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Clay is great (and I don't mean Aiken)

Mavagrand

Mavagrand

Senior Member
Just finished using a clay bar on my vivid black 08 EGC, followed up with some cleaning wax. Man, what a change. My bike is just a little over two years old and I didn't realize how bad the paint had gotten. She looks great!! I think she looks better now than when I picked her up. For thsoe that have never used a clay bar, I highly recommend it.
 
I hear so much about clay bars but never have used one. What exactly do they do. I saw a TV demo of one but don't understand the concept.
 
I've had excellent success using Meguiars clay bar kit.
It's used after you wash and dry your paint.
First you spray a small area down with a lubricating mist and wipe detailer like Quik Detailer. Then you take a small amount of the clay bar and rub it down to pickup and clean out the pores of the paint and removes bonded contaminants from your paint.
Then when your done with say - your entire bat wing fairing - you can wax the entire thing bringing out a deep shine - just like it was when it was new.
It's not cheap, but you dont use very much clay so it lasts a long time.
Try it - you'll love it! :)
 
Is it a very time consuming process? Does 1 kit go a long way. A bike would probably not be a problem but it sounds like doing an entire car would take several kits and lots of time. Just wondering. The Bike is new but my car paint job is 4 years old and could use some TLC. :p
 
I found the Meguiars kit will easily do a car. Time consuming.........how picky are you? Figure on doubling your time for wax job,since you have to wax again after the clay.
 
If your vehicle is clean when you start the clay will last a very long time. I have used the same bar for 4 years on 3 cars and the bike. Just knead it real well and you get a new surface each time. You only have to replace the lubricant.

I use the Griot's Products as the clay bar is larger than the others and they have clay holders for orbital polishers. Not much good for the bike but it makes the car much faster to clean.

You only have to clay the vehicle once a year or so then follow with a good wax and Pledge the rest of the year. I usually spend a day in the winter doing the bike and the ragtop. Clay, wax and a thorough cleaning inside and out.
 
Definitely don't use Pledge with the clay!

Here's a tutorial link that explains how clay works and what to use.

This page shows some of the better products out there. Many can be found in better auto supply houses and of course the rest are available over the internet.

I've never used the company whose website I used but the prices look about average for the products.
 
I use a soapy water mix, also you cannot rub in circles, that would not be good. I do the claybar then use the S100 white finish restorer I think it is, then wax, unbelievable.
 
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