Clay bar literally fell apart

[Wired 24/7]

The clay bar was about 10 months old. It had only been used once before (therefore pretty clean). It had been stored in a fairly airtight container, and worked pretty well for the first half of the car, but eventually kneading the clay just made it fall apart.

Instead of firm, it started to feel very soft.

Is this normal shelf life of clay bar?

P.S. I was using diluted carwash solution as lube, not QD. (Never had this problem before)


Luckily I had another unopened clay bar to finish the job!

[jfelbab]

I've observed this when using car wash instead of a QD for lube. This has happened to me using both Meg's s clay and others.

[TrufflePig]

how do you store it. do you spray it with QD before putting it in the container.

[squimper]

It has never happened to me, but I have occasionally heard of this happening to people when using soap instead of a QD.

[gb387]

Originally posted by jfelbab
I've observed this when using car wash instead of a QD for lube. This has happened to me using both Meg's s clay and others.

Same here... use a QD'er.

[Nolan_k]

Originally posted by gb387
Same here... use a QD'er.

Same thing here, QD is all I use now.

[TrufflePig]

can you use water instead of QD'er or soap?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Clay bar literally fell apart

Originally posted by Wired 24/7
The clay bar was about 10 months old. It had only been used once before (therefore pretty clean). It had been stored in a fairly airtight container, and worked pretty well for the first half of the car, but eventually kneading the clay just made it fall apart.

Which clay bar was this that fell apart?

Our Consumer clay or our Professional clay?

Also, describe the clay and the packaging it came in.

Thanks!

[kpagel]

The clay always fell apart when I used car soap in a bottle. I never have the problem now using QD. From what I've seen, something in the soap doesn't mix well with clay.

[Mike Phillips]

The reason I asked for a description of the clay and the packaging is that we have introduced new clays and it could be you have some of our older clay?

Regardless, call Customer Care and site this thread and they'll take care of you.

1-800-347-5700

[ianrayburn]

clay bar falling apart

Put it in a baggie, spray it with three quirts of QD & put the whole thing in a sealed container. Guaranteed

[ianrayburn]

clay bar

Sorry, "SENIOR MOMENT," meant, "squirts."

[GTBrad]

NOTE TO SELF: I need to do this to my Smooth Surface kit when I get home

[The Doctor detailer]

So it´s ok to use car wash solution as a lube for the clay consumer or professional when I ran out of quick detailer?

[Wired 24/7]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Which clay bar was this that fell apart?

Our Consumer clay or our Professional clay?

Also, describe the clay and the packaging it came in.

Thanks!

The clay bar I used is Zaino Z-18.

Here is the packaging. Two clay bars come in a little plastic tub. I opened one package about 10 months ago and used it, with dilute carwash solution, with no problems.

Then to finish the job I had to open the other package.



I used it as per the instructions:

To use Z-18 ClayBar™, you spray a water-based lubricant on a small area of your car and rub the bar back and forth with light to medium pressure. If the lubricant begins to dry, you'll need to spray more. Z-18 is fairly sticky, and cannot be used dry. If you try using it dry, you'll make a big mess. We suggest mixing one cap full of Z-7 Show Car Wash with water in a 16 ounce spray bottle. Z-6 also works as a lubricant for Z-18 ClayBar, but Z-7 Show Car Wash is much more cost effective.

The reason I like using carwash instead of the QD is because QD is a pain in the butt to wipe off after you clay each small section. Using carwash, I can do a pretty large section at once and then rinse the whole car down. Plus, it is cheaper to use carwash instead of QD as they mentioned.