question about detailing my car
 

Just bought some clay bars and wax, i have never done it before, whats the procedure? do i wax first then clay?or the other way around, and is there any tricks to claying and waxing the car? any seggestions?

RTFM

Clay first, then wax. When claying make sure to have lots of clay lube (whatever they recommend, or ONR cut 1:16) to avoid hurting your paint.

sorry what does rtfm mean?

thanx, and also how can i tell when the clay is not usable any more? and do i clay the whole car then wipe it off or one section at a time.
thanx

if it helps, he is referring to a lube like mothers quick detailer spray as a lube for when you clay

When you clay bar, cut the clay bar into little pieces for you to use. Store the rest in a ziploc bag with some quick detailer spray in there.

Basically when you finish one panel fold the clay over and knead it. I usually clay whole car (one panel at a time, obviously) and then rinse the car to remove the lube residue.

When you can't get the bit of clay to show a clean surface anymore, throw it away.

Working in a small section ( 2'x2' )at a time, wet the surface with the clay lube and lightly rub, don't scrub, the clay bar back and forth across the paint. When the area you are working is smooth meaning you can't feel anything on the paint, you are ready to move on to the next area. As roatpuff said, keep folding the clay over onto itself so every new area gets a clean piece of clay. You can use whatever clay lube comes with yur bar or you can use something like ONR or a quick detailer. In my experience, nothing is slicker or stays wetter longer than Automagic Bodyshine #49.

It is very important to not use the clay bar as a scrubbing mechanism. You should give each area a quick once over with minimal/light pressure. The clay bar is designed to get stuck on gunk like rubber, asphault and other crap off, however it is strong enough to strip your paint right off. It is very easy to etch your paint and remove your clear coat with these, so never make more than one pass with the bar, and never scrub. I used to detail for a living and the claybar process for one car takes me roughly 2 minutes for the whole car. Use lots of lube, even hot soapy water works well. A dirty claybar is still usefull,it is when you can start to feel small pebble like pieces of gunk and crap in the bar that you need a new one. If you take care of a clay bar it should last you a long time.

READ THE FFFFffffffine MANUAL

noob.

Um a clay bar won't remove your clear coat. At most using more aggressive clay will mar. Two minutes to do a whole car seems awfully fast. Claying is pretty safe so need to act like its going to kill your car if you do an extra pass.

ok thanx for all the feedbacks im going to try it soon

Exactly!

Claybar + Water Hose on a light mist setting (or some proper lube if you like to do a proper job), with light/medium pressure = Pure Smooth Awesomeness.


Claybar + not being trained how to use one properly = Shite Job

2 minutes to do a whole car? Wow lol lucky people who got that treatment back in your detailing days
Posted via RS Mobile

so meguiar's clay bar, you wouldn't recommend using water and soap with it right?

no. use it with a QD...a few bucks saves you hundreds in polishing.:D