Product Review: GLARE Liqui-Clay

I received my order of GLARE Liqui-clay and GLARE polish yesterday. I gave it an "UNFAIR" test (damage/neglect impossible to repair by any means) by using it on a service vehicle that has extremely abused and damaged paint. No amount of rubbing ,sanding or cleaning will ever get this paint back to normal. However, GLARE Liqui-clay did clean this (originally bright white) mess up to an amazing degree ! The hood of the vehicle is 10 shades lighter and all but the deepest stains are gone. What is amazing is that the dead paint ( some idiot took a can of spray can to the hood, and what is left is lifting off! )is continuing to flake off the surface, AMAZING ! I will try this product on some decent paint when the weather permits ! So far great stuff ! :bounce



The GLARE Polish is trying to make this "Latex" looking paint actually shine ! The hood of this truck is actually beading ! The shine increased by the next day ! I am really impressed ! :bounce



* BTW, I previously used a rotary with HD polish and it barely touched the soiling and stain in the deep, deep scratches in this hood. Actually this truck is typical of the abuse of industrial equipment, because in the context of its use, it is just another expendable tool... chemical, abrasive, and other damage are a product of the industrial enviorenment......



This vehicle is bashed far beyond anything an Autopian could ever let him/herself be seen dead driving .... they PAY me while I use the POS! So this (UNFAIR) test is indicative of a very robust, powerful cleaner... I will post more later when I get a chance to use this product on something worth cleaning ... This product is on the expensive side, so I wont be doing a non paying/non family vehicle with it, but hey, this test was a priceless opportunity to see if the product is hype or really good ! Much to my surprise, it more than showed its robustness and effectiveness! ! ! NO HYPE ! 0.0% ! :bow

I still do a double take when I first see this trucks hood..its that big a change ! :bounce





*I used a Wen cordless buffer and the pad that comes with the PC to spread some of the LiquiClay.... Just to save my arms a bit.... I finally managed to use the @#!& ing pad for something ! LOL ! :rofl
 
Interesting. I tried their sealant/wax or whateve they called it when Burlyq sent me a sample. Actually worked pretty good, nice wet shine and very slick. Not so sure I buy that it lasts for 5 years though and it is a bit pricey. May have to order some for long term testing and try the liquid clay while I am at it.



This is getting expensive....
 
Well, the results of mochamanz confirm the sample I got was not a "specially tweaked bottle" for reviewers usage ;)



I found applying it by machine very easy and fast. I am also quite impressed at how we have been giving the product tough (even unfair) tests as I used to take out oil stains and the product delivered. Very forgiving also on the application. Mochamanz is right, is not cheap, but price cannot take down a great performing product.





Alex



PS. I stated it in the first post and in the original thread, but I will repeat it to fully comply with the autopia rules: I got a full GLARE kit as sample for review (read: free) I can and I am willing to share some of the products in order to get it reviewed as objectively as possible.
 
AlexRuiz said:
Textual directions taken from the back of the bottle:

....Apply liqui-clay by rubbing small amounts into paint by hand with a clean terry cloth in VERTICAL motion.
Click to expand...



How do you apply something in vertical motion on a HORIZONTAL surface?
 
hey Mmmph, I am soooo glad we have such great proof readers here on Autopia.... Thank you for clearing that up for me, I had no idea how to proceed before your clarification .... ;)...:rofl



Good sense of humor.... It is nice we can have a little fun now and then.....:xyxthumbs
 
Well, I ordered some of this liquid clay and I am disappointed.



I applied the clay with a meg foam pad on a section of my clean hood which was wet with distilled water ( this follows the actual instructions with the exception of using a foam pad instead of a terry towel). When I was applying the clay, it felt like it was scratching the paint, I ignored this and continued. After I had covered the section with clay, I let it completely dry. Then I removed the dried substance with a damp microfiber to see large swirls all over the treated paint. These were the type of swirls you could see in all angles of light and were very noticeable (The paint on my car is World Rally Blue, a dark mica blue). I do know that the bottle states that the clay might cause some "miscoloration" that will be removed with their polish. I hope that they do not mean that the very noticeable swirls are the mentioned "miscoloration."



The section was not even that smooth to my recollection of what a clayed surface should feel like.



The swirls were not that big of a deal in my case because I am going to get my hood repainted today due to massive rock chips.



I know this review goes against the review from Alex, I hope he can apply the clay and show pics. I was very gentle and applied the clay in a "up and down motion", like the bottle states. The swirls were vertical and followed the motion of the way I applied the liquid clay.



Also I QEWed my car before this. I double checked my hood for any dust/dirt before doing this.





Hamilton
 
Kenney said:
Well, I ordered some of this liquid clay and I am disappointed.



I applied the clay with a meg foam pad on a section of my clean hood which was wet with distilled water ( this follows the actual instructions with the exception of using a foam pad instead of a terry towel). When I was applying the clay, it felt like it was scratching the paint, I ignored this and continued. After I had covered the section with clay, I let it completely dry. Then I removed the dried substance with a damp microfiber to see large swirls all over the treated paint. These were the type of swirls you could see in all angles of light and were very noticeable (The paint on my car is World Rally Blue, a dark mica blue). I do know that the bottle states that the clay might cause some "miscoloration" that will be removed with their polish. I hope that they do not mean that the very noticeable swirls are the mentioned "miscoloration."



The section was not even that smooth to my recollection of what a clayed surface should feel like.



The swirls were not that big of a deal in my case because I am going to get my hood repainted today due to massive rock chips.



