How-To… Use A Clay Bar

Why use a clay bar?

Ingrained into the painwork of most cars, even new ones straight from the dealer sometimes, are dirt and contaminates from the air and road. Over time these build up in your paintwork and will make it feel rough, even after it’s been waxed. Clay bars take out those imperfections and the paint will then feel like polished glass. Smooth, in other words.

How often do I need to use a clay bar on my car?

It depends how much milage you do and what milage it is (ie. Motorway, B roads etc). The best thing to do is to keep checking your paintwork, say every couple of weeks, for any of that feeling you had before you clayed it originally. If it’s still as slippery as polished glass, don’t bother.

Are there any drawbacks?

Some slight negatives are that, as the clay bar takes the ingrained dirt out of the paintwork, scratches already there will be more noticeable. It can also slightly dull paintwork if the paint isn’t in too good a condition. If your car’s paint is good though, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

How easy is it to clay a car?

It’s a very simple and easy job, although it can be time consuming if your planning to clay the entire vehicle in one go. Plan about two and a half hours for an entire average sized car.

What do I need to buy?

Various manufacturers sell clay bars (check our Clay Products reviews for some), but you can just Google the words and you should find a seller. You will also need to buy Clay Lube. This is a slightly oily liquid that helps the clay slide about well.

How to clay your car

1. Wash your car throughly. It doesn’t matter if it’s still wet when it comes to claying as the water will help the clay bar along anyway.
2. Tear off a section of clay about 5 cm x 5 cm (2 inches x 2 inches). Mould and warm the clay in your hands until it is soft.
3. Spray a good amount of clay lube onto your bodywork and clay bar and try to work within an area of about 20 cm x 20 cm (8 inches x 8 inches) at a time. Always keep the area really well lubricated.
4. Rub the clay up and down (or side to side) the paintwork. Don’t put any pressure on the clay, just enough to keep it from sliding out from under your fingers. Golden rule: if you drop your clay throw it away! Note. As you use the clay you will hear a slight ‘rasping’ sound as the clay does its job and picks up the contaminates, this is normal. If the noise becomes a scratching sound, immediately stop and check your clay bar for any larger pieces of dirt. If this is the case throw the piece of clay away.
5. After each 20 cm x 20 cm area you cover, check your clay bar for dirt. It should look like dark lines within the clay bar, and also minute pieces of dirt. If there are lines in the clay, simply re-mould the clay again in your hands and carry on. Once the clay is obviously very dirty, throw it away an use a new piece. (Click picture for a detailed image).
6. Once you’ve finished claying your car, give it another good wash and also dry it this time.
7. If you feel that you can use your clay again next time, wrap it in cling film and put it in a plastic container to keep it from crumbling.
8. Give your car one or two coats of good quality wax to protect the paint and bring that lustre back again.
9. Sit back and admire all your hard work.

Top Tip

Dirt and contaminates also build up in you car’s windscreen, but a clay bar can also be used on glass, just take the same steps as you would when clay barring your paintwork. Once you’ve clayed the windscreen, use a glass cleaner and perhaps a ‘rain away’ type product to add that finishing touch.

Questions

Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.

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