Claying

[Bren]

Dont laugh - I bought a clay kit for the vectra's paint.

 

The car has lots of superficial scratches however the ultra blue is a nice colour, especially when it has been washed.

 

I have never done this before - any tips/advice? What can I use when the bottle of lubricant wears out?

[320touring]

I've done it a few times- relatively simple if you follow the instructions..

 

Remember to check the clay regularly and fold it to get fresh bits to use so you don't drag the shite you pull off the paint all over the car.

 

If the lube runs out, some speed detailer or water/weak shampoo mix should see you right

[PiperCub]

Do you need special detailing lube or will plain water do? Not heard of using shampoo mix. 

[320touring]

Do you need special detailing lube or will plain water do? Not heard of using shampoo mix.

I think you can use plain water- the weak shampoo mix (like a small drop of car shampoo in a full bottle of water) was shown to me by a mate. Seemed to work OK she I did it

[beko1987]

What brand of clay did you buy?

[Jams]

I've always used it with rapid detailer but will try that trick.

Keep checking the clay and don't drop it!!!

[steveo3002]

yeah use lots of the reccomended lube , keep everything super clean you dont want to be rubbing grit into it

 

before starting knead the clay until its warm , break off a bit about the size of a jaffa cake and use that , as its getting dirty re knead it and fold it over into itsself so you get a clean surface again

 

you mention scratches- it does nothing for scratches , just makes the surface smooth , so follow up with a good polish and wax 

[Bren]

I have farecla for the scratches - I just thought I would see what shite the clay removed first.

[steveo3002]

yeah ok good , they work very well

 

you can feel and hear it ...will feel rough while its working then turns smooth like glass when its taken the crap off , rub your fingers over the panel to confirm its smooth like glass and move on , i tend to just do a patch as big as a magazine , then move on once its done rahter than randomly attack the whole panel    

[Royale80]

I bought some Bilt hamber clay years ago -works a treat-and you only need water as a lubricant. Took loads of roughness off the paintwork of the Senator and Royale. Hard work though!

 

Steve

[steveo3002]

next time get the farecla mitt...does the same but easier 

[oldcars]

Most need the recommended lube, as above bilthamber needs only water. Not used clay before only an autosmart clay cloth.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I used a Meguires kit on my E32 6 years ago and polish it every 6 months - never had to clay it since.

[sporty-shite]

I bought some 3M off eBay, and just use it with soapy water. I was cynical at first, and thought it was all a bit Detaling World but was converted after it was recommended on here. Got really good results with it. 

[Dead_E23]

I'm torn between Patio Magic and Jeyes' Fluid for getting the green stuff off mine.

[Hendry]

What i would suggest before claying is to get a decent tar remover and detar the car first, also some fallout remover, youll see it turn purple meaning its dissolving the iron filing deposits on the car, this will then making claying it quicker and easier. 

[beko1987]

What i would suggest before claying is to get a decent tar remover and detar the car first, also some fallout remover, youll see it turn purple meaning its dissolving the iron filing deposits on the car, this will then making claying it quicker and easier.

I love you more and more every day!

[0ldCh0d]

I did this to Mrs OC's Astra on Sunday, It was the first time i have used/done it,  Did a little search on the Tube & watched a couple of videos on how to do it.

 

I did not have the lubricant spray though, so i just made up a spray bottle of 10% car shampoo & 90% water....It seemed to work rather well. As said, does not do anything for scratches. 

 

Also, I did not push down hard on the clay bar, just a light, firm pressure & as said, you can feel it going from rough to smooth like glass.

 

Oh & it was Meguires clay i used.

[Hendry]

I love you more and more every day!

 

Would you love me even more if i told you that ive used my entire stock of valeting stuff, which consisted of mainly Meguiars and Autoglym products and have just spend £80 on new stuff including 3m poly clay, valetpro dragons breath wheel cleaner, auto finesse oblitarate tar remover, dodo juice ferrous dueller fallout remover, detailing brushes, poorboys clay lube, poorboys apc and degreaser, poorboys nattys paste wax, poorboys natural look dressing, meguiars deep crystal paint renovator and meguiars carnauba wax. And im planning to use it all only an utterly fucked, rusty, hanging 148,000miles ex taxi ex hire drive ex caravan towcar VAG with the poisonous 2.0 TDi CR engine. LOL

[oldcars]

Would you love me even more if i told you that ive used my entire stock of valeting stuff, which consisted of mainly Meguiars and Autoglym products and have just spend £80 on new stuff including 3m poly clay, valetpro dragons breath wheel cleaner, auto finesse oblitarate tar remover, dodo juice ferrous dueller fallout remover, detailing brushes, poorboys clay lube, poorboys apc and degreaser, poorboys nattys paste wax, poorboys natural look dressing, meguiars deep crystal paint renovator and meguiars carnauba wax. And im planning to use it all only an utterly fucked, rusty, hanging 148,000miles ex taxi ex hire drive ex caravan towcar VAG with the poisonous 2.0 TDi CR engine. LOL

Dragons breath wheel cleaner is good. I just cleaned one of the 75s wheels last night, taking each one off and painting calipers and checking stuff. I used Autosmarts red7. Cracking stuff.

