Umm...Is my Claybar dead?

Smitty · 08-17-02, 10:52

I spent all day working on my girlfriends little Neon. It has been a bad day. I accidently sanded to far with my 2000 grit sanding block trying to level some touchup paint and went right through the clear in a little spot. Totally messed that up...

But, that's not the point. I am using a Z-18 Claybar on the car. I have not even finished the car yet and the Claybar doesn't seem very sticky anymore. I did do a Dawn wash before I started. So, let me ask this...

1) I know this Claybar should have atleast been able to do the whole car, how can I tell if it is dead? It just doesn't seem very stickly anymore, no matter how much I reshape it.

2) What should I expect from the Claybar? I did the plastic sandwich bad trick and the paint feels probably 70% cleaner than it did before the Claybar, but there are still bumps and stuff on there that the Claybar doesn't seem to be taking off. On the trunk for example, I have run the Claybar over it four times now and it still feels like there is something on it. I am wondering if I need to switch to the other Z-18 Claybar I have or if this is as good as it is going to get. I started on the trunk, so the Claybar was new the four times I went over it. I just doesn't seem to be taking any more off.

Off to figure out what to do about my sanding mess up. Chrysler paint sucks...I barely sanded it at all.

Thank you.

slowcapri · 08-17-02, 11:02

Ive used my clay-magic blue bar about 5 times (3 on my small car, once on my dads fullsize ext. cab truck, and once on a 90's t-bird.).

It's getting kinda dirty, but it still lifts the gunk off the paint really well.

Im thinking that you might have used alittle too much lube when working with the clay bar. Try letting it dry out. I doubt that this is the problem, but it is an idea; ive never used the Zaino clay bar or any of their other products for that matter!

Smitty · 08-17-02, 11:08

Thanks for the reply. How can I tell how much to TOO much lube? I am using a 1/2 capful of Z-7 with 12 ounces of water in a spray bottle and spraying the lube on the car. How can I determine if I have used too much?

4DSC · 08-18-02, 07:13

I do it by "feel" and actually cut my QD with water by spraying both QD and water - even when diluted quite a bit I find the QD still lets the bar glide along easily. I would just start small and increase the soap content until it feels right (stops dragging).

I don't know how big these Z18 bars are, but this is another good reason to cut claying bars into a bunch of chunks - if you ruin 1 piece somehow you always have backups.