How Do You Clay Bar?

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cancov

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I clay barred my '11 Corolla yesterday. It had been a year and only the second time ever on this vehicle. I find it easier to clay bar during a rain shower. Call me crazy, but during a good shower yesterday, I was scrubbing tar and bugs on my hands and knees and then proceeded to clay bar the car. I find I don't have to apply the detailing spray as much during the rain shower. How is your approach?

Oh, and a newly applied layer of NuFinish was administered tonight, along with tire trim, engine bay trim, and a vacuum. I tend to drag these yearly detailings over the course of a weekend so not to get fatigued and get sloppy. As for the NuFinish, it's my "poor man's sealant." I do plan on applying another coat in a couple of weeks, especially on the upward facing surfaces.
 
Having the car still partially wet from the wash is helpful, but I like to use clay bar lubricant with it instead of soap and water.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Water is not a good enough lubricant.

I don't use detailing spray -- I just dilute dish soap.


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dish soap has been proven to do nothing but dry up the paint.

I don't understand why you'd want to disinfect the paint and kill 99.9% of germs on it anyway. Are you going to eat off of it? Use automotive soap if you can't afford to use a proper clay bar lubricant and save the dish soap for the wife to use on dishes so she doesn't have to go into the garage and borrow your automotive car wash soap when she's all out cause you used it all up.
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I always get a good laugh at someone busting out the dish washing soap to clean the car's paint.
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Not to mention that kitchen soap strips the paint of the wax you just worked hard to put on last week, I usually keep to myself when people do that, it's as hard as trying to talk someone out of a 3000 mile OCI, they will do what they want either way.
 
Who cares if the dish soap strips wax? The point of clay barring is to get everything off the paint, including the contaminants that are really 'stuck' on there.

We're talking a very tiny amount of dish soap anyways. I have done it like this on all my cars for 10 years and have yet to see it cause any problems.

OP asked how I clay, and this is my answer.
 
I was adding on to what Artem was saying about washing the car with dish soap regularly, using it before a clay is a good thing, it lets the bar get even more contaminants off the paints surface.
 
A clay bar is mildly abrasive. Dish washing soap provides lubrication to lessen swirl marks and scratches claybars can produce. Dish washing soap is also a desired method prior to the application of wax and sealants. Same goes for the clay bar, your cleaning the paint/clear coat not the wax. Car wash soap's main purpose is to prevent wax stripping between applications. Repeated waxing after using car soap will result in tar, bird droppings, pollen, etc to build up, trapped in layers of wax which you don't want.

I don't use clay bars, I use buffing compound and an orbital buffer to prevent swirl marks. I think the results are better. Rather than slowly remove your clear coat, stripping the wax and reapplying with an orbital should be enough. Buffing should be done rarely, every few years.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
How do you find time to clay bar?


You only need to do it once a year, if that. It takes me about 45 minutes to do a whole car, including the windows.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
How do you find time to clay bar?

Rain showers run everyone else indoors and frees up my time a little.

As LeakySeals stated, I only use Dawn prior to the reapplication of a wax/sealant. It works on tar and stubborn bugs alot better than car washes, which I use after the wax/sealant application.

I am continuing to be impressed with clay barring. Stubborn spots of bugs guts, tree sap, and Lord knows what else rub off. Plus, with the lack of sud-sie soap/wash and a cloth, I see the stuff the wash leaves behind or can't touch. Not to mention, this is the "cheap" Meguir's Clay Bar Kit from WalMart with the (2) 80 gram bars, detailing spray and some kind of wax that I may use on the fourwheeler or golf-cart.
 
I'll clay a car when I know I'm going to polish it. So I'll clay after a car wash when the paint is still wet. I spray on a quick detailer then go to work. I'll do the whole car, then rinse thoroughly. I'll recheck the car and spot clay as needed.

Any clay bar marring is going to be polished out so I don't worry about that. It's pretty rare when I clay bar as a stand-alone process. It's always done post-wash / pre-polishing.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Who cares if the dish soap strips wax? The point of clay barring is to get everything off the paint, including the contaminants that are really 'stuck' on there.

We're talking a very tiny amount of dish soap anyways. I have done it like this on all my cars for 10 years and have yet to see it cause any problems.

OP asked how I clay, and this is my answer.


Dish soap slowly damages the clearcoat of the paint. Even in a small amount it will damage overtime. Cheap clay lube is mixing a little carwash solution and water.

Be sure to use plenty of lube and work the bar in one direction. If the bar should fall on the ground then throw it out. It will be contaminated and should not be used again. I split my bars in two and use half until it is used up or in case I drop it by accident.
 
I bought a 2008 Goldwing that the original owner had not washed *once* in the three years/14,000 miles that he'd owned it. And he rode it in all kinds of weather, pulled in the the garage, and parked it when he got home.

It had a dried on layer of dirt, scum, and road film which I'd never seen before.

I actually *did* use Dawn dish detergent for the first wash. There was nothing there that I wanted to leave on the paint when I was done.

Step two was to clay bar it. But I used detailer as a lubricant.
 
I used (recently) the Megs claybar kit which included their detailer spray (& microfiber). They could bottle up water and a dash of dish soap, slap a label on it, but then I would think they like to promote their detailer spray too.

Now I see a SCG product called "Beyond Clay" Paint Polish. Like it's a new product that might replace claybar to some folks.

Anyway I used the claybar with the included detailer spray because @ the Pep-Boys I went to, I didn't see the claybar available by itself - so had to buy the kit just to get it then. The detailer seem real slippery to me, but this claybar stuff is new to me trying it although I had known about it for some time.

I like some of the the other SCG products but was reluctant on the Beyond Clay.
 
I tried the clay kit routine once and will do it again. I did a 100k mile car I bought used and the kit was on sale cheap (b/c it came with a small bar) by Turtlewax ICE. I think the bar didn't go far enough to do the whole car properly but I was impressed with what clay does and how easy it glides while stripping bonded gunk. For the $16 or so I spent as a close-out item, I at least got my first hands-on with clay and know what to expect now.
I also go by the principle of using a dish soap prior to clay b/c I want to strip all the old stuff off and start over.
 
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