[Hendry]

Dragons breath wheel cleaner is good. I just cleaned one of the 75s wheels last night, taking each one off and painting calipers and checking stuff. I used Autosmarts red7. Cracking stuff.

 

My wheels have baked on brake dust and have gone a stained yellow kinda colour on the spokes, hoping it can tackle that, if needs be i will clay them afterwards as well. 

[oldcars]

My wheels have baked on brake dust and have gone a stained yellow kinda colour on the spokes, hoping it can tackle that, if needs be i will clay them afterwards as well. 

It will work no bother, the wheels on my old Santa Fe were a mess and it fixed them.

[Guest bangerfan101]

What's it like on curbed to fuck wheel trims?

[twosmoke300]

What a bunch of two bucket wrong uns !

[Snipes]

I bar'd my old Fiesta and the girlfriend's Fusion back in the Autumn. I didn't bother with tar remover or any of that beforehand. I took it down the polish car wash - I'm effectively waxing it four times so if not washing it too. They did look very good afterward and the paint felt super smooth.

[beko1987]

Would you love me even more if i told you that ive used my entire stock of valeting stuff, which consisted of mainly Meguiars and Autoglym products and have just spend £80 on new stuff including 3m poly clay, valetpro dragons breath wheel cleaner, auto finesse oblitarate tar remover, dodo juice ferrous dueller fallout remover, detailing brushes, poorboys clay lube, poorboys apc and degreaser, poorboys nattys paste wax, poorboys natural look dressing, meguiars deep crystal paint renovator and meguiars carnauba wax. And im planning to use it all only an utterly fucked, rusty, hanging 148,000miles ex taxi ex hire drive ex caravan towcar VAG with the poisonous 2.0 TDi CR engine. LOL

£80? Amateur! I've got £90 in my ebay watch list and another £120ish in a clean your car basket. Tempted to pull the trigger on a dual action polisher too, but that's another £140, will wait and see how good my bonus is first! Also tapped up our local Autosmart rep and have 5l of Tardis, 5l of G101 and 5l of their snowfoam on order for a week Tuesday or whenever he is next in town! That's £55 all on, but will last fucking years!

 

In my defense I've not bought detailing stuff in about 5 years, so I'm well depleted! I'll put a thread in the other forum I think when I buy it. Already dusted off my detailing world login and started posting about!

 

Will read up on dragons breath. I have butt loads of bilberry, and am going for a bottle of Bilt hamber (it's got a stupid name) fallout remover over ironx this time. Let me know what dragons breath is like.

 

And you need no other clay than Bilt hamber medium!

[richardmorris]

I have used the bilt hamber clay bar with water. It works well but as someone said, the clay will get dirty very quickly if there's tar on the car. I previously used meguiars with their own detailer spray but this works out as more expensive.

 

Wash, clay, polish and wax. There goes the weekend !

 

 

Oh and whatever you do, don't drop the clay bar. Perhaps even split it in two so you have a spare piece.

 

Bilberry wheel cleaner will clean all the yellowing and brake dust- it's quite amazing how little effort is needed.

[beko1987]

I did this to Mrs OC's Astra on Sunday, It was the first time i have used/done it, Did a little search on the Tube & watched a couple of videos on how to do it.

 

I did not have the lubricant spray though, so i just made up a spray bottle of 10% car shampoo & 90% water....It seemed to work rather well. As said, does not do anything for scratches.

 

Also, I did not push down hard on the clay bar, just a light, firm pressure & as said, you can feel it going from rough to smooth like glass.

 

Oh & it was Meguires clay i used.

Clay won't fix anything, infact it can make it seem worse...

 

Clay removes contaminants, stuff stuck on the paint that washing won't touch. Hence why a sandpaper panel will go glassy smooth. It is also good at stripping filler heavy products, so will unearth all the hidden swirls and damage, which you then fix! It's gr9 for glass too, and headlights.

 

Ideally you run some sort of toxic tar removing chemical over the car first, that way the clay lasts longer as it doesn't get full of tar quickly. And once you can still see shite when folding it, it's time for the bin. Also if you drop it, never ever use it again! It's also a proper bastard on a cold day, I've had a mug of boiling water before and 2 bits of clay, but even that got boring quickly!

[richardmorris]

Interior wise I've found nothing better than autoglym interior shampoo and vinyl and rubber care. And for tyres ive used meguiars gel. I found the autoglym stuff just attracted muck to stick to it and then flung it up the side of the car. Following recommendations on here I'm now useing poor boys black hole polish and blue wax paste on the darker cars.

[beko1987]

 

 

Bilberry wheel cleaner will clean all the yellowing and brake dust- it's quite amazing how little effort is needed.

I dont think I use it strongly enough tbh, ive never found it ace at shifting proper ground in brake dust, hence why I follow it up with ironx. Since I've had the same 2l bottle of concentrate forever, I might up the mix a bit, especially for the gooner!