- Admin
- #1
- Joined
- May 21, 2021
- Messages
- 1,731
- Reaction score
- 983
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Stuart, Florida
- Website
- themikephillipsforum.com
Detailing Clay Brain Dump by Mike Phillips - Indepth Video
A clay bar removes above surface bonded contaminants off the surface of your car’s paint to restore a clean and smooth surface.
However, there is some confusion over the topic of how a clay bar works, why you should use one and what it does for a vehicle’s paint. Let’s take a deeper dive.
The synthetic clay substance is blended to include some form of uniform pulverized abrasives. As you rub the clay patty over a section of paint, lubricated with a clay lube, the abrasives in the surface of clay abrade or sheer-off the contaminants that are sticking up, off the surface.
Because this synthetic clay is in fact tacky or sticky, any contaminants abraded off the paint surface will tend to stick to the clay. After claying a section, if you turn the clay patty over and inspect, you can often see the contamination that has been removed off the paint as a layer of dirt on the face of the clay patty.
After claying a section of paint, a good practice is to fold the clay bar into itself and then re-knead this chunk of clay to create a new clay patty. This folding and kneading process will fold the contamination into the clay to expose fresh clay for claying the next section of paint.
As you continue to use this clay bar, over time, it will become so filled with contamination that it becomes full of contaminants and should be disposed of and replaced with a fresh, unused bar of clay.
Besides removing bonded contaminants, clay bars have a few other benefits for automotive paint.
Most people will simply re-knead the clay by folding the contamination into the clay bar and then forming a new patty. But if you wanted to take the extra step of washing the clay before folding and re-kneading you can prolong the use-ability of the clay. At some point however, the clay will become so full of contamination that it becomes unsafe to continue using.
As a good rule-of-thumb, you should always use the least aggressive product and process to do the job. For light bonded contamination, stick with the finer grades. For severe contamination, like overspray paint, you may have to upgrade to a medium or aggressive grade of clay to remove the contamination effectively and in a time-efficient manner.
OPTIONAL STEP BEFORE STARTING: Divide New Clay Bar into Smaller Pieces
Some clay bars are large in size and can easily be cut into smaller pieces. The big picture idea is, by cutting a large new bar of clay into smaller pieces, you’ll get more bang for you buck. When kneading clay into a patty, you don’t need or want a huge, THICK patty of clay, a medium size, thin patty will do the same job while saving the other piece or pieces for the next time you need to clay.
Step 1: Remove clay from packaging.
Step 2: Twist clay bar like taffy to change from a bar to a workable hunk of clay. Twisting and working the clay will tend to warm it up making it easier to knead.
Then squeeze this warmed-up clay into a ball.
Sandwich the ball of clay between the palm of your hands and then using your fingers and arm muscles to squeeze your palms together, squeeze and twist your hands in opposite directions and this will get your patty formed and ready to knead.
Next using your thumb and index finger, knead the clay patty into a uniform shape and thickness about 4” to 5” in diameter.
The freshly kneaded clay patty should look like this:
Step 3: Mist some clay lubricant onto a section of paint and also onto the face of the clay patty. Most large body panels like the hood, roof and trunk lid are too large to clay at one time. Divide large panels into smaller, more manageable size sections and work one section at a time.
Step 4: Gently rub the clay over the section of lubricated paint using a back-and-forth motion. When you first start out, it’s normal to feel the clay patty grab or try to stick to the paint, this is due to the contamination. As you continue to rub the clay over the paint, contamination will be removed and after the majority of the contamination has been removed and gathered onto the surface of the clay, the clay patty will begin to glide effortlessly over this section of paint.
Step 5: Using a clean, microfiber towel, remove the clay lubricant residue.
Repeat the above claying process to a new section of paint. After claying an entire body panel, move onto a new body panel and if it’s a large panel, divide it into smaller more manageable sections.
