Claybar, Claybar, how do I love thee

[Robin-535im]

Let me count the ways...

Bug guts
Tar
Fly Poop
Sap
Overspray
Paint chips... well not quite, but some of the little nits I sure thought were paint chips came off with the clay bar.

For those of you left who have not been turned on to the wonderful fabulousnessitude of a claybar... allow me to recommend you high-tail it to the nearest parts store and get one.

I spent the last four hours washing, clay-bar-ing, washing, waxing, waxing, finishing-spray-ing my wife's Suburban. Man that thing has a lot of surface area. Shoulders and wrists still hurt after 2 beers.

Clay bar works like magic, after you use it the paint is so smooth it feels like it's been waxed already. Wax then goes on easy from the first coat.

I use Zaino products which IMHO are really great... but I'm by no means an expert. Heck, until I got the BMW I thought you were supposed to use dish soap each time you washed the car. Now I'm all fancy with the multiple wash mitts and microfiber drying/detailing rags and the high-falutin' name brand wax...

[Robin-535im]

Hey - that was my gigapost... 1064...

Megapost? Kilopost?

[Paul in NZ]

kilo,must try a bar myself.....like you until the bimmer i never thought much about polishes etc.....i never knew there was such a choice,i used to wash with a car brush,polish n wax a few years apart.....

[repenttokyo]

i think kilopost is 1024, actually.

[Robin-535im]

i think kilopost is 1024, actually.

Yes - upon reflection I agree... and to think I missed it!

[rreimund]

Huh uh uh.. You said reflection.. :-D

Mine after claybar and Zaino session:

[NielsGalan]

I'm curious as to what the clay bar can do.

Can someone post some before/after pics?

And how about a link to some info on the product? I found something called Clay Magic, but i don't know if it's the real thing.

Is this product avaliable in Europe?

[Robin-535im]

I'm curious as to what the clay bar can do.

Can someone post some before/after pics?

Might not be able to see it in pictures, more of a feel.

Even after using dish soap and a wash mit there were dozens of little dots of fly poop, tar, etc, some of which didn't even come off with a fingernail. The clay bar is like an eraser, just lifts it right off. First pass or two is kind of tacky, then you feel it when all the grit is gone as the bar moves smooth after that. Clay bar alone can make the paint feel smooth and clean like it's been waxed.

[rreimund]

I've got pictures from before and after I did the claybar, but they aren't up close detail pictures that really clearly show the results.
This is the best I could do on short notice:

Here's a before picture:

You'll notice the reflection of the house is a bit cloudy - and also notice the top of the front bumper - there's nothing reflected there. Contrast that with the picture I posted above - You see the reflection is much clearer - and you can even see the grill reflected in the finish on the top of the front bumper.

The basic role of the claybar is to remove any foreign matter from the paint surface. Many times it's embedded there and you don't even know all of that crap is there. If you take a thin sandwich bag and put your hand in it like a glove and run your fingers over the un-clayed paint you can feel all kinds of imperfections in the surface of the paint, etc. When you put a wax or polish over that, the resultant finish follows the contours of all of that stuff. So your finish isn't as shiny as it could be.
If you feel the same panel after it has been clay-bar'd and you won't feel anything. For the most part you'll feel a super clean, slick surface. Then when you polish over that, the results are nothing short of amazing.

Here's a different after:

[swenpro]

Might not be able to see it in pictures, more of a feel.

Exactly... try the plastic bag test: place plastic bag on hand and glide fingers over wet car surface. Claybar the car, and repeat. Notice a difference now??