Cleaning the clay bar

S

ssmokn

New member
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?
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
DavidB said:
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
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Here I thought I created a clay trick on my own damnit!
 
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 :) !!!
 
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.
 
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.
 
Idrops said:
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.
Click to expand...
Ditto. :up
 
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