Product Review: Autopia Clay Kit

[BradE]

This week I had the pleasure of testing the Autopia clay kit. I must say, I was excited. The good news is my excitement was justified! I knew David would put together good stuff, that’s just the way he is, but he went overboard with the goodies on this one.



Of course this comes as a kit, complete with the bar itself, the lubricant and towels. First, let’s start with the clay. It’s a light graphite color and very smooth and consistent in texture. As a bonus, it comes with a case! I don’t know why that impresses me, but I like clays that come with cases. The bar has a dense feeling, but is very malleable and easy to form. I had no trouble kneading the clay during use. Next piece of the puzzle is the lube. Now I know why David named this stuff “Glide�, it’s so slippery. It also has a nice light airy smell. Very nice. Finally, the towels. They are a generously sized gray color waffle towel, and boy are they soft. In fact, they are probably the softest waffle towels I have ever touched. Very impressive indeed.



For my testing I cut the clay into 2 pieces. I formed the portion I was using into a nice cake for easy claying. One of the first things I noticed is the clay has a slight tacky feeling too it. This helps the clay stick to your hand slightly and keeps you from dropping it. If your a big klutz like me this is a big help. I sprayed a light mist of Glide on the hood of my Explorer and went to town. The clay lube is super slippery! The clay does just glide across the surface with no friction. This helps keep surface marring to an absolute minimum. It’s one of the slickest lubes I have ever used for claying. When wiping off the lube residue I noticed that is wipes clean with no streaking what so ever. It also leaves a very nice looking surface. This lube is so nice I think it would make a great QD! :up As I made my way around the car claying I noticed the clay bar did show the dirt well, which helps to decided when folding of the clay is needed. When the time comes the clay kneads very easily and almost has an elastic feeling to it. It reforms with out a problem. At times I used large amounts of lube to see if I could get the bar to “mush out� (That`s my new technical term ) No matter how much lube I used I could not get the bar to mush out, nor did it seem to absorb any lube at all. :up To wipe away all that glide I was used the waffle weave microfiber towel supplied in the kit. This is perhaps the softest waffle weave towel I have ever used. It absorbed everything with ease and I noticed no surface marring what so ever. I also observed no linting, major plus. :up



Overall I was very impressed with this kit. All of the products in this kit are top notch, and certainly get the Autopian seal of approval. I was impressed with the quality, and ease of use, of the Autopia products. Leave it to David to create good stuff. David will have details about availability soon.

[Accumulator]

ShowroomLincoln- Thanks for the good, comprehensive review.



Q: Did you get much clay residue on the towel? I`ve had a problem with clay resuidue getting stuck to my wipe-off towel and refusing to wash out.

[BradE]

Accumulator,



I got no clay residue on the towel at all. I also got no clay residue on the surface while claying, I attest this to the lube being so slippery.

[2wheelsx2]

I guess you got a preview sample, SRL? When is the real thing going to be marketed? And how much? Will it be available to us Canucks?

[BradE]

2wheelsx2,



Yes I got a kit in advance for testing. David has indicated it will be available soon, I`m not going to mention a specific date because sometimes those things change. As for cost and availability, I`ll let David comment on that one. :up

[bjwebster]

Sounds Great! Im in need of some more clay and cant wait to get my hands on some glide, block, and waffle!Sounds like a great kit!

[BradE]

Autopia does not manufacture the clay bar, factories are expensive operate. Instead it`s much more cost effective to have the product supplied from a 3rd party maker. Now, you don`t think I can go around revealing suppliers do you?

[Preachers Sheets]

It would be nice of you to post the link so readers can check it out and see if it`s something they would like to purchase.



Nothing better than buying a product knowing it will work perfectly. :up

[BradE]

Joe,



There is no "link" for the product yet because it`s not available for general sale. David will be releasing the product soon. Here is a pic of the kit, so you guys know what it looks like.

[Magellan498]

Hey I had a question about the lube. Did you try it in the sun? Not saying that I would diliberately go out and clay in the sun but it does happen occasionally. How does it fare? Any streaking? Thanks.

[BradE]

Magellan498,



Yes I tried the lube in the sun. I`m happy to report that it didn`t streak at all. It also does not "Flash" as quick on hot surfaces as many clay lubes do.



I was very impressed with the lube. I like it so much I think it would make a great QD. Hint, Hint, David.

[Preachers Sheets]

Sounds good, I look foward to see what DavidB will offer to us, I`d for one would be more than happy to send my detailing $$$ his way.

[2wheelsx2]

Looks really interesting. Showroom, how big was bar? It looks like a good size in the picture. Is it 200 g like the Clay Magic bar?

[BradE]

I don`t really know the weight of the bar to be honest with you. It`s certianly bigger than my 100g Clay Magic bar. I would guess it`s close to 200g.

[jcattarulla]

DavidB,

Since you first posted about this product line, I`ve held off on buying another clay kit. My car is almost immaculate, but I`m getting an itchy trigger finger- so hurry up and bring this to market!

Cattman