Clay Bar Idea

R

RAG

New member
Maybe we need to let Clay Magic aware that their current clay is sub-par in hopes that they would start having elastic-clay produced.



Okay, I know most people (in most areas of the country) can use a clar bar for a month (or more), but I go through a couple per week due to the heavy conatmination in my community...so having good clay is a big deal for me.



And I think we are all in agreement that the elastic clay (like Opti-Clay) is superior (marrs less, is easier to use, and lasts much much longer). So why wouldn't Clay Magic start having this superior clay produced (my guess is they aren't even aware their clay is inferior)...but maybe they don't care since they own the market now.
 
RAG said:
Maybe we need to let Clay Magic aware that their current clay is sub-par in hopes that they would start having elastic-clay produced.



Okay, I know most people (in most areas of the country) can use a clar bar for a month (or more), but I go through a couple per week due to the heavy conatmination in my community...so having good clay is a big deal for me.



And I think we are all in agreement that the elastic clay (like Opti-Clay) is superior (marrs less, is easier to use, and lasts much much longer). So why wouldn't Clay Magic start having this superior clay produced (my guess is they aren't even aware their clay is inferior)...but maybe they don't care since they own the market now.
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I've been using their blue clay for 15 years and have NEVER had a problem with it's performace. I too, (in Michigan) have heavy industrial fallout in the air and I find that the longevity of their product is great. How many cars are you claying to go through 1 bar of clay? I can easily do 10 vehicles for warranty fallout removal and stll have it go strong. I don't think any clay bar lasts longer with respect to removing and embedding contaminants within the clay bar. Clay doesn't clean itself, it all about how much contamination it's picking up. As far as marring, I've never experienced Blue Clay Magic marr the finish, so I'm not sure where there is a problem. Are you kneeding it correctly?Are you using their Body Shine as they recommend? If Opti-Clay is superior, why don't you use it? There's got to be some floating around somewhere. I'm sure if Auto Wax felt the need to improve their product they would. Call them and try to work through your complaint if you feel that strong about improving their product. I'm sure negatively venting on a forum isn't helping out with the problem any. Try to catch bees with honey instead of with a fly swatter. :think2
 
You're right about the longevity of a clay bar being limited to the amount of contamination you're willing to let it collect. I get anywhere from 3 to 10 uses before I retire a clay bar due to how much contamination it has collected.



The main reason I like Opti-Clay so much is that when removing heavy rust contamination, it marrs less than other clays - defenitely less than the blue Clay Magic...I've conducted a lot of experiments with about 15 different clay bars to prove this (to myself at least) where I monitored the amount of scuffing on black paint. Some bars have produced marring that takes 2 or 3 polishing steps to remove (sure, I could apply just a couple ounces of pressure and not get this problem, but I'd be claying for several hours).



Opti-Clay is nowhere to be found.



David Fermani said:
I've been using their blue clay for 15 years and have NEVER had a problem with it's performace. I too, (in Michigan) have heavy industrial fallout in the air and I find that the longevity of their product is great. How many cars are you claying to go through 1 bar of clay? I can easily do 10 vehicles for warranty fallout removal and stll have it go strong. I don't think any clay bar lasts longer with respect to removing and embedding contaminants within the clay bar. Clay doesn't clean itself, it all about how much contamination it's picking up. As far as marring, I've never experienced Blue Clay Magic marr the finish, so I'm not sure where there is a problem. Are you kneeding it correctly?Are you using their Body Shine as they recommend? If Opti-Clay is superior, why don't you use it? There's got to be some floating around somewhere. I'm sure if Auto Wax felt the need to improve their product they would. Call them and try to work through your complaint if you feel that strong about improving their product. I'm sure negatively venting on a forum isn't helping out with the problem any. Try to catch bees with honey instead of with a fly swatter. :think2
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RAG said:
Opti-Clay is nowhere to be found.
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FWIW, there's a ton of Erazer clay floating around.. I bought some to compare to my last bar of opti-clay and there's very little difference between the two.



If Auto Magic actually were to produce an elastic clay, it would certainly improve the market as a whole. But I doubt it could happen if just a handful of detailers/enthusiasts were to contact them.
 
sounds like someone is very biased towards clay magic, i wonder why. I personally hate clay magic its not even close to being as good as opti clay or chemical guys/adams clay. It needs a lot more pressure for the same amount of effectiveness and it completely falls apart in the heat, where i've never had any sort of problem like that with the erazer type clay.
 
I don't even know why we need to have this discussion - it was clear the Opti-clay and other erazer-type clays gained huge popularity in a short amount of time (if they just did a tiny bit of homework they'd know this)...so they should automatically start having the stuff made (it's not like it would take 10 months to get into production...the stuff was already produced).
 
SVECobraR said:
sounds like someone is very biased towards clay magic, i wonder why. I personally hate clay magic its not even close to being as good as opti clay or chemical guys/adams clay. It needs a lot more pressure for the same amount of effectiveness and it completely falls apart in the heat, where i've never had any sort of problem like that with the erazer type clay.
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I guess I am a little bias towards Clay Magic as well as the entire line of Auto Magic. I've had nothing but great success using their products professionally for over 15 years. :secret I, like most people, like using products that perform well, and haven't really witnessed any problems with Auto Magic. If I did, I wouldn't use them.:idea I personally dislike many detail products on the market today, but I don't think it's necessary to bash them.
 
Hmmm.. Im on the verge of buying a case of CM blue. Now I am unsure.



