the clearcoat bare, they said.

that's my understanding of the whole process.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 14 2006, 10:36 AM) [snapback]255236[/snapback]</div>

http://www.zainostore.com/Merchant2/mercha...ode=APPLICATION

 

1. First you shampoo.
2. Take half the bar you bought, kneed until soft, roll into a ball, then flatten to a pancake.
3. Spray a small area with quick detailer.
4. Rub bar over area until it slides smoothly.
5. Wipe area with microfiber towel or clean, soft terry cloth. (Don't use old rags.)
6. You'll notice the clay get dirty from pulling up the contaminants from the paint as you go. Periodically roll clay up, kneed, form ball, flatten and use to constantly expose clean clay as you go.

Here are some threads on claying. This is from Meguiar's but you can use other products.

Quick clay.

How to clay paint.

Meguiar's list o' links

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 14 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]255322[/snapback]</div>

Yes. I have a claybar in my right hand and a bottle of detailer in my left and a towel over my shoulder. Do a small section at a time. Maybe 8" x 8". Depending on how bad your car is, you usually only do the horizontal surfaces as that is what the contaminents float down on.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 14 2006, 10:36 AM) [snapback]255236[/snapback]</div>

Clear coat is part of the finish applied and baked-on at the time the car is manufactured. It's what makes the car shiny and protects the base coat. If you "stripped" it off, you quickly have big white blotches on top of dull paint. Surely you've seens cars that looked like this:



That's clear coat failure. You have to repaint your car when that happens.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ May 14 2006, 01:06 PM) [snapback]255322[/snapback]</div>

There is plenty of information about claying that you could find by just using Google.

You have to keep the surface lubricated, not just moist. When claying, you are trying to pull out embedded contaminants that stick up out of the surface, not polish the paint. So you need something between the clay and the paint to keep the clay gliding, rather than allowing it to contact the paint and polishing it.

It works somewhat similar to a bikini wax.

You can use clay lubricant, quick detail spray, or diluted car wash shampoo in a spray bottle for this. Clay lubricant is more expensive, but your clay will last longer if you use it. Doesn't make any difference to the finish on your car.

The horizontal surfaces of your car will have more embedded contaminants than the vertical body panels. That's just due to having more effective surface area exposed to falling contaminants. You can do the "baggie test" to determine exactly which parts of your car require claying. Get a thin plastic sandwich bag (not a freezer bag) and put your fingers in it. Then run your fingers lightly over the surface of your just washed and dried car. You should feel some bumps that feel like small grains of sand. If you barely feel any, you can probably skip claying that panel. You should not feel any "grit" on a freshly clayed panel, so you can use that as a reference to decide whether or not to clay. Just clay one panel (do a horizontal panel like the hood first) and compare the before and after, and then do the baggie test on the other body panels.

 

:About 6 mo. ago, had my driveway recoated and painted. It was a windy day and you guessed it, covered my 05 red prius. Could have turned it in to my ins. co. and would have been fully covered under comp. but decided to go to Pep Boys and get some claybar. Did that and followed the directions and about 4 hours later, all my white paint overspray was gone. Approx. 1/2 of my car was covered w/ white paint. They said that I could rewax as needed but still had a shiny surface and it still is w/ no wax applied. Good luck. B)

 

Great information on using the clay. I guess my question would be why are you using a clay on a otherwise new car. You can usually tell if you need to use the clay. When the car is wet run your index finger across the paint. If it goes smoothly then you are probably not going to see a big difference by using a clay treatment. If your finger with mild pressure does not glide smoothly across the paint then using a clay will help. This what I recall after attending a day at Mequiars in Orange County, CA

Manny

 

That doesn't sound right at all.

With clay, you're trying to get rid of the little bumps that stick up out of the paint and feel like little grains of sand embedded into the surface. You have to have a thin layer of plastic (sandwich bag or cellophane) between your fingertips and paint to feel them, unless the paint is in really bad shape.

Unless the embedded contaminants are huge, they're not really going to affect how smoothly your finger glides across the paint. That seems a lot more dependent on what wax or sealant is sitting on your paint, and has little to do with the condition of the paint underneath. I mean, you can slap a few coats of Zaino on a surface that's in desperate in need of claying, compounding, and polishing, and to your bare hand, it will feel smooth.

I've never seen clay make a difference in appearance, except when the contamination is large enough to see. You do it because it's necessary for the later steps to work (the polishing and protection steps). By itself, it doesn't change the paint's appearance (unless you can see the contamination, like embedded rail dust that is rusting for example).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ May 14 2006, 02:16 PM) [snapback]255364[/snapback]</div>

Oh crap! I have SERIOUSLY been doing this wrong for years! I'm surprised I haven't hurt myself yet.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(drmanny3 @ May 15 2006, 04:48 PM) [snapback]255971[/snapback]</div>

A new car is a perfect candidate for clay. The easiest way to detect contiminants? Put a piece of celophane on your hand, and wipe THAT gently across your "clean" paint. First thing I do when I get a new car home is wash it and clay it and wax it.

After claying, the car is just as smooth as a baby's butt (or as smooth as a babe's bikin lines???)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(drmanny3 @ May 15 2006, 06:48 PM) [snapback]255971[/snapback]</div>

I attended a day at Meguiar's too. I clay as a preventative/maintenance thing. Why wait for you paint to require fixing when with a little effort you can keep it nice. Maintaining is also a lot less effort that repair.

This is what I do:

Wash with NXT due to local hard water.

Clay the car using NXT detailer. I do this maybe once every one or two months, depending on the condition of the car.

THEN

Use Scratch-X if needed. Clean with NXT detailer again.

Apply Deep Crystal Polish with W8006 Yellow soft buff foam polishing pad at speeds 3-5. Small sections.

Remove while still wet with microfiber towel. Small sections.

Apply NXT tech Wax using either W8006 softbuff finishing pad at speeds 2-4. Do entire car and let dry.

Remove with W7006 cutting pad and microfiber bonnet at speeds 2.5.

I also use NXT glass cleaner.

I use Insane Shine on the tires.