Step 6: After using both sides of the clay patty to clay bar 2 sections of paint, next fold the clay patty in half and then twist the clay like taffy like you did initially. Then refold the clay into itself and re-twist the clay to work all the contamination into the clay. Then re-knead the clay to form a patty.
Even if you knead the clay bar into itself and form a new patty, the risk is too great that by using the clay bar – you will put scratches into your car’s clearcoat paint finish. If you do this, the only way to undo the damage is to perform a paint correction process using a polisher and either a compound, polish, or all-in-one type product. Machine polishing will level the paint by removing paint equally over the surface being machine polished and thus visually and physically remove the scratches.
Keep in mind, while it takes only seconds to put scratches into your vehicle’s paint due to using a clay bar that has been dropped onto the ground – it will take HOURS of machine polishing to undo the damage. So word to the wise, if you drop a clay bar, throw it away and switch to a fresh, clean bar of clay.
Some clay bars come in a plastic storage case. You can use this, but in my experience the clay WILL stick to the plastic storage case and be difficult to remove without leaving clay behind, stuck to the inside of the plastic clay storage container. A clean sandwich baggie works much better.
A quality formulated clay lube will lubricate the surface AND also wipe off clean and clear. Most clay lubes also work as spray detailers and spray detailers are known for wiping off and leaving a nice, shiny looking finish.
Soapy water on the other hand will tend to be more difficult to wipe-off completely and can leave the paint looking streaky or there will be residue smudges all over the paint.
A clay bar restores a clean, smooth surface by removing bonded contaminants that normal washing of the vehicle will not remove. It’s an important step for maintaining the health of the paint and also prepping the paint for any paint correction steps and/or when installing a ceramic coating.
The process of claying is easy as long as you follow the simple steps included in this article. Claying does not pull contaminants off the paint surface but instead abrades off the contaminants bonded to the surface. After claying a section or two, remember to fold the clay into itself and then re-knead the clay to create a patty with a fresh clay surface to clay the next section of paint.
Use plenty of clay lube when using a clay bar and divide larger panels into smaller sections. At some point, the clay will become filled with the contaminants being removed off the car and you’ll need to look at the clay and then using common sense, decide when the clay has outlived its useful service life and discard.
When not in use, store the clay in a clean place. If the clay came with its own storage case you can use this or you can use a clean plastic sandwich baggie. It helps to spray a little clay lube into either the case or the baggie to help prevent the clay from sticking to either.
If you accidentally drop a clay bar, do not continue to use it as you can put scratches into the paint finish due to contamination the clay will capture while it’s on the ground. It’s much safer to throw dropped clay away and switch to a fresh, clean piece of clay.
Claying paint restores a clean, smooth surface, which is an important part of any other paint correction steps and also ensures maximum performance, protection, and durability for any LSP you use to seal and protect the paint.
At Dr. Beasley’s Future of Detailing automotive and boat detailing classes, we cover many of the tools, techniques and products shared in this how-to article. If you are interested in taking your knowledge and skills to a higher level, check out the dates and locations for upcoming classes here:
Class Schedule
If you have any questions about clay bars, claying paint, or any other related topic, please post your questions in the comments section below.
Mike Phillips
Chief Education Officer for Dr. Beasley’s
Mike@drbeasleys.com
760-515-0444
A clay bar removes above surface bonded contaminants off the surface of your car’s paint to restore a clean and smooth surface.
However, there is some confusion over the topic of how a clay bar works, why you should use one and what it does for a vehicle’s paint. Let’s take a deeper dive.
Myth Busting: Clay Doesn’t Remove Contamination by Sticking To It
Clay is sticky, but this is NOT how it works to remove bonded contamination. Most clay bars, after you remove them from any packaging, feel tacky or sticky. This can lead people to think that a clay bar works to remove bonded contaminants by sticking to the contaminants and pulling them off the paint. Sounds like this might work and it’s possible that a sticky clay bar could pull off some contaminants, but this is not how a clay bar works.
