Last weekend i planned on washing, claying and waxing my car. After the wash, i applied the clay bar to the hood and the front of the car. I had the clay bar sitting on the box it came in when a gust of wind knocked it over on the concrete. I did some research beforehand and i knew that it was best to toss the bar in the garbage upon touching the concrete. Anyway, long story short, i went ahead and waxed the car with MeGuier's NXT.

My question is, can i reapply a new clay bar this weekend and re-wax the entire car? Is that bad for the finish?

~J

 

Clay Barring on a brand new finish is overkill in my opinion... If you take care of your car like using the right kind of microfiber cloths and shammies the Meguires NTX should be all you need. Clay barring is for serverly swirled and scratched cars. An extra 45 to a hour clay barring is not nessesary if you wash your car properly...

 

...thanks for the insight....i was about to claybar the car again...but its been a few weeks....i guess that alright....wash the car every few days...

 

From what i read clay bars ARE NOT for scratches or swirl marks, but for paint embeds and contaminents.

I wash my car weekly, or bi-weekly. I've had it just over a month. about 2 weeks ago, i noticed alot of very rough small black dots all over my finish. when i clayed my hood and front it got rid of most of these defects. I am very careful and attentive when i wash my car. I use the eagle one car wash a microfiber sponge and an absorber car shammy. I really dont know how my paint got like this, the car is brand new. I do alot of hwy driving and we have alot of industry here in b.r., so i'm just trying to take care of my paint early before it turns to ____ later on.

 

hmm.. well I've never been to BR so who knows whats all over your car... And plus on that red paint I'm sure its easier to see than on my FM. But my dad is an account manager for BASF's automotive finishes for DFW and I talked to him about it when I heard about the Clay bar. He's been in the industry for 25 years. So Im just going by what I was told.

 

I have had my 05 camo xB since late august. I applied 2 coats of wax before the winter. I travel about 90 miles a day and the winter was really rough here in New England this year. I decided to fully detail my car last friday. First I washed the car completely and followed up using a clay bar. I have to say that I was completely amazed by the amount of contaminents the clay bar picked up off the box. I couldn't believe it. Steps followed after the clay bar were as follows.

P21s paint cleaner applied with a handi-grip foam applicator
Klasse All in One applied with porter cable orbital buffer
Klasse Sealant Glaze applied with microfiber applicator
2 coats of Meguires Carnuba Wax applied with porter cable

Damn what a shine!!!

Does clay take off anything you apply to the paint (wax etc)??? Probably a dumb question and I am assuming it does strip the car of anything applied prior.

Matt

 

The clay bar is for removing contaminents. Put your hand in a sandwich bag and run it over your paint. The rough parts you feel are what the clay bar removes. There are actually some really informative threads on here regarding the clay bar. You should be able to find them in a search. I learned a lot from some of the posts regarding this.

 

Still looking for an answer. please help.

 

i wouldnt recommend claybaring your tc...the paint on our cars arent very thinck and as ive noticed chip easily....if you clay it ur gonna take off a large portion of the clear. you really shouldnt need to clay a new car for like a year or so after you have bought the vehicle. just give it a good waxing once or twice a month no need to overkill it. IF you give it a good waxing the first time it should last for at least a month just give it good washings after the initial wax and every other wash just use that sprayon wax by meguires after the wash and shammy the car dry and it will look like it just received a fresh wash and wax.

 

man, people are misinformed.

clay barring (when used properly - i.e. w/ a detail spray and folding under any grit) won't damage your finish by causing scratches or swirls or removing your clear coat. it's purpose is to remove road grime, so you'll really only need to clay the front portion of the car - or uless you drive backwards, then the back portion.

waxing (when done properly) won't damage your finish either. polishing will, but you asked about waxing. I guess, theoretically, you could eventually rub through the clear coat. but, you'd have to be using a poor quality wax and a mechanical buffer every time to do it. I guess you could eventually get a waxy build up, but that would be a lot of wax jobs.

if you drop your clay bar on the concrete - it's not the end of the world. dirt, yes. sand, hell yes. but, concrete? perhaps not. fold it over and over, feel that there are no contaminates, and use it. it's best to start every wash and wax session w/ brand new stuff, but we just don't do it. use your best judgement - when in doubt, don't do.

wash, clay and wax to your hearts content. you'll have the smoothest ride in town.

 

^^^^^ thank you

 

Finally someone with a brain!!!

 

amen...

 

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-clay.html
http://www.detailguru.com/for113clayba.html
http://www.web-cars.com/detail/clay.php

This one sort of contradicts the others saying that all clay bars have some sort of abrasive in them. Some very mild and some more aggressive.

http://www.web-cars.com/detail/clay.php - good read

http://www.autogeek.net/wg9000.html - this brand of clay claims to have no abrassives.

 

at the place i buy my clay i haev the optiion of mild or aggressive clay.

 

I've only used a clay bar on my front lip. It used to feel like sandpaper from all the road debris, when I was done it felt smooth as glass. So I guess it works, but I would agree that you don't need to do the whole car that often. The rear protion and side doors shouldn't get that messed up. But hey, do it as often as you like, I don't think it could hurt anything.... besides your elbow.

Peace

-THE DON

 

I don't know the technical term for this, but i do recall someone posting how the air flows around and over the vehicle while driving and that the wind actually curls up and batters (so to speak) the rear of the car due to the shape of the box. This actually makes sense as to why I had so many tar spots and grime on the back hatch. The clay bar did the trick, but I hear what your saying. No need for overkill. I will probably clay once a year after the harsh winters we have.

Matt

 

claybaring puts minor surface scratches in your finish, thats just the nature of it. but proper polishing will get those scratches out. just be sure you have a clean piece of clay.

i clay my tC every other time i wash it. new cars need clay, road crap still builds up on a new finish

 

i was told to clay bar as soon as i got the car. i know they wash and wax at the dealer before delivery, but you don't really know how long the car was collecting dirt and grime, during the whole shipping process before you bought it. my car had a lot of surface contaminents on the paint, the first day i picked it up.it looked clean and felt, for the most part, smooth but it wasn't. that is one of the main reasons my car had swril marks from the dealer.

 

when gettin g a new car tell the dealer you do not want it washed or preped in anyway
unless you want swirls from there crappy wash cloths