Does clay bar work or not I want to try it on my car but idk if it works guy let me know please thanks

 

Yeah of course it works

spray some qd or water on your paint, grab a sandwich Baggie and rub your fingers across the paint. If it feels sorta rough (not smooth) then you need to clay bar.

I do it once a year after winter is over, I'll be doing my TL-S in a few weeks.

 

Oh ok what name clay bar should I use

 

You're in the detailing part of the forums now. Check our vendors.

 

Get the Mothers Clay bar kit from WalMart etc ... thats all you need.. follow instructions.

 

Do it! Just did mine about an hour ago, usually do it about twice a year. Spring and fall typically.

 

I bought the meguiars clay bar kit from the store. I used it on all my vehicles, before I polishes and put paint sealer. Make a big different on the paint.

 

Mother or Meguiars is good, but just a few tips. I personally use dish soap before I clay because I hear it strips old wax away. I followed my clay bar up with some Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound and some wax later. I'm not a pro-detailer by any means but I was quite pleased with the results.

 

I'd not recommend that ... too many people get in a lot of trouble using it .. your lucky you have a light colored car .

Here is the results or TW Rubbing Compound used by a noob on a dark car

 

Meguires clay bar kit, then use cleaner wax and then use a sealer, I use Meguires NXT. As long as you keep the surface wet you will be fine, just take your time.

 

You need to change that up a bit ... sealeants don't work well over waxes.

Cleaner wax , rubbing alcohol / water mix wipedown then the sealant.

 

Agreed. And Meguiars NXT is not a sealant.

 

Well they claimed it was ... but had cleaners in it and doesn't layer well at all .. I had one of the first bottles in Canada .. used it a couple times and gave it away

 

Interesting. I used it for a while here, its got decent durability but it's fulllll of fillers.

 

to all Turtle Wax and Armor All products.

 

And I have the Meguair's clay kit and it completely sucks.

 

I'm going to call you on that one ... both do have some good usable products ... ya can't go painting a whole product line with the same brush just based on wives tales.

 

I thought i read before that it was..... I used my first bottle of it back in 04' on my old TLS and it worked well being that it was black. I have done that process atleast 5-6 times in the last 10 months since i got my 3G and my paint looks fuckin wet wet and is softer than my babys buttock. I heard if your paint gets hazy or yellow then thats bad or over doing it. I guess now you have me a bit worried, what could be the downside to doing it the way i described?

 

They do have some decent usable products, but compared to the difference between good and bad products and the prices is why I say no. Meguiars and Mother's aren't necessarily 'top of the line', but they are trusted and all can be found at similar prices than Armor All and Turtle Wax. When I was new to products/detailing (thank you forums (autopia/westcoast/detailedimage/detailersdomain/autogeek etc)- yourself, and other people on this board), I liked Turtle Wax "Black Box" because it 'said' it removed fine scratches-- which it did, but just filled them in temporarily. I thought it was the shit, till I figured out how it did it. I use to Armor All my car then I learned it actually dried by dashboard and leather. :/

 

Well don't gauge them all by the black box ... there is also a lot of top end stuff that is crap and yes some of these too "fill" a lot more than they correct but I don't in turn say stay away from "all" of product line "X" just because I don't like the one item .. I just don't recommend that"one" item to anyone.

And if you go down into my shop you will find a bottle of TW Black wax ... because in the right case and circumstance there is a use for it.

Same with people saying Armoral Protectant is a no no ... thats an old unproven wives tale .. matter of fact there isn't a lot of difference between it and the rest of the white PDMS dressing protectants.

 

So what is the best setup to go buy as of right now for a black car? I dont know anything about claying or waxing by the way...

 

If your talking about claying the Mothers kit is as good as any for the weekender.

 

I use the Meguiars clay bar kit and it works fine. Search for some videos on clay barring your car if you need some tips on how to do it. It is actually quite easy and it is amazing how much stuff comes off and how smooth the paint feels after. I then used Autoglym HD wax on it. If you go to my photo site in my sig you can see some pics of my ZDX after. I am now doing the clay bar in the spring and fall. I just did it a couple of weeks ago to get off the winter road crud off.

Ps
Pics are in the Trains, planes and automobile gallery

 

I just bought Mothers clay bar last night. Can't wait to use it and see how much sexier she will look

 

what are you going to follow that clay bar with? Are you just planning to clay and thats it?

 

Of course not. Got a fresh bottle of Mothers spray wax to follow up with.

 

Try some Polish swirl remover etc in between. You'll be pleasently surprised

 

Damn, I guess it's going in the trash now. Thanks for showing me, I was about to help a friend detail his black Civic he just bought, you helped me avoid a disaster. Is the 3M Rubbing Compound any better? I have a quart of it sitting in the garage.