All About the Claybar Process
 

What is the clay bar process, you ask?

Clay Bar is used to remove paint contamination, overspray and industrial fallout.

What is paint contamination?

Paint contamination consists of tiny metal shavings from rail dust, brake dust and industrial fallout. This contamination affects all paint finishes and can cause serious damage when left untreated. Paint contamination can be felt as a "rough or gritty" texture on the paint's surface and can lead to tiny rust spots. This contamination can not be removed by washing, waxing and/or polishing. Check out the three stages of paint contamination.

Stage 1:

Metal shavings land on the paint's surface.

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/class...ing/Stage1.jpg


Stage 2:

Shavings start to oxidize.

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/class...ing/Stage2.jpg


Stage 3:

Rust spots forms in the paint.

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/class...ing/Stage3.jpg



Where does it come from?

There are three major causes of paint contamination:

1. Rail dust - produced from the friction of train wheels against railroad tracks. Over 70% of new vehicles are shipped by rail. Rail dust can contaminate a new car's finish before it even reaches the dealership. Anytime a vehicle is parked or travels near a railroad it is subject to rail dust contamination.

2. Brake dust - particles produced from the friction of brake pads rubbing against the rotor. This metal on metal friction disperses tiny particles of bare metal into the air and on the highway where it collects on passing vehicles.

3. Industrial fallout - another word for pollution, industrial fallout is a byproduct of our modern industrial age.


Testing for paint contamination:

After washing and drying your vehicle, put your hand inside a plastic sandwich bag and lightly run your fingertips over the paint's surface. It should be as smooth as glass. If your car's surface has a rough, gritty or pebble-like texture, it indicates the presence of paint contamination. This should be removed with a clay bar before applying a polish or wax.


Removing Paint Contamination:

There is no wax, natural or synthetic, or any chemical treatment that can prevent or protect against this contamination. Compounding with an abrasive polish may remove paint contamination but it can only be performed a few times before removing too much of the top, clear coat finish. This is why the process of claying is required. Claying removes these impurities without removing your clear coat. It is the safest, most effective way to do so.

Claying is a simple process, although you may have to exert a little energy. The secret to proper claying is to keep the area that you are working on wet at all times. Not doing so makes the claying process difficult and it also causes marring of the paint. The amount of pressure that you apply is directly proportional to how bad the paint is contaminated. A 10 year old car that has lived in a driveway all of its life is going to require a little more scrubbing than your new car that you have just driven off the car lot.

The object of claying is to get the paint as smooth as glass. Work in small sections (1 foot square areas). Once you get a section smooth as glass, you move on to the next section. Work in small areas so that you don't miss anything. Here's a short video of me claying an area of a bumper in which a deep scratch resides.






The claying process itself does absolutely nothing to remove swirls or scratches. It simply removes the impurities from the paint as stated before. Claying is a very important process when necessary, and contributes effectively to obtaining that deep, glossy shine.


When should I clay?

Only when your finish fails the baggie test described above. Some folks clay their finish too often. It is not a set in stone step with paint maintenance, it is only required if your paint needs it. A car that stays garaged, covered and not driven often is not going to get clayed as often as a car that sits in a driveway night and day, in a dusty or dirty environment. I have personally clayed my car once, a year and a half ago. It of course is the first car in the scenario above.

Now that you realize when and why to clay your finish, all you have to do is inspect your paint. If your paint is a candidate for clay, drop on over to the Adam's website and pick yourself up some Adam's Detailing Clay Bar.

Performing the claying process in the shade or indoors helps keep your lubricant from drying to quickly. Try and do so if possible. :thumbsup:

The Junkman

Whoops! I fixed it now.

Nice post!!

good post...just got my car back from the bodyshop i can tell they tried to wax it but they suck at it. body feels and sounds like sandpaper...what should i process be to get rid of it? just claybar?

That's exactly what you should do. It sounds like they got over-spray all over your finish. Very typical of a lot of shops and is something that I stress that I will look for when my car comes back. I make them work at protecting my car.

Claying will remove all of the over-spray.