I know this review goes against the review from Alex, I hope he can apply the clay and show pics. I was very gentle and applied the clay in a "up and down motion", like the bottle states. The swirls were vertical and followed the motion of the way I applied the liquid clay.



Also I QEWed my car before this. I double checked my hood for any dust/dirt before doing this.





Hamilton
Click to expand...



Wow, hhmmmmm, I am thinking. For one, I noticed you used a damp microfiber, I only removed it with dry microfibers. Another one, quite subtle but very important is to make sure the water is present at the time of application. What I mean is that if you spray several panel and then apply the liquiclay, depending on the previous LSP most of the water can sheet or bead leaving basically the liquicaly to rub against the paint.



Let me take pictures this weekend. I have gone as far as using the PC to apply it and I find it very easy and user friendly.



Thanks for the comment.





Alex
 
To my eyes, the hood was not beading. I sprayed a crap load of water from a standard trigger sprayer, maybe that was not enough. But lets say I was doing a door on my car, how do you get water to stay on it to prevent damage from using the liquid clay? Do you think I would have better luck using some clay magic lube to keep the panel wet/prevent marring?





I used the damp micro fiber to remove in a left-right motion. the swirls were an up=down motion, so I dont think that be the cause.



Also, try it on a dark colored car, black perhaps :cool: ?



Hamilton
 
I have it and have tried in the past. I didn't notice anything special. I thought claying was better, but i will try it again. Same with the sealant.
 
Kenney said:
To my eyes, the hood was not beading. I sprayed a crap load of water from a standard trigger sprayer, maybe that was not enough. But lets say I was doing a door on my car, how do you get water to stay on it to prevent damage from using the liquid clay? Do you think I would have better luck using some clay magic lube to keep the panel wet/prevent marring?





I used the damp micro fiber to remove in a left-right motion. the swirls were an up=down motion, so I dont think that be the cause.



Also, try it on a dark colored car, black perhaps :cool: ?



Hamilton
Click to expand...



I don't think I have a good answer. You did everything right. Your comment about the door is correct, and you used a sprayer to avoid a high flow. :nixweiss
 
Yesterday, between rain showers, (sprinkles do not mess applying this stuff up, except for the drying stage )



I Washed the car with a dawn/Gold class mixture. I tried the Glare Liqui-Clay on a (POS) beater car, per instructions (except for the Wen Buffer )and it really worked well. There was not a lot of oxidation, but the clear is damaged. Also, there was some over-spray from a botched masking job while spraying the engine compartment.The liqui-Clay greatly minimized, but did not completely remove the baked on over-spray. The product completely removed deep water spots, also deep, set-in soil, especially on the top surfaces, and it made the paint shine even though the swirling and spider webbing ( it reduced the Apparent severity of the swirls, but to be fair, only PG or IP can really get rid of this problem) which are moderately severe when viewed up close.... I used the Wen Cordless Orbital Buffer with the Bogus Pad that came with the PC again (it is enough to do this job ) ....



I worked the Liqui-Clay until it was thick-ish before moving on, letting it dry on the paint. I removed the dried clay with a terry towel... Next time I will use a MF towel. There was quite a bit of residue as you might imagine with a clay-like substance drying out on paint ... I washed the surface off with plain water after the Liqui-clay removal , but didn't do anything else, so its just bare paint. I find this product to be very useful and the cleaning claims to be factual. :xyxthumbs This 1988 vehicle has many (Original Paint) defects and damage, yet the paint is looking relatively good..... I really need to polish the vehicle, :xyxthumbs



showimg.jpg
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but the Liqui-Clay cleaned it up very effectively, although it still has very visible swirls, it is a world better.....





Here are a couple more shots.....:xyxthumbs







showimg.jpg






The small white spots in the hood are defects with sharp edges, I didn't notice them until the car dried....





showimg.jpg








This pic shows the swirls more visibly, ( shot with direct sunlight reflecting to highlight the defects) still just cleaned paint, no polish at this point..... Note the window, the tint is bubbled and separating from sitting in the direct sun for most of 3 years.....;)





showimg.jpg








I am frankly very surprised at the performance of this product.....:xyxthumbs



Also, sorry about the slow images....:nixweiss
 
Well, I am back with the pictures. Click on them for a bigger image (VGA res at 640 x 480)



1) The team, PC and Glare liquiclay







2) Liquiclay applied over the PC pad. Yes, before you start asking that pad was bigger in size. A while ago PAC had a sale and I made the mistake of ordering a finishing pad.... for a rotary. The seller gladly accepted to change even though it was my mistake, but I realized the inconveniences so I just made it "smaller" by myself. Notice the amount used, which is in the low side for correct usage.







3) Water spray to the panel. Don't try to cover more than a small door with that amount of liquiclay.







4) Buff and work it a little. Mochamanz has a great suggestion "until it starts feeling thicker". See what happens if you apply too much water to the panel OR if you don't work long enough for the amount of water







5) Product drying nicely :)







Wait until it dries, then remove. Voila, clean surface.
 
As comment, it cleans great tough dirt, but salty's observation is correct: slickness wise a conventional clay bar feels slicker. The explanation is simple, with a conventional claybar you focus on the ares as much as you want. Neverthless, liquiclay leaves a nice slcik surface. Try to use the liquiclay os problem spots to see it at its potential.



Alex
 
It's a paint cleaner. Malco advertises it has clay in it's products, does it work like clay, no, it works like a polish. Just about any polish will remove surface contaminants but clay removes contaminats quicker and is a good to do between washing and waxing if you are not going to polish. For example, I can clay my car in 15 minutes, polishing takes me at least an hour, closer to 2.
 
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