I was in a pinch for clay, due to a few bars that I purchased from a vendor being defects, and I had to head to Pep Boys for clay. I ended up buying a Megs clay kit and I must say...the white clay that came in the kit was a pleasure to use.
 
firegate said:
FWIW, there's a ton of Erazer clay floating around.. I bought some to compare to my last bar of opti-clay and there's very little difference between the two.
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If that is true there's numerous members who would like to know where to find that "ton".
 
Setec Astronomy said:
If that is true there's numerous members who would like to know where to find that "ton".
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Mostly sitting around on store shelves. There's a chain here in the bay area that has some left at all of their locations (except the two that are closest to me since I bought em out). The managers both told me the clay had been sitting there for a while - no one would buy it over the megs/mothers clay.



IIRC, there was a link posted to an online store that still had some left in the other clay thread as well.
 
I've had okay results with the clay magic clay, it's just not on par with the elastic clays.



I will live if I can't get any elastic clays for a few years, but claying is such a huge part of detailing in my area that I sure would like to have the best clay possible...and with KEL out of the picture, the best clay is no longer available. Just a bummer.
 
Last week I found a blue clay magic bar that I used only once about 10 years ago and then misplaced it in the garage. It was in a plastic container the whole time. I was afraid to use it with it being so old. I kneaded it for about 5 minutes and then used it on my wife's minivan and it worked great still. I have been using the Sonus gray and green claybars for awhile now, but the lower cost of the clay magic bar and the convenience of going to a Pepboys instead of ordering and paying shipping costs has got me thinking that I should switch to the clay magic bars. I hate spending so much $$ on the elastic clays.
 
I was a huge fan of the Opti-Clay, But due to a copyright law suit from Clay Magic Optimume can't sell it any more. So I tryed the Clay Magic because I was in a pinch and well it worked fine. how ever I am not sure about the whole copyright thing because the two clays are very differant from each other. unless CM has other types of clay I only have seen the blue. I do like the lube but good old H2O worked just as good and costs a whole lot less. Just my thoughts. and yes I am still using the CM....
 
After reading everyone's complaints about Clay Magic marring, I was finally able to get it to scratch. I tried using QEW as a lube instead of a real QD, and got light scratches. They came out easily with ZPC.
 
David Fermani said:
I guess I am a little bias towards Clay Magic as well as the entire line of Auto Magic. I've had nothing but great success using their products professionally for over 15 years. :secret I, like most people, like using products that perform well, and haven't really witnessed any problems with Auto Magic. If I did, I wouldn't use them.:idea I personally dislike many detail products on the market today, but I don't think it's necessary to bash them.
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As much as some people dont like the whole automagic/clay monopoly deal . . .



I gotta agree with Dave here. I have never expierienced Automagic's clay marr any of the finishes i have used it on. However, out of all the vehicles I have detailed, I have only done two or three to my knowledge that were so bad I just decided to scrap the bar I was using and get out a fresh one. The body shine is also my favorite clay lube, not as cheap as using dilluted ONR, but I dont buy large gallon vats of it like dave probably does . . . I will admit the Opti Clay has somthing about it that makes it different . . . so I keep that bar for my own car, and thats it. I also have a habbit (could be good or bad) of using way to much clay lube when I clay. Perhaps it lessens the effectiveness of the clay, but significantly contaminated black paint on a BMW in direct sun showed no additional marring from what was alredy on the car to begin with . . . :think: hmmmm. . .
 
Am I imagining it or are the people that don't use the recommended Body Shine with blue Clay Magic the ones who aren't seeing good results and the ones that do, like the outcome?? I've been to almost 10 Auto Magic detailing classes over the years and at almost every one someone asks if they can use a substitute for Body Shine like soapy water, other lubricants or just plain water and every time their trainer says NO. The clay isn't designed to be used that way or it will jeopardize the performance of the product. I feel that if you're using an expensive product like clay in the detail process, use it the way it's supposed to if you seek the posted results/specifications. Otherwise, the outcome could probably be skewed. Maybe this could help improve people's outlook on the product a little.
 
David Fermani said:
I, like most people, like using products that perform well, and haven't really witnessed any problems with Auto Magic. If I did, I wouldn't use them
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I've used several clay magic blue clay bars (seen below, yes I used their lube) and every one of them were either hard and very hard to work with or fell apart. I tried the clay again with the same results. I was not impressed so no more clay magic for me. I even bought a pack in Florida and still the same.



Hopefully they will do something about this clay because right now you won't see me buying any. With my experiences there are many superior clays available which may cost a little more but you get what you pay for.



autopia_1923_4063547
 
David Fermani said:
Am I imagining it or are the people that don't use the recommended Body Shine with blue Clay Magic the ones who aren't seeing good results and the ones that do, like the outcome?? I've been to almost 10 Auto Magic detailing classes over the years and at almost every one someone asks if they can use a substitute for Body Shine like soapy water, other lubricants or just plain water and every time their trainer says NO. The clay isn't designed to be used that way or it will jeopardize the performance of the product. I feel that if you're using an expensive product like clay in the detail process, use it the way it's supposed to if you seek the posted results/specifications. Otherwise, the outcome could probably be skewed. Maybe this could help improve people's outlook on the product a little.
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:bigups agreed.



the day i used body shine was a day of days. I just love it. It also smells really good, in a very odd way. I tried using the clay magic with the adams detail spray, and it didnt work as well. - harder to move, left a little residue. It just seems to me like the lubricants in the 49 work WAY better than other methods when using the clay magic clay. Thats just my expierience . . .
 
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