Ok, so I admit that I was too chicken to kick my clay bar "virgin" status on my tC (which probably doesn't need clay bar yet, anyway), so I decided to try it out my 2001 Protege.

First washed and dried it nice and good, then went to work with the Clay Magic. Used a lot of detailing spray for fear of scratching the paint, but the clay went over the surface nice and smoothly. Amazing how much junk the bar was able to wrestle off the paint! Wiped off the spray with a microfiber then went to work polishing the car with some Meguiars. Finished it off with some Gold Class wax and now the car looks as good as when I took it home from the showroom...maybe even better! Whole process took about 2hrs 45 min.

For all those afraid of trying the clay bar, fear not! Just take your time, pay attention to what you're doing, work the clay well and you'll be fine. Now when my tC needs the clay treatment, I'll be confident enough to do it!

speaking out of ignorance here, what is the clay bar and what does it do?

I was afraid to use it too, but then when I saw how much road grime it took off of my front bumper having only 20k miles, I'm a clay bar lifer!

I tried it on my g/f's older civic... After just doing the hood the bar was turning pitch black! She parks on the street under lots of trees though. But WOW, I couldn't believe it. I've washed and waxed her car many times in the past, and it always looked clean, but the clay bar found EVERTHING I was missing.

:clap: :clap: CLAY BAR :clap: :clap:

-THE DON

I had a detail shop clay bar mine yesterday and now I'm a believer too. Awesome finish.

clar bars are awesome.

speaking out of ignorance here, what is the clay bar and what does it do?

Google is your friend!

I clayed mine the same day it came home from the dealership. Mine was in the showroom and i could still tell a big big difference. Clay is definitely the best car care tip i know.

speaking out of ignorance here, what is the clay bar and what does it do?

Here ya go:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/videos/clay_bar.cfm
(video demonstration)

Big fan of the clay. Mother's makes a nice kit. I'm about due for another once-over.

I just got done washing, etc my 2 week old car. I did clay it and it definately took off some yucky stuff, especially on the roof. It was my first time ever trying to use a clay bar and I didn't have any problems, nor do I appear to have ruined my car. I think I may have gone a bit overboard on the use of the spray with the clay bar. If I can clay, anyone can...

Do they sell clay bars at places like Pep Boys or Autozone?

Yes, I got my Mother's Clay Bar kit from Manny, Moe and Jack...

thanks for the tip and the video to boot

awesome. thats my new mod today. that video was awesome. i had no idea on what it was.

:clap:

scott

yeah, thanks for the link to the video. has anyone here purchased these adam's kits they sell? are they worth it?

Learn something new everyday.

kudos to the vid! :clap:

Do they sell clay bars at places like Pep Boys or Autozone?

I bought the Mothers kit from AutoZone today. They had one other brand but I don't remember the name of it.

I was curious about the clay bar also. Kudos to buster71 for the vid!! :bow: :bow: :clap: :clap:

yea I need to buy a new one

I was curious about the clay bar also. Kudos to buster71 for the vid!! :bow: :bow: :clap: :clap:

Hey, I'd love to take credit, but that link was posted in this forum a few weeks ago. I never knew what a clay bar was before seeing that vid, but it showed how easy it was to use.

I cut my bar in half before using and it was fine. It was actually a good thing I did because I dropped it on the ground halfway through and had to throw it away. Note my car is less than a week old so I the bar didn't remove very much at all except around the tires.

Hmmm i am gonna have to do this next weekend HA!

is it ok to use it on glass? if so, do you still use the quick detailer?

I actually have a question on this... When I clayed my car I think I went a bit overboard using the lubricant for it and ended up with a lot of it left on my car. Following the instructions, I wiped it off with a microfiber towel, but on I think the Adams video, they show just going ahead and adding the polish with the left over lube still on. After claying, removing lube, polishing, removing polish, waxing, removing wax I was honestly about ready to collapse.

So, what do you all do when you clay, do you remove the lube, then polish or just add the polish over the lube remaining on your car?

Of course, since I spent all this time on my car a week ago, we have had rain every afternoon and my car now looks bad, and the weather forcast... rain for the next 10 days... Sigh...

good job

After claying, removing lube, polishing, removing polish, waxing, removing wax I was honestly about ready to collapse.

LOL same here.

So, what do you all do when you clay, do you remove the lube, then polish or just add the polish over the lube remaining on your car?

I saw that video too and was TO'd that I coulda saved 30 minutes.

However I'm no expert but I would think that the lube would put a layer between the polish/sealant and your paint/clearcoat thereby blocking the polish/sealant from reaching the paint/clearcoat layer. No clue if that's correct or not.

Let's see what Lonely Raven thinks.

I actually have a question on this... When I clayed my car I think I went a bit overboard using the lubricant for it and ended up with a lot of it left on my car. Following the instructions, I wiped it off with a microfiber towel, but on I think the Adams video, they show just going ahead and adding the polish with the left over lube still on. After claying, removing lube, polishing, removing polish, waxing, removing wax I was honestly about ready to collapse.

So, what do you all do when you clay, do you remove the lube, then polish or just add the polish over the lube remaining on your car?

Of course, since I spent all this time on my car a week ago, we have had rain every afternoon and my car now looks bad, and the weather forcast... rain for the next 10 days... Sigh...
You can't really go overboard on the detail spray, it is just a light spray wax product so all you need to do is wipe it off and buff up the finish with a clean cloth. Don't get confused with the term "lube", it's not a lubricant like oil, it just makes the clay glide over the finish. In the video he added a finishing wax over the detail spray...it's all really the same stuff. It's not that hard, I think that you just got confused when you thought about the detail spray as a lube that needed to be completely removed...