Clay Bar vs Buffing

[getchasum]

What kind of results can be achieved with a clay bar? I’ve got some serious water spots I know will buff out, just don’t want to have the hassle of the compound clean up. I’m looking for a little feedback on the ease, results and outcome from a clay bar.
I’ve tried a cleaner wax, no luck, just not ready to break out the buffer.

 

[crownvic96]

a clay bar is easy as heck to use. but what a claybar is for is after you do a good thorough hand washing of the car and dry it, the claybar removes all contaminants on the paint. then you compound/glaze/polish whatever steps you need to remove any swirl marks from the paint. then hand wax it. it will look like a million bucks.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150011&highlight=meguiars

 

[Gary Wells]

FWIW & IMHO:
www.autopia.org

 

[getchasum]

Thanks Guys....

I did get a chance to try it on the hood and I believe my car benefited from the use of the clay bar, cause the paint fills much slicker. BUT bottom line it’s not going to remove water marks that’s had a chance to etch the paint. So it looks like the plan will be to completely clay bar the car followed up by a light cut buff, polish and wax.

 

[84GNGary]

I've never heard of or seen a clay bar before. What do you do , rub it on the paint like an eraser?

 

[Gary Wells]

Originally posted by 84GNGary
I've never heard of or seen a clay bar before. What do you do , rub it on the paint like an eraser?

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Wells FWIW & IMHO:
www.autopia.org

 

[Drop Top]

The clay bar is a fad that isn't going over very good. Yes its still availabul but for my money your better off washing your car and buffing it to get rid of the imperfections. I have seen the clay bar pick up dirt and scratch the paint if not used corectly. If the car is washed corectly the clay bar will not pick up anything at all. It will leave a bit of clay behind and that is what you are feeling.

A trick to keeping out the compounds from your jams and off your glass. Tape over the jam areas and tape off the windows or other large areas (grill) with paper. Then when your done take all the tape and paper off wipe down with a quick hand job and your good to go.

 

[Gary Wells]

Originally posted by Drop Top
The clay bar is a fad that isn't going over very good. Yes its still availabul but for my money your better off washing your car and buffing it to get rid of the imperfections. I have seen the clay bar pick up dirt and scratch the paint if not used corectly. If the car is washed corectly the clay bar will not pick up anything at all. It will leave a bit of clay behind and that is what you are feeling.

A trick to keeping out the compounds from your jams and off your glass. Tape over the jam areas and tape off the windows or other large areas (grill) with paper. Then when your done take all the tape and paper off wipe down with a quick hand job and your good to go.

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FWIW & IMHO:
Drop Top: I realize that you have a lot of paint & body shop experience, and I have none, zip, nada, zilch, & so forth but I somewhat disagree with a few aspects of your statement.
I don't think that clay baring is a fad, even though a lot of people are not familiar with it. It has been around for a while. I would venture to guess that paint and body shops are not "into it" as they are generally doing brand new paint jobs. Granted, clay baring will do nothing for a brand new paint job. Clay baring's basic function is to remove the enviormental minature black/brown dots that are so small that a lot of the time they can only be felt, but not be seen. Detail shops are probably the biggest users and believers of clay bar process. Clay bar, used as directed/properly will not scratch the surface. One surface of the clay bar does not last forever. It is primarily for prep prior to buffing/polishing, and I agree that it is not a replacement for buffing/polishing. All of the detail sites/detail shops believe in it. I had my car done this last weekend by my local car wash, and it made a remarkable difference, but it was directly after a wash, and prior to polishing/buffing, and waxing. I am a firm believer in it on any car that has seen even limited degrees of the enviorment. I consider it a very worthwhile part of a process. No flaming intended. This was on my 3 year old vette, and I really don't know if I would trust them with my turbo Buick. It gets hand glazed by me after a through mahine polish/buff by someone that knows how to do polish/buff. I wished that we lived closer, as I would very much like to check out your buffing/polishing technique/process for removing spiderwebbing.

 

[Drop Top]

I'll stick to my guns here. I do know what a clay bar is and have used them in the past on cars with what I would say was older paint jobs. That is why I posted. I also know a local detailer here that does nothing but high dollar cars. His starting price is $500 just to detail a car no buffing included. He and I both used it when they first came out and sence. I used it as per instructions. After washing the car and before buffing it. I used the clay bar and got nothing off the paint, the bar did not bring up any dirt particals at all. It did leave it felling a bit more slick but not more then what a good buffing job dose. The detailer that I know had the same results that I did. Maybe we wash a car better then most detail shops in your area. I don't know. I have seen it work on a car that I would say was not washed good enough first. If you don't know how to wash a car right the first time it will do as they advertize. Me, I prefer to wash it right the first time, much easier that way. Less time consuming also. To each his own.

 

[Drop Top]

As far as spider webbing goes. I supose you mean the fine scratches that is in your black paint. When you hand glaze are you using a microfiber cloth? This will help in prventing them.

To remove them the best way I know is with a black foam pad on a buffer and using 3Ms machine glaze. Machine glaze is a very fine compound but will leave very fine swerl marks. A black foam pad is the softest pad you can buy. 3M also makes a new swerl mark remover. It can be used by hand but is more effectof with a buffer and a black foam pad. Do not use the same foam pad that you used with the other compound without washing it out first. I like to use the air buffer that Harbor Freight sells with the foam pads. The air buffer will turn faster then a normal buffer and the heat it creates will give it that really deep down gloss. Then fallow up with 3Ms new final glaze and a microfiber cloth.

After you have done this you can seal it or wax it with what ever you would like. I havent tried Zainos or any other sealers so I can't recomend them. If I can't buy it locally I won't buy it. Too much hassels buying over the internet. I don't like giving my information out to others. I keep more of my money in my pocket this way. This will work on all colors of paint. It happens to all colors it just shows up more on darker colors. You can't get any darker then black can you. Anyway good luck and feel free to ask me more questions if you would like. I don't know everything but I have been doing this a very long time. If someone knows more then me, I don't mind being corrected eather. My openions are based on my experances.