How Does a Clay Bar Remove Contamination?
The actual way a clay bar works is via a mechanical abrading action that takes place between the clay bar, after it’s been kneaded into a patty, and then gently rubbed over the paint surface using a clay lubricant.The synthetic clay substance is blended to include some form of uniform pulverized abrasives. As you rub the clay patty over a section of paint, lubricated with a clay lube, the abrasives in the surface of clay abrade or sheer-off the contaminants that are sticking up, off the surface.
Because this synthetic clay is in fact tacky or sticky, any contaminants abraded off the paint surface will tend to stick to the clay. After claying a section, if you turn the clay patty over and inspect, you can often see the contamination that has been removed off the paint as a layer of dirt on the face of the clay patty.
After claying a section of paint, a good practice is to fold the clay bar into itself and then re-knead this chunk of clay to create a new clay patty. This folding and kneading process will fold the contamination into the clay to expose fresh clay for claying the next section of paint.
As you continue to use this clay bar, over time, it will become so filled with contamination that it becomes full of contaminants and should be disposed of and replaced with a fresh, unused bar of clay.
What Clay Bar Does for Paint
As I explained earlier, clay bars remove bonded contaminants from the vehicle’s paint surfaces. Here are a few examples of what bonded contaminants a clay bar can remove.What Can I Clean/Remove Using a Clay Bar?
- Overspray paint.
- Tree sap mist – common during hot temperatures.
- Dirt and dust carried by wind.
- Industrial fallout.
- Airborne contamination.
- Iron train rail dust.
- Hard water mineral deposit spots.
- Traffic pollution.
- This includes exhaust fumes, iron brake dust particles from both rotors and brake pads, rubber particles from tires as they wear against highway pavement.
Besides removing bonded contaminants, clay bars have a few other benefits for automotive paint.
Benefits of Using a Clay Bar
- Preps Paint for Paintwork Correction: If you don’t remove contaminants with a clay bar first, bonded contaminants can contaminate the polishing process and cause scratches in the paint.
- Preps Paint for Ceramic Coatings: Ceramic coatings require a clean, decontaminated surface to properly bond. Clay bars remove contamination to ensure the most durable bond possible.
- Prevents Rust, Oxidation & Etch Marks: Contaminants like bird droppings and insect remains can become caustic and etch into the paint surface if not removed. On the other hand, iron fallout can cause rust and oxidation.
- Restores and Maximizes Gloss and Shine: Contamination on the surface of paint creates texture and this reduces gloss. Claying removes contamination, which restores a smooth surface and gloss comes from a smooth surface.
Can You Wash or Clean a Clay Bar to Re-use it?
Another great question. Yes, some people, after claying a section of paint, will hold the face of the now dirty or contaminated clay under running water and rub some type of gentle soap over the face of the clay patty. This can and will remove some of the contamination, but there will always be some contamination that will not wash or flush off the clay.
Most people will simply re-knead the clay by folding the contamination into the clay bar and then forming a new patty. But if you wanted to take the extra step of washing the clay before folding and re-kneading you can prolong the use-ability of the clay. At some point however, the clay will become so full of contamination that it becomes unsafe to continue using.
The Different Grades of Clay Bars
Clay bars are offered in a variety of different grades including:,- Ultra fine grade
- Fine grade
- Medium grade
- Aggressive grade
As a good rule-of-thumb, you should always use the least aggressive product and process to do the job. For light bonded contamination, stick with the finer grades. For severe contamination, like overspray paint, you may have to upgrade to a medium or aggressive grade of clay to remove the contamination effectively and in a time-efficient manner.
How To Use A Clay Bar
Using a clay bar is actually pretty easy, below are the steps.OPTIONAL STEP BEFORE STARTING: Divide New Clay Bar into Smaller Pieces
Some clay bars are large in size and can easily be cut into smaller pieces. The big picture idea is, by cutting a large new bar of clay into smaller pieces, you’ll get more bang