clay or not to clay

1animal1

1animal1

The Clar!! it mouves!!!
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considering buying my first lot of clay however..... one, once i have used tar remover around the car, is it worth using clay aswel? two.... which clay...what will i get by spending £25 at the side of spending 11.95.....
 
I brought the kit from halfords, everything you need and i couldn't believe the crap that cameout the paintwork.
 
100% recomend claying, as said u wont believe the crap that comes of the paint!!! u might aswell start with the likes of the megs clay from halfords
 
thanks for your replies..... i dont like buying stuff thats gonna do half the job then find myself having to buy the expensive stuff later on..... from what you have all said i guess theres not that much difference between the cheapies and the expensive stuff
 
1animal1 said:
thanks for your replies..... i dont like buying stuff thats gonna do half the job then find myself having to buy the expensive stuff later on..... from what you have all said i guess theres not that much difference between the cheapies and the expensive stuff
Click to expand...

Go for the Meguiars kit, about £12 and a good place to start! Just be wary if you are claying, that you have no grit in your clay. Keep the surface well lubed, and regualry check the clay!

The Quik Detailer that comes with is also good for after you have cleaned your car in the future, and you cant be ***** waxing lol!
 
righty.... as im wanting to do this while the suns out im off to Halfords to grab a set...... might get rid of the tar seperately before claying using white spirit (as per my other thread)...... then wax using the rest of my Mer....... just been having a read, defo gonna get a Jeffs Acrylic kit ordered, the results from this look the mutts:eek:)
 
animal. Some sucky eggs (being easter and all!) tips!!

- Cut the clay bar in half before you start - if you drop it you've got to bin it!! Cutting in half means you've got a spare one!!

- make sure you keep the area you are claying well lubed - you may find you go through nearly a full bottle of the Quick Detailer!!

- Always clay in a straight line

- If the clay feels a bit hard/stiff then leave it in a cup of hand hot water for 5 mins

- keep turning the clay to find a clean side

- if you use the white spirit to de-tar make sure you give the area a quick wash down as the white spirit can attack the clay

-
 
What benefit does clay give, over the likes of Meguires crystal paint cleaner (a liquid)?
FTR,I use the megs' paint cleaner, then megs' polish, then Collinite wax.
 
audi upgrades
monkey, your a life saver mate..... one final question before i go, do i go for the starter kit or smooth surface kit...from what i can see, it doesnt really warrrant almost double for a microfine cloth and a bit more clay....
 
just depends whether ur in need of a cloth i suppose bud, i had to buy the starter kit last time as they had no separate lube. i think u also get a small container of tech wax in there aswell but to be honest just go for the clay and the lube as theres much better waxes out there and cheaper clothes!
 
cheers Chris.... ive ended up going to a seperate motor spares as halfords only stock the smooth surface kit.... thought the same, essentially all your paying for is the cloth as both kits have 100g of clay and detailer.......... ended up getting some Autosol for the exhaust and ally mirrors (i assume this is ok?) and some armorall tyre foam as had extremely good results with this in the past
 
yep autosol is great, never used the armourall before but if ur happy with it then its all good.
 
yup the Autosol is good stuff, except you have to have a clean surface 'virtually' to start with, its not fetching my exhaust pipes up:eek:(, should have got some chrome cleaner instead grrrr
 
grrr... Meq's Clay Bar is sold out all over South Africa, no one has stock :( And no one wants to ship it here because you cant get it without the quick detailer ...

Clay is a good thing, and after polishing do the ultimate quick detailer too. Car should look pretty.
 
sorry I missed your reply earlier - went off line!

Didn't realise that Halfrauds had stopped doing the Quick Detail Kit

How'd you get on with the claying?

I've replied to yur exhaust question on your other thread too!

CM
 
once id bought the clay, i decided to make a start on the exhaust before washing..... then it rained lol..... will be trying again today..... the snow has just stopped and clear sunny skies are as far as the eye can see :eek:D
 
check out my polisher post lol. in short i have cleaned the ****** thing, although one side requires a respray due to vandals..... there are a few minor scratches that im going to post up when i get a nice day to take them......
 
bowfer said:
What benefit does clay give, over the likes of Meguires crystal paint cleaner (a liquid)?
FTR,I use the megs' paint cleaner, then megs' polish, then Collinite wax.
Click to expand...

Clay is capable of removing strongly bonded particulates like metal filings and paint overspray, whereas liquid paint cleaners are not. However, clay does not remove oxidised paint whereas chemical cleaners will, so both have their pros and cons. In fairness, the Megs product is more of a liquid polish. :)
 
WX51TXR said:
Clay is capable of removing strongly bonded particulates like metal filings and paint overspray, whereas liquid paint cleaners are not. However, clay does not remove oxidised paint whereas chemical cleaners will, so both have their pros and cons. In fairness, the Megs product is more of a liquid polish. :)
Click to expand...

one last thing on this before the post disappears into the midst...... im going to be doing the misus yellow mini in the coming weeks.... i have done half of the boot which feels sooo much better....i have waxed with Mer (2 coats) to show her the difference...however... aside from the feel..... visibly you cant really tell the difference..... think the dealer waxed over the crap few weeks ago so this may be why.....

Any suggestions on what will give it the wow factor.... or is it a no go'er due to the colour.... im not going to bother if she cant tell, which currently, she cant
 
Thoroughly recommend claying to anyone who hasn't done it before that is sure.
I did mine which was well maintained paintwork, the crap that came out was unbelievable.

Even better, my friend who has just got his Skyline came over and I ran my hand across the paintwork and it was like sandpaper, and he had just spent all afternoon cleaning it up. I put the remainder of my claybar over it and the entire thing was embedded with metal filings. We can only guess that someone was using a grinder next to the car at some point in its life as it was all over it, including embedded in the windscreen too.

Its a great product but just remember to wax etc afterwards.
 
1animal1 said:
one last thing on this before the post disappears into the midst...... im going to be doing the misus yellow mini in the coming weeks.... i have done half of the boot which feels sooo much better....i have waxed with Mer (2 coats) to show her the difference...however... aside from the feel..... visibly you cant really tell the difference..... think the dealer waxed over the crap few weeks ago so this may be why.....

Any suggestions on what will give it the wow factor.... or is it a no go'er due to the colour.... im not going to bother if she cant tell, which currently, she cant
Click to expand...

On solid yellow carnauba based products work really well; my own choice would be the Jeffs Werkstatt Carnauba Kit for a rich wet look with lots of warmth and depth, and this should yield a noticeably better finish. :yes:
 
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