claybar process

[alamshahid]

Does anyone have any tips of how to properly claybar one's car? I have a 2004 black G35 which has numerous paint imperfections and I'd like to give a claybar treatment a try.

[m4gician]

Does anyone have any tips of how to properly claybar one's car? I have a 2004 black G35 which has numerous paint imperfections and I'd like to give a claybar treatment a try.

Hey buddy,

I've done this hundreds of times and all I can tell you is: take your time. A good proper clay job (assuming you're doing it alone) will take at least an hour or more, especially if the car has never been clayed before. One of my favourite details is this car in black because it finishes quite nice everytime. Here's a link to one a did, although I did polishing, as after you clay the car, you'll have a smooth and debris-free surface to polish
http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/...black-wash.htm

When claying, what you really want to do is remove the imperfections or rough, gritty feeling when you move your hand across the paint. What the clay does is pick up contaminants or dirt that simple washing doesn't. Your car's paint is a pourous surface (like skin on your face for example) so what you're doing is removing the little debris and rust spots that lodge themselves in those pours. There are a lot of ways to do it, but generally follow these steps:

1) Wash & dry the car first. - This'll ensure what you're claying is just the smaller dirt and debris, and not surface dirt that hasn't been washed.
2) purchase or use an appropriate clay bar with lubrication solution. Lubrication is the MOST important thing when claying a car to avoid creating serious marring.

Take a piece of the clay, use a gloved hand (blue nitrile) or your bare hand if you want, fold, kneed and roll the clay into a ball just to heat it up and then flatten it out in something flat that you can rub on the paint surface.

3) liberally spray the lubricating solution over the panel you're going to clay. - do this one panel at a time to ensure you don't waste solution as well keep the surface ready for claying.

4) rub the clay either up and down (vertically) or side-to-side (horizontally). Don't use a circular motion. - Don't be afraid if you hear a little noise, all it is, is the clay doing it's job. Ideally, if the surface is clean to the naked eye, just rub back and forth until it's smooth and no debris.

5) after each panel, you should keep folding the clay into itself and revealing a fresh and clean surface. So if your clay ends up looking like this:



clay can remove stuff like this:


One tip: NEVER, EVER DROP THE CLAY ON THE GROUND. If you drop the clay, it is almost unusable as the dirt and debris on the ground will be picked up on the clay and will scratch, mar or damage the paint.

Good luck, have fun, and post some pictures after you're done .

[alamshahid]

Wow thanks for that link, I'm going to take some before pics both before and after. I'm looking forward to how it'll look after its all said and done.

[m4gician]

Wow thanks for that link, I'm going to take some before pics both before and after. I'm looking forward to how it'll look after its all said and done.

Keep in mind, while you're doing the clay, you have no exterior protection afterwards. Think of it as shaving and not putting any aftershave or lotion on. You'll have a debris free surface. I highly recommend polishing it afterwards, if not polishing, please apply a sealant or a wax on top to protect your work. It'll still have swirling and marring, but it'll be protected and most importantly, smooth.

[multimut]

Take a piece of the clay, use a gloved hand (blue nitrile) or your bare hand if you want, fold, kneed and roll the clay into a ball just to heat it up and then flatten it out in something flat that you can rub on the paint surface.

One tip: NEVER, EVER DROP THE CLAY ON THE GROUND. If you drop the clay, it is almost unusable as the dirt and debris on the ground will be picked up on the clay and will scratch, mar or damage the paint.

One more tip. Most clay bar brands come in mid-sized pieces. Break off a smaller piece first before using, so that if you do drop it on the ground, only that smaller chunk (and not the entire bar) is unusable (well you might be able to use it on your wheels). because if you do it often enough, eventually, you will accidentally drop the clay onto the ground.

[hpin]

How much does a job like that cost?

[m4gician]

How much does a job like that cost?

To do it yourself? Cost of the claybar and cost of the materials/tools you'll need.

[hpin]

Yeah to DIY, I seen ads locally for $250 for a car. But how much would you estimate it would cost for me to gather the materials and equipment (polisher?) to do a decent job?

[m4gician]

Yeah to DIY, I seen ads locally for $250 for a car. But how much would you estimate it would cost for me to gather the materials and equipment (polisher?) to do a decent job?

quite a bit. use http://eshine.ca to gauge what everything will cost.

[ChaoZ]

Claybarring can be done with polishers?
But yes, claybarring jobs aren't cheap out there. Cheapest I've seen is about $100.
Then again, you usually accompany it with a polish and wax after.

[m4gician]

Claybarring can be done with polishers?
But yes, claybarring jobs aren't cheap out there. Cheapest I've seen is about $100.
Then again, you usually accompany it with a polish and wax after.

no no, I meant to say after the clay barring was done, it would've been the best time to polish or at least protect the paint. Clay barring is always done by hand. I usually charge $60 - $100 as an individual service, depending on the vehicle size. It's very labour intensive, especially if there are plenty of rust spots:





These are a pain to remove, but clay does remove them. So depending on the severity I would charge more as well.

[ChaoZ]

Well, after the rust spots ARE removed, you'll still need to fix the chip. Or does a deep polish blend that in?
How much do you charge for that?

[zrepiV]

That's some great work m4gician! When I get a car that's worth detailing, I'm gonna use your instructions.

Do you also know any tips for fixing scratches?

[m4gician]

Well, after the rust spots ARE removed, you'll still need to fix the chip. Or does a deep polish blend that in?
How much do you charge for that?

There are no chips underneath, "rust spots" like that are more like an acne or a collection of metallic dust that goes in the pours and of course, chemically reacts and yields that rust colour. Those typically sit on top of the paint.

[Mystix]

Heres a tip for the RFD minded: When you buy a full clay bar, cut it into smaller pieces. You do not need to use the entire bar to clay your car, a smaller peice is quite adequate. I know I can split the mother's clay bar into atleast 4 pieces