1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

[prr]

I just applied the clay bar from the car cleaner kit onto my Civic. I was stunned (after washing it with GC wash) at how much brown ooze was coming off onto the clay bar, and even more, was still on the car itself. I even had to use two towels to dry it off, as I just couldn't stomach the idea of a towel with gunk on it being applied to the paint. Of course I would rub it on, then rub the back side of the clay, and then remold it.

My question is--how many times can I clay a car with the same bar? Each time I would remold it, remarkably enough the bar looked pretty darn clean. But I know that lots of little grime gremlins are hiding in this bar somewhere, and I don't want to place them back onto the paint.

So how many times? I'd love to save money and keep using it, but not at the expense of my paint.

[imz4n]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

The clay can be used for several cars. The big thing here is if you ever drop it or leave it out where sand or rocks or anything gets in the clay, throw it away. The clay will tell you when it is time to replace, the clay will get sticky and stick to the car or your hands and become unusable.

[Murr1525]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Yeah. claying is surprising if never done before.

It is generally best/easiest to just use one side of the clay, then fold it over on itself so that side goes into the middle.

Slowly the bar will turn dark gray over time, and you may see little bits coming back to the surface. That is a good time to stop.

It is possible that 1 car could use up an entire clay kit, though not usually. But even if it does, the future clayings wont. Unless you really get splashed by something bad I guess. But yeah, one clay kit could last me a couple years, just buying more QD spray.

[prr]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

OK, well this morning sold me on claying. That and seeing this post in another older thread: http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...l=1#post224409

Couldn't believe that that clay was from going over a new paint job, 30 days old. Now I don't feel so bad. My clay was brown, not black.

[Detailing by M]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

That's my motto
check out the speedy prep towle and the Nano Auto Scuber
You think clay is amazing, then the Auto Scruber will blow your mind!

[STRIFE]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

^ i have the speedy prep towels (both grades) and been eyeing the autoscrub DA pads available at AG....big question for me has been....do I really need to use a DA to "clay" The speedy prep towels make "claying" such a simple easy task....I mean "normal" claying is fairly easy as well

[Murr1525]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Yeah, will take some effort to convince me on DA claying, at least on a car that is in good shape already.

[GoZoner]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

... I would rub it on, then rub the back side of the clay, and then remold it.

Wait. Are you rubbing the clay bar on one side, turning it over, rubbing it on the back side, and then remolding it? If so, that is a BIG (BIG) no-no. The back side of the clay bar should never touch anything but your fingers. To remold it, just fold it over with the dirty side on the inside - that way the old back side, which is clean, is now ready to touch the paint.

[prr]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Wait. Are you rubbing the clay bar on one side, turning it over, rubbing it on the back side, and then remolding it? If so, that is a BIG (BIG) no-no. The back side of the clay bar should never touch anything but your fingers. To remold it, just fold it over with the dirty side on the inside - that way the old back side, which is clean, is now ready to touch the paint.

Yes, I rub the clay bar on one side, then turn it over, and rub it on the back side.

OK, if it is better to do it the other way (rub it on one side, then fold it over before rubbing it onto the car again), I can do that, but why? Why isn't it a good idea to use both new/clean sides, before remolding it?

[Murr1525]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Just using one side then folding in on itself seems to help keep the clay you are using clean as long as possible.

[prr]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Just using one side then folding in on itself keeps the dirt moving to the middle as long as possible.

As opposed to keeping the dirt on the outside edge, where my hands touch it, before I remold the entire thing. Makes sense to me.

Alright.

[GoZoner]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

After you remold it when both sides are dirty, something dirty will touch the paint. If you just fold it (making sure nothing dirty remains visible), then nothing dirty ever touches the paint.

[davey g-force]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

Wait. Are you rubbing the clay bar on one side, turning it over, rubbing it on the back side, and then remolding it? If so, that is a BIG (BIG) no-no. The back side of the clay bar should never touch anything but your fingers. To remold it, just fold it over with the dirty side on the inside - that way the old back side, which is clean, is now ready to touch the paint.

Just using one side then folding in on itself seems to help keep the clay you are using clean as long as possible.

That's the first I've heard of that and it doesn't make sense to me. I mean, you're still pulling the same amount of dirt off the paint and into your clay bar either way. After you remould it a couple of times, I can't see how it would matter.

After you remold it when both sides are dirty, something dirty will touch the paint. If you just fold it (making sure nothing dirty remains visible), then nothing dirty ever touches the paint.

That may be true for the first time (or first couple of times) you remould, but after that, surely it wouldn't matter. It's not practically possible to keep remoulding & exposing a 100% unused clay surface.

That's the way I see it anyway. Mind you, I always just use one side and remould but I can't see why it would matter either way. Perhaps Mike Stoops can chime in with his view?

[RPPM]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

I'm in agreement with davey g-force. I can't see how it would make any difference.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1 clay bar for 1 car, one time?

The rules of claying that should NEVER be ignored are:

1) if you drop the clay on the floor, throw it away immediately
2) knead the clay regularly to expose fresh material
3) when you can no longer expose fresh material, it's time to retire that clay bar
4) keep the surface well lubricated with a proper clay lube
5) don't use heavy pressure when claying; let the clay bar do the work

Beyond that, whether you want to flatten that clay bar and then use both sides before kneading or you want to knead after one side is "loaded", that's entirely up to your discretion. It's as much a judgement call as deciding what "loaded" really means, or when the clay bar is completely used up. We know people who won't use a clay bar on two different cars, and we've seen people using clay that was so far beyond it's time it was appalling. But there's a huge gap in the middle of those extremes, and that's where your own judgement comes into play.

If you know that a particular car has extremely delicate paint and claying is going to mar it no matter what you do (a certain non metallic black 2011 Prius that is a regular at out TNOG sessions comes to mind) then you might want to start with as fresh a piece of clay as you can find - preferable still wrapped in the factory plastic wrapper! If the car is very badly contaminated and you fully intend to machine polish anyway, then a lightly used clay bar isn't going to cause any problems. And even those two scenarios are open to interpretation and discretionary judgement, aren't they?

For the record, speaking strictly from personal experience (in case anyone is wondering) I usually flip the clay bar before kneading it and I've never damaged the paint in doing so. That's not to say GoZoner is wrong, not even close. If that's how he likes to work, that's fine. It's a cautious approach, and we'll never tell anyone that being cautious is a bad thing. We will, however, step in and tell someone if they're doing something dangerous, or if they're being downright sloppy, inefficient, wasting time, wasting product, or mismatching product with process, etc.