help with clay bar
- Thread starter m3pilot
- Start date
imported_BretFraz
New member
It's probably easier to tear off a hunk, knead it into a small pancake, and clay with that piece. Every time you are done with a section of the car, reknead the clay to embed the contaminents into it. That way you are not dragging around dirt particles to other areas of the car.
I don't understand "dulled and marred". Is the clay leaving smudges where you've been working? If so you are not using enough lubricant (what are you using?). Don't be shy with this stuff; lay on an even coat and clean small sections at a time. Use a QD and wipe off smudges or wait till you've finished the whole car and rewash it. Either way will remove clay smudges.
I don't understand "dulled and marred". Is the clay leaving smudges where you've been working? If so you are not using enough lubricant (what are you using?). Don't be shy with this stuff; lay on an even coat and clean small sections at a time. Use a QD and wipe off smudges or wait till you've finished the whole car and rewash it. Either way will remove clay smudges.
Hello jpws6,
I would recommend cutting the bar up in half so just in case you drop one, you will still have another one. Once you drop a claybar, you should thow it away because it could have picked up some little pebbles. As you are claying you should knead the clay inwards to keep possible contaminants away from coming in contact with your paint. What are you using with your clay? Mixture of water and Z-7 or some other kind of liquid sprayer. You want to make sure that your solution is well lubricated and that your spraying enough off it on the paint. In this case more is good. By not having enough lubricant, you could be causing friction between the clay and the surface of your paint. It can also be normal for it too look dull or marred because the clay will remove any wax you have on the paint. Try and apply a polish to see if the "dull or marring" look goes away. If that does not help, try to use a paint cleaner like Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion, Meguiar's Premium Paint Cleaner, P21S Paint Cleaner. If that does not improve matters, you might have to use something like 3M SMR to remove the dull or marring left from claying. Do you have a PC?
I hope that helps.
With Aloha,
Ranney
I would recommend cutting the bar up in half so just in case you drop one, you will still have another one. Once you drop a claybar, you should thow it away because it could have picked up some little pebbles. As you are claying you should knead the clay inwards to keep possible contaminants away from coming in contact with your paint. What are you using with your clay? Mixture of water and Z-7 or some other kind of liquid sprayer. You want to make sure that your solution is well lubricated and that your spraying enough off it on the paint. In this case more is good. By not having enough lubricant, you could be causing friction between the clay and the surface of your paint. It can also be normal for it too look dull or marred because the clay will remove any wax you have on the paint. Try and apply a polish to see if the "dull or marring" look goes away. If that does not help, try to use a paint cleaner like Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion, Meguiar's Premium Paint Cleaner, P21S Paint Cleaner. If that does not improve matters, you might have to use something like 3M SMR to remove the dull or marring left from claying. Do you have a PC?
I hope that helps.
With Aloha,
Ranney
I am using z7 and water mix as the lubricant. It is not leaving residue. It does look much better after I put some polish on it. From the responses I am getting so far, it sounds like I am not using enough z7/water lubricant and also am probably not kneading the clay bar enough to get rid of contaniments it has picked up.
Personally, I don't "knead", I just fold it over once and reshape it. I figure this way you're exposing more layers of clean clay rather than mixing dirty clay with clean clay. You get a bunch of dark layers in it, and now that I think about it, it's kind of like how you work pie pastry. 
mrdetailer
New member
Some professional ones like Clay Magic Red are actually abrasive like sandpaper.
I would also use a quick detailer as a lubricant. I know they are slick.
I would also use a quick detailer as a lubricant. I know they are slick.
imported_BretFraz
New member
mrdetailer said:
Mr. D - Ya gotta try a Z7 mix as a clay lube sometime. I did when I detailed my car and found it to be even better than a QD. Plus its lots cheaper. I clayed two big vehicles this weekend and I used almost 1/2 bottle of Quik Detailer. That's gets expensive after a while even if you buy QD by the gallon.
ultrajim49
New member
I allso clayed this week-end:
first I washed the car with Z7
then I clayed with Z18 , using Z7 as lube: no streaking, no haze.
The reason why I clayed was paint overspray after a fixed crunch.
The overspray took a lot of passes , but removed entirely,
I allso clayed the rest of the car (was clayed about 9 months ago)and found that it still was pretty clean.
:bounce:
christiaan
first I washed the car with Z7
then I clayed with Z18 , using Z7 as lube: no streaking, no haze.
The reason why I clayed was paint overspray after a fixed crunch.
The overspray took a lot of passes , but removed entirely,
I allso clayed the rest of the car (was clayed about 9 months ago)and found that it still was pretty clean.
:bounce:
christiaan