Meguiar's clay kit question

[Jack93]

Hey everyone,

I bought the Smooth Surface clay kit a little over a month ago and finally got a mild enough day to experiment with it. I only used it in certain spots that felt the roughest. ( hood, roof, rear hatch and the rear bumper ) The hatch and flat surface of the rear bumper were for some reason, the roughest areas of the car. I feel a huge improvement and I see a big improvement in overall paint reflection clarity. But, still I can feel some grit on the paint. This was only an experiment so I plan on claying the entire car and hitting these areas again, with a fresh peice of clay of course.

My question is, is it designed for a car that most likely never was clayed before?( My car ) As in it's a pretty mild bar that's really only meant for annual maintenance claying? Or did it just remove so much grit the first time around that it needs a second claying with a fresh bar to pick up the remaining contaminents? When I was done with the half I used, before I tossed it out i noticed it was pretty soft, and lost some stickiness.

Overall it did a great job. I can't believe what it did on the hatch and bumper. And no marring or scratches in the paint. I did apply some UQW that I bought at walmart on clearance for $7 and that is some good stuff. Love the water sheating. I can't wait for it to rain so I can watch water sling off my windows and paint

[Murr1525]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

- It is a quite mild bar compared to some, but that is so it wont leave marring on soft paints. For a general consumer, leaving a rough spot is better than marring the paint, since they may not know how, or not want, to fix marring they caused.

- It is possible a second claying can get rid of the rest of the roughness, or applying a little more pressure over those areas. There are stronger clays made if that were needed, but as mentioned could leave some marring behind. Depending on what the roughness is, one of the tar/iron removing wash products could also help.

[JG_Detailing]

The clay bar is a great product. I use it before waxing. I usually cut it in half and use one piece on my car. Since I have a Cobalt it's small enough to just use half of the bar. But don't forget you can use the plastic bag technic too before claying. That will help you feel if you have any thing you want to get rid of from your paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

I cut it even smaller really.

And old pieces can still be ok for wheels.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

re-clay your whole car. including windows and mirrors.
You didn't clay enough or maybe use enough pressure. You shouldn't feel any contaminates on your paint once your done.
Also one bar will do 20 clay jobs or so. You don't need a new piece. Just fold and kneed into a clean bar. And use only half because if you drop it it's done, Don't ever use a bar that was dropped on the ground, ever.

[s word]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

re-clay your whole car. including windows and mirrors.
You didn't clay enough or maybe use enough pressure. You shouldn't feel any contaminates on your paint once your done.
Also one bar will do 20 clay jobs or so. You don't need a new piece. Just fold and kneed into a clean bar. And use only half because if you drop it it's done, Don't ever use a bar that was dropped on the ground, ever.

Agreed. Also alternate the motion to pick up other items. so if you are only doing a back and forth motion add an up down motion to the same area. Don't dig into any spot too hard, and lastly try to place the clay under the palm area to prevent any marring from finger tip pressure on the clay plus it allows you to have a firm pressure on the clay. good luck

[Jack93]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

Thanks everyone for the tips! I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do to use much pressure when claying. I did alternate motions though. Front to back, up down, side to side, all of it. I felt like I was working the same sections for quite a long time though thats the thing.

Overall this was just an experiment and to get some practice and get familiar with using a clay bar so I will hopefully be even better when I go to do a full detail later on in Spring. Which I'll be using UP after claying and waxing after UP.

[Guiser]

Re: Meguiar's clay kit question

... and lastly try to place the clay under the palm area to prevent any marring from finger tip pressure on the clay ...

It's also much harder to drop the clay this way. I like to clay with a forward and backwards motion so when the clay sticks it usually ends up under the fingers or wrist.