Use of Clay Bars (LAC)

[Eric Maxon]

Hello Festively,

Thursday, October 11, 2001, 4:11:48 PM, you wrote:

FJ> Hey Eric. nice post on clay bars. NOW... what exactly are they?  i have
FJ> an idea.  i baught some of that worthless scratch remover and it  came
FJ> with different colored clay ( i think ) sticks.  you are supposed to rub
FJ> it into deep scratches. am i think of the right thing?  LoL, thanks :)

Well, they lie somewhere in the nomans land between poster putty and
silly putty-- having nothing at all to do with clay (Aluminum Oxide.)
Laugh if you like, but in the interest of saving some money, I
actually tried poster putty, real and knock-off silly putty to no
avail.  A claybar made for your car's finish is not abrasive-- it is
*sticky*.
It's just some kind of synthetic, semi-cured plastic/rubber crap that
has just the right mix of adhesive properties to ***lift*** crap off
of your paint (with proper lubricant).  A clay bar is not intended to
fill voids, pits, or scratches, it is intended to remove crap that is
stuck to the surface of your paint (tree sap, bird crap, industrial
fallout, creosote-- hell, I parked under the Chicago EL tracks-- I saw
it all.)  You just rub the stuff vigorously over the finish, wetting
it with water first, and shortly after your arm feels like it's going
to fall off, you're bar is a little darker and grittier, while your
paint is a LOT smoother.  If you fail to use lube, you'll just leave
"clay" skid marks on your paint (which you can clean off with the clay bar.)

It is a brutal physical job to fully clay-bar a car, (probably 2-3x
the time/effort required to use polishing compound and a buffer), but
by so doing, you're not removing anything except the dirt-- it's much
better in the long run for your paint.

I experimented with machine assisted methods (plastic "fingers" on
which I stuck a wad of "clay" attached to an orbital or rotary
buffer/grinder) but nothing worked quite as well as good old elbow
grease.

I'll have you know I spend 8+ hours with polishing compound on an
otherwise beautiful '84 GTI I'd parked under the EL for about 3 weeks,
and the best I could do was shiny white paint covered with little
brown indestructable flecks every cm that you could feel with your
hand, and definately see.  After the same 8 hours with a clay bar, a much
larger '90 100, also white, that had been under the EL for 3 months
looked *perfect*-- better than when I bought it.

I've also *easily* lifted off stuff that was not soluable in CLR,
70% Isopropyl Alcohol (Yes, I know these are terrible for car paint)
or Mineral Spirits, even with *vigorous* rubbing.

Who cares what it is, who cares what it costs-- it works.

Look for Excel brand, (or anything but Mother's) for value.

Try an auto parts store that carries paint supplies (for bodymen.)

I've seen it as cheap as $13/8oz, and as expensive as $15/2oz
(Mother's)

It's worth the money and elbow grease to clean what nothing else can.

---End Clay Bar Treatise---

Eric.

-- 
Best regards,
 Eric                            mailto:emaxon at mediaone.net