After reading about clay bar treatment for the past few years and claims for it to be the be-all and end-all of car detailing, I thought it time to give it a try.

I invested in T-Cut's Classic Clay Bar Kit and followed the instructions carefully. I started with the bonnet only and after application of the clay I attempted to wipe off the residue. This was heavy going and required some serious elbow grease to buff it off. The instructions suggested half an hour for the whole car - it took me 45mins to get this far, and I was blowing out of my by now.

However, this was not the main concern. After removal of the surface residue the bonnet was covered in white speckles where the clay had embedded into tiny chips and scratches which I didn't know even existed prior to this. Try as I may I couldn't remove them.

So I reverted to plan B and gave the bonnet an application of my regular Turtle Wax Black Pack which did an admirable job of restoring the paintwork to a nice smooth even black shine. This was after 2 hours in total and I only got as far as the bonnet!

My question to the good folk out there is did I miss a trick somewhere, or has anyone else come across something similar in the past? Or is Clay Bar worth this much effort?

Im currently using a clay mitt, much easier.
Never used the T-Cut kit, but you need to use a lube or just some car shampoo in bucket, wet the surface and rub the clay on the car, shouldn't be really left with any residue. You want to concentrate on areas where it feels rough.
You need to make sure the surface is constantly wet and well lubed.

HemoRRS, the kit comes with lube. You spray it on when claying and again when buffing. The actual claying was easy enough, buffing it off was the problem. I noticed the lube also left an oily stain on the paintwork, similar to rainbowing when you spill a bit of oil on a wet surface. This was just as difficult to remove as the clay residue. Maybe the lube was duff.

Seems that way, try using it with a bucket of car shampoo next time, or some quick detailing spray if you have any.

You must be using it wrong,,I've got a bar of Bilt Hember clay & you only have to use water as a lube with this,it took a few hours to do my RRS but I didn't have any problems with it.

Andy Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
Focus RS Red Edition
2015 RRS AB Fuji.
2014 RRS SC Santorini
2016 VW Amarok
2014 RRS AB Fuji
2012 RRS Red Edition Fuji
2015 Nissan Navara
2012 RRS SE Santorini
2008 RRS White
2007 RRS Santorino

Hi,
same as Andy and Hemmo ^

I have used clay bar on a few cars and never had any issues as long as plenty of lube (water), the bar should glide over the paint with no resistance, if it starts to stick not enough lube, only do small sections at a time and then wash off with water and shampoo and nothing left but smooth paint

will try a mitt next but the bar I have will last ages, just don't drop it on the floor

Hi Junior

Fan of most Meguiars products & their teaching videos either on their site or you-tube.

Clay bar is always a go to product for me & their are many types around some even suggest Blu-tak does the same job not for me

Like the guys have said above small areas at a time with good lubrication after a good clean of course before you sctrach the surface.

Meguiars D A system Ultimate compound,Polish,Wax (more currently on mine Meguiars Xpress..

Beaware this may uncover a lot of paint imperfections scratches etc but worth it long term

Full process for me took 2 days

This is not a plug for Meg's but from personal experience.



Andrew Os  My first RRS HSE Purchased June 2016
Java Black 2.7
Date of first registration 22 February 2008
Cousin of the King of Stamford Bridge R.I.P. Ossie

Last edited by Blueskye1 on Mon Sep 26 2016 7:00am. Edited 1 time in total

Never used TCut clay bars but it seems strange to use the lube when cloying and when buffing off

Never had to buff anything off when using clay bars, the idea of them is to remove surface contamination not leave residue, and you need to then Wash down afterwards

Strange

Ive tried the clay mit but I don't rate it against the bar,,before claying I always use bilt Hember Kerrasol to get the contamination of so I'm not dragging it along the paint plush it stops any maring.Best way is snow foam,,then wash,,then decontamination then clay then polish & finish off with a good wax.

Andy. Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
Focus RS Red Edition
2015 RRS AB Fuji.
2014 RRS SC Santorini
2016 VW Amarok
2014 RRS AB Fuji
2012 RRS Red Edition Fuji
2015 Nissan Navara
2012 RRS SE Santorini
2008 RRS White
2007 RRS Santorino

Mmmmmm. Judging by the replies either the product is not all its cracked up to be or I am an idiot!

Anyway, I decided to give it another go taking on board some of the above comments. I selected two doors, side by side, and clayed one of them with the supplied lube and the other with plain old water. There was little difference in the end result, except the lubed door still displayed some of the "rainbowing" displayed before, although nowhere near as bad as before and taking nowhere near the effort to wipe it off. The speckling was absent but I put this down to the door being less likely to be scratched and pitted as the bonnet was.

I then clayed the rest of the car using water instead of the supplied lube without any further drama.

It was also cloudier and colder compared with my last effort, although even though it was a lot warmer before, it was not particularly sunny either. It could be that the warmth dried the paintwork a lot quicker making it more difficult to wipe down.

To conclude, the kit I bought did not need the lube. Water worked just as well. This tended to defeat the point of buying this product in the first place. I didn't use the wax either. I trusted the black wax I used before to remedy the previous cock-up. So definitely a one-star product in my opinion.

I also accept I could have done a bit better on my first attempt and thanks for some of the suggestions following my initial post.

Oh and I dropped the clay bar just as I was finishing so the whole box went in the bin.

Another bit of advice,,cut the clay bar into 2 pieces,,thia way if you drop one you still have the other half

Andy. Andy.
21 Ford Ranger
Gone but not forgotten
Focus RS Red Edition
2015 RRS AB Fuji.
2014 RRS SC Santorini
2016 VW Amarok
2014 RRS AB Fuji
2012 RRS Red Edition Fuji
2015 Nissan Navara
2012 RRS SE Santorini
2008 RRS White
2007 RRS Santorino

just googled this product and it looks like a clay bar & liquid clay and then a clay wax:?

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=235536

Yeah, this is the stuff. The clay liquid is the lube I referred to - its the liquid you apply with the clay rather than a "clay" liquid if that makes any sense. The report also says it was a pig to remove after claying and also alludes to the oil-slick effect.

Feel better after reading that, lets me off the hook somewhat. I think we can put T-Cut's kit on the Don't Buy list.

Just had the Sport detailed by Unique near Dunstable.

They also painter the calipers in red and re-painted the rusted hubs in original grey.

Judge for yourself the results. Before and after shots.

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Claying isn't for everyone its a lot of effort and to say you can do a whole car in 30 mins, properly!! Ide say even the most hardened professionals would struggle with that claim. It takes me several hours and i've been using it for years. Its not something you should do every wash, but once or twice a year maybe, it depends on how well the car has been cared for. Don't try to rush it, you can also make the job a lot easier by using chemicals for decontamination before the clay process. A good fall out remover applied to remove iron particles and break dust etc rinse off dry then apply a tar remover you can soon see where tar spots are in a more condensed areas. Then again wash and rinse afterwards, then its on to the clay to pick off any remaining contamination. Its all in the preparation, if you have gone down the route of clay barring then you obviously know in your mind what sort of finish your after with your paint work so don't give up, it's time and patients and experiance will get you the desired outcome

If your wanting to learn more and get really in to it then sign up on www.detailingworld.co.uk knowledge is key.