Which Clay??

[juliosinger]

I`m a newbie to clay and after reading these posts, I`m in a quandry!



Which clay should I get and use. Have three vehicles: 2002 Porsche (Seal Grey), 2002 Chevy Silverado (Dark Red), 2000 BMW M5 (Royal Red).



All are in decent shape, though I can feel the "roughness" after a wax on the Chevy and the BMV, hence the interest in the clay.



Give me knowledge!!! What should I use??

[chris0626]

Mothers and ClayMagic (the blue bar) are widely available and get lots of :up here. If you go to the reviews of clay (http://www.autopia.org/review/censura.php?cmd=browse&category_id=16) you`ll find lots of comments about the pros and cons of these and other clays.

[juliosinger]

Thanks...that`s a lot of good info!

[Chris2pher]

This may be a dumb question but please have patience. This site is a gem, it has full of great information for people who enjoys detailing their car. I have used the Clay Magic for the first time on my 4 year old Mazda Protege and it went okay It took me a long time to clay the entire car about almost an hour. I describe it like your erasing a blackboard but this time it`s a car without any friction. I just want to make sure, I think the answer is "no" to this question. Can you reuse a clay or is it just a one time use? I have used the entire clay bar and put it into a zip lock bag just in case people have reuse the bar.

[Bwana]

It depends on how dirty the clay is. If it was your first time claying that car, it will usually be really dirty, and you will want to throw it out.

[shaf]

Hi Chris2pher, welcome. :)



Check out this thread in the Hall of Fame: http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14212

I believe there is also a claying article in the Learn! link at the top. You don`t have to apply very much if any pressure. I find some is necessary just to keep the clay from falling/flying out of my hand though. Ideally you should have cut your clay in half or into 3rds. This gives you more uses out of one bar and also is insurance in case you drop one. A bar is usually considered "finished" when it`s noticably dark with contamination and then you can pitch it or use it on the windshield.

[chris0626]

But then there`s the technique I learned from BradB. Use a knife to cut off a thin section of clay; flatten it into a little "coin" about the size of a silver dollar and 1/8" thick. Use one side, use the other side, then toss it. I find that I use a lot less claybar since using this method.

[Chris2pher]

Thanks 4DSC



"Ideally you should have cut your clay in half or into 3rds. This gives you more uses out of one bar and also is insurance in case you drop one."



Fortunately I did some research before claying and I have read this suggestion in a couple of the posts. I cut off 1/3 of the clay and save the rest in ziplock bag. Half way done, I dropped the clay and so I threw it out. I didn`t want to cut the remaining clay and so I used it to finish the car. It was a learning experience.

[shyne]

give the autopia glide, block and waffle a try. i liked it very much, and its a great value! those towels included are excellent.