How to 'clay' your car

this is something i've often wondered about and have often been tempted to do it to various cars but it always seems to end up in the 'too hard' basket. apparently if you run your hand over your paint and feel anything other than perfectly smooth paint, then claying will be helpful.

is there some experts who can give a bit of a 'how to' and also, what is needed afterward. i've heard a decent paint sealant or protectant is then required after.

also, are some 'claying' products better than others? can it be stuffed up if you aren't sure what you are doing?

being a simple person:) hopefully one of our talented members can break it down into nice simple terms!!:D

thanks
Rob

Gday,

Claying is the best thing you can do to your car before any type of polishing or waxing.

Best thing to do is get a plastic bag put your hand inside and feel your paint work through the bag.. its quite scary actually. You think you've cleaned your car but there is still so much dirt, pollution, tar and what ever else is in the air gets stuck to your paint.

There are all different types of clay bars.. as in different 'grades' some are courser than others. I mean a bit more aggressive. I started of using the Meguires Clay kit. It comes with a clay bar and their lube. Its quite simple really. Look it up on youtube to get an idea of the technique.

Just after claying my car it was like as I had just polished and waxed it the water beading was amazing.

So you would clay your car then use a polish (which actually cleans the paint and gets it ready for the wax) then wax and then a sealant to lock all that hard work in.

I use Duragloss for my polish\wax and sealant. I also use there car wash and their deatail spray for after washing. I haven't waxed the car for maybe 4 months now and the water still just beads off.

These guys are brilliant. Good prices and good advice. Just have to email them.

http://www.carcareproducts.com.au/

If a vehicle has not been clayed before or it's been a while it is reconmended to do so espicaly if the vehicle has been kept outside a lot, aslong as you keep the clay wet and the panel wet and knead it over itself time again, you will be right, but never do it in the sun and on a hot surface, allway's keep it wet and rinse down afterwards.

as much as i like cars, being a family man (wife, 2 daughters) i just don't get large chunks of time to dedicate to cleaning the car anymore. might sound strange from a so called 'enthusiast', but family comes first.

obviously each step on its own would involve at least a couple of hours, unless the actual claying part doesn't take that long. polishing and waxing and sealing sounds like a fairly full days work, not to mention tiring. i guess if i don't drive it, i can spread the process out over a couple of days (when i'm on nights i can use the wife's car). i'm off on a 4 week trip to bris and gold coast next month so won't do anything about it before then.

are all the products i need readily available from repco? i know i've seen megs claying stuff there, and polish/wax fairly straight forward but what is used for sealant? are there some products that can polish and wax? i know i have a megs product that i think says its a polishing wax. is it possible to kill 2 birds with one stone?

sorry for all the questions:confused:

my fg was bought 2nd hand from a dealer and it looks fantastic when nice and clean but if you look up close, it looks like it has been cleaned with a scourer at some point. it also has a couple of other strange marks, similar to what you'd get if a ball bounced into your car, but they are under the clear. i'm not massively into detailing but thought it might be something i could do every now and then.

thanks guys.

Hey prydey,

I'm in the same boat as you mate. I have a 2 and 3 year old and a 4 day old. I let the wife know a week before I'm going to spend most of the Saturday or Sunday on the car too do the above I mentioned.

The first time will take all day but once you have done it you dont need to do it again for 4-6 months. After you've clayed, polished,waxed and sealed the car. The next time you wash it all you do is wash, dry and then spray on detailer spray and thats it 1hr to 1.hrs max.

Goto the website I suggested http://www.carcareproducts.com.au/pr...h_and_maintain on the right I have selected everything you need apart from the megs clay kit and a couple of miro fiber clothes which you can get from supercheap, autobarn etc...

It'll cost a bit to begin with but reason with the wife " See all those dark coloured cars with the paint peeling off. Well ours wont look like that if I polish the car once every 4-6 months"

Good Luck

Well this thread is deceptive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Airmon

Well this thread is deceptive.

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"How to "Clay" your car".

First thing that came to mind was respray it Ice-mint and whack G6 oops I meant Fairmont badges on.

Yep family comes first thats a given, 3kids,own business, business travel and everything in between re house/garden maintenance,school commitments,sporting activities come on its Time Management LOL.......
My detailing is done after dinner Friday night, once everyone is fed,cleaned and the wife happy to sit back watching tv I get down to the man cave from 8.30ish pm.
Put radio on,grab beer and get to it, surface back upstairs around midnight or 1am get up 6.30am on the go its another day in paradise hehe

Yeah when you have a family and a buisness its hard to find time to do a lot of claying polishing etc
Between Christmas and New Year, Tim and I spend the day in my workshop detailing our wheelbarrows
It is definitely more fun when there are two of you working in the same space, takes away the boredom