Cleaning the clay bar

[ssmokn]

Does anyone clean their claybar?

I recently brought back from the dead the paint on a 100K mile police car (medium gray metallic monotone paintjob).

I was amazed how much crud was stuck in the paint. The clay felt like sandpaper after a couple of passes. I kept kneading and used lots of lube.

When I was done the clay looked rather dirty and beat.

I filled my kitchen sink with a few inches of the hottest water I could stand and added some Dawn dishwashing liquid. I then let the clay sit for a few minutes. The clay got nice and soft and it made it much easier to knead. I knead the clay for about 5 minutes. Then I rinsed, dryed divided back into two 3.5 oz. pieces (7 oz bar) and wrapped each piece in plastic wrap.

I have used this trick a few times now and the clay seems to last longer.

Anybody else try anything like this?

[Magellan498]

Yea, I always knead my clay after using it. Stretching it usually seems to make the sand and grit come out but I wouldn't count on that to last forever. You never know when some sand just doesnt come out and ends up scratchin your paint.

Miguel

[DavidB]

I might recommend a couple of things you can try. The first is to use small chunks of clay. An ounce seems to work okay. If you're claying a really dirty car, this allows you to keep the crud confined. Another trick is to use a old fashioned chees cutter (the wire slicers) to slice off a very thin top layer of dirty clay.

db

[Intel486]

I do like DavidB suggests and cut my clay bar up into smaller pieces. I do this so if I do an extremly dirty vehicle I can just pitch the small piece or if I drop it on the ground I can pitch it.

It would be neat if there was a way to clean clay bars as they are kind of expensive.

Originally posted by DavidB
I might recommend a couple of things you can try. The first is to use small chunks of clay. An ounce seems to work okay. If you're claying a really dirty car, this allows you to keep the crud confined. Another trick is to use a old fashioned chees cutter (the wire slicers) to slice off a very thin top layer of dirty clay.

db

Here I thought I created a clay trick on my own damnit!

[emobob]

Small chunks and continually stretch it out thin to make sure there isnt any grit, if there is just pull that small peice of clay off. Something I wished I had known my first time !!!

[Brad B.]

Never, never, re-use a dirty clay bar. Always slice off a small piece, knead it into a small flat wafer, use one side until dirty, flip and use the other then dispose of that piece of clay. To re-use the clay or to try to clean or knead the dirty part into itself is a false sense of savings. A piece of grit can come back to haunt you and scratch your paint.

Cleaning them is also a tricky endeavor. You really can't see "everything" that gets embedded in the bar. The smallest nearly microscopic grit can cause havoc.

[Idrops]

Personally, I don't think it's worth cleaning a clay bar. They are relatively inexpensive and only used once or twice a year per car. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

[4DSC]

Originally posted by Idrops
Personally, I don't think it's worth cleaning a clay bar. They are relatively inexpensive and only used once or twice a year per car. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

Ditto.