Awesome post & info, thanks for sharing!

Junkman, thanks for the information and the video. Make sure you use plenty of lubricant and don't push too hard. Let the clay do the work.

ill try it out this weekend. Also, it was in the bodyshop prior to this time and i did clay it but wasnt able to get the finish i wanted in some areas. Hood, rear side panel and roof still wasnt right. What is the next process? Ive tried clay, rubbing compound and wax

I think you didn't clay hard enough. Sometimes, I'll scrub the hell out of the paint to remove stubborn contamination. Just make sure you keep the area lubricated. Clay is the ONLY thing that does what clay does. No wax or rubbing compound does what clay does (they are used for something totally different). ONLY CLAY DOES WHAT CLAY DOES.

yeah i just watched the video and u were alot more aggressive than me. Ill definitely try it again. I have the meguiars claybar kit..is there much difference between that and Adams?

Only with the detailer. All clay as of now is made by one company so no one's clay is any better than anyone else.

Appreciate all your help..will let u know the results

@kgreen- i had overspray on my Z before...it can be a very time consuming activity to get rid of all the overspray. it may not be a matter of claying "hard enough", but sometimes it really does take a long time to clay it off. Overspray isn't quite as easy to lift like typical dirt, so I don't know if rubbing harder will help. What worked for me was just claying the area over and over again and letting the clay lift it up bit by bit. I'd clay for a minute or two...feel the surface...clay again...feel again..and just kept on doing it til it felt smooth. As others have stated, make sure you're spraying detailing/lubricant spray often as well.

The more pressure that you use will drastically speed up the removal of any contamination, provided that it is something that can be removed. Over spray has never been hard for me to remove with the amount of pressure that I use. The only downfall in my technique is that I have to use a lot of detail spray.

@antman 22- thanks for the info. When i clayed my car for the first time i only did the area to the point of the clay rubbing smooth across the surface (if that makes any sense) So this weekend i will definitely be more aggressive and take my time

i BATHE in detail spray-so dont feel bad...:excited:

:icon23:

I have a fear of picking up dirt particles and scraping it across the surface. In theory, the dirt should embed itself into the clay, but I get paranoid.

I don't have the expertise in paint repair like you do, so I go the slow route to try and avoid anything weird from happening. I tend to have the luck of "if something is gonna go wrong, its gonna happen to me".

Too bad you can't stick a clay bar onto a porter cable....

whaaattttt?? Are you mooning me Junkie?:p

I have never scratched my soft paint and new paint on my 370Z with a clay bar and detail spray. But the next step is to use your PC or hand buff to remove swirls and the like. Anything you could have possibly done with a clay bar and lube will be removed then anyway. Does that help?:tup:

Actually you can. They have a device that allows you to do that but it works like crap.

As long as you are claying on a clean car, you have nothing to worry about unless you drop the clay. In that case, you throw it away. Other than that, keep the area lubricated and clay away. Any marring that may happen is easily removed with the PC, as Sandra said.

guys have an good advise working around the clear bra areas with the clay an PC'er?

Masking tape, 3m green tape works pretty good.

Yes, tape up the edges of the clear bra with painter's tape. Do not buff up against the edges of the clear bra or polish will get under it and cause to not only show, but it could also cause peeling.

Junkman....enjoy your posts. I have a 370Z magnetic black paint that has these real fine scratches and swirl marks that you can see when the sun is on it. will the claying remove these scratches? I cant believe how soft this paint is, the car only has 2k miles and is always garaged? do I ask my detailer to Clay the car first then use swirl mark remover and polish? Your response would be much appreciated.

Claying does absolutely nothing to remove scratches or swirls. As a matter of fact, claying will make the scratches and swirls show even more as it will clean out any filler that may be in the scratches which is used to hide them by most detailers.

The process of claying does exactly what it says in the initial post of this thread. Please take a look and read the entire first post.

If you want to remove the scratches and swirls from your paint, the process is documented in my thread, "From Clay to Wax" on this forum. Have a look at it and all of your questions will be answered in detail.