Clay bar
 

I'm going to attempt to clay the car for the first time next week and I wanted some recommendations from you guys as to what clay bar is best for a beginner to use.

Matt

I used Meguiars clay bar kit for my first time. Very easy to use.

Make sure you use plenty of loob tho :norty:

As above for your "first time" make sure you "loob up" :P :whistle:

And as Sam says The Megs kit is a good starting point :) its a soft enough clay to not cause too many problems.

dont use the G3 stuff, made my paint go dull, took me ages to buff back up,
Meguiars quick detailer is great

I do use there quick detailer regularly after washing the car and it's great stuff. Is 1 spray bottle enough to use as lube to do the whole car.

It'll be plenty as you only mist it on part panel at a time. Not too mcu or it'll be running down the panels.

I usually give it a light buff once clayed to remove the quick detailer, don't worry too much about lifting all the detailer off, then go over it again with a light cut polish/cleanse wax.
This takes off any excess quick detailer and gives a good base for a final wax/seal.

Another vote for Meguires, its easy to use and wont get you into trouble.

Use plenty of detailer to keep the clay bar moving smoothly over the paint. Don't press to hard and start at the top of the car and work your way down (i.e avoid dong the lower half of the car until last as this is where it will collect most of the dirt)

Steve

Thanks for all the great advice guys, I heard some people say that it's a good idea to put the clay in some warm water before you start. Is this a must do or just a personnel preference?

You can normally get it warm and maleable enough in your hand pretty easily.

I've used the T-Cut bar with good success, but also the Meg one as noted above. Thought I'd mention it as a credible alternative, just in case.

Some useful info here. Thanks from me too :)

Is this the one?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meguiars-Qui...%27s+quik+clay

Some useful info here. Thanks from me too :)

Yeah! that's the one.

Where the warm water is handy is to rinse it off during the claying.

Ok cool, thanks Steve.

No, warm! :razz:

:10::10: :doubleup:

Ordered this and it arrived a soggy mess! The spray had obviously leaked. Most of it remains, but it could have been packaged better. Noted others had left 'soggy' reviews on Amazon.

The bar should be seal wrapped so no moisture can get to it?. I'd send it back.

Make sure you get some before and after pictures.. :)

The bar was seal wrapped and I took pics ;) Looks to be just the packaging and paper/cardboard that suffered.... I'm sure it won't affect it's performance, it's just careless packaging!

So when you planing on testing it out mate?

Anyone used the headlight restoration kit?

Get some wet n dry 2000-3000 then get a buffer/D.A on it!

May have a go this weekend if it's not too cold & wet ;)

Don't forget the before and after pictures mate. :ok:

OK, had a quick clean in the cold ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...k/RoofBef1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...k/RoofAft1.jpg

Before and after shots from 2 angles (only clayed the drivers side & quick polish of whole roof)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...k/RoofBef2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...k/RoofAft2.jpg

and this is how the clay ended up

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ageek/Clay.jpg

To me, and I'm no expert at this, the roof looks quite dull and blemished especially when compared to the rest of the car. However, the front panels are much newer. I'm not sure if you can see much difference from the photos, but at least it's a start. I'll try again when it's warmer ;)

Looks so much better

Yes looks much smoother paint finish mate.

Looks good:doubleup:
Did you fold the clay as you where going (every so often?)

I only did driver's side of the roof, so did half of that on one side and flipped over for the other half.

It was a tad cold to fold :lol: