well after hearing u guys rave about these things i went out and finally found one, after about a month of searching, advance auto and auto zone in my area didn't have them. found one at super walmart. it's the mothers kit, spray detailer, cleaner wax, and the bar. so hopefully this weekend, weather depending i will get the car washed and then clay bard and then washed and waxed again. any tips for me? thanks

 

its recommended that you wash the car with a detergent to strip all the wax out of the car first before using the bar.

 

Dawn dish soap works good...but don't make it a habit to wash your car with dish soap...its not made for cars, but it does work to remove old wax. However I don't know if the clay bar would require that, because they claybar is meant to lift off contaminants like water spotsa and other girtty stuff....so I don't know if you'd need to do that before doing the clay bar. You'll be happy with the results though...its kind of awkward because you're rubbing this hunk of play-doe on your car, but once you do it and you touch an un barred part of your car and then the part you just rubbed you'll definitely notice a difference. I just used the clay bar and Zaino on my friends brand new Subaru WRX and even his paint felt smoother after the bar and his car is like a month old.

 

I'd suggest using Dawn to get any old wax off, that way the clay bar is sure to get to the paint easier.
Just be sure to keep the surface wet, once it dries the slightest the clay bar will not work properly.

 

what will happen if the car dries, will the claybar damage the paint, or just not do anything?

 

I had the rear brake pad go bad on my car causing brake rust to be thrown all over the back of my car. Using the claybar did wonders with getting all that stuff out of the paint.

 

Usually when you get clay bars they come with some kind of detailer spray.You spray that on on a 2foot area then use the clay bar on that same area rubbing back and forth until you can't feel the grittiness that was there before.Just keep doing that until you do the whole car.

 

Yeah if the detailing spray just dries up you won't be able to move the clay bar across the surface of the car. If it does begin to dry might leave some clay streakes but they're easily taken off by re-applying the spray and running the clay bar over it once again. Usually if you don't wipe off the area you just rubbed the spray will leave a residue on the car....so make sure to clean it off with a clean towel right afterwards as you go or wash your car once again after the clay bar process.

 

How much is a Claybar?

 

I bought a Clay Magic clay bar for $9.99 plus tax at Pep Boys...I saw a Mother's one also for I think $14.99....whatever you do don't get a Maguieres I've heard people scratching thier paint using one of theirs.

 

I used the Mother's clay bar on my RS. Paid about $15 for it. I was very pleased with the results.

Make sure you remold the bar often during the process. And if you drop it on the floor, be prepared to buy another bar. Or lop of the part that touched the floor. It will pick up all sorts of minute contaminates that you don't want to rub into your paint.

 

also when applying wax or cleaning clay bar rsidue use a micro fiber towel, much softer than any i have found, then maybe use a scratch remover type wax, cleans off all the minor scratches in the clear coat as best as any wax can, wait a couple of weeks for wax to cure, and then take it off again and then do the maguirs three step method, you will be definately pleased!

 

well i used the clay bar this past weekend and it did give it quite a smooth surface, but tragically before i could get the car waxed it rained, so hopefully now that i'm out of school for summer i will have a good hunk of day where i can spend a the necessary time doing what needs to be done. can u use to much spray detailer, i bought the mothers kit and i used quite a bit of the spray detailer how can u tell if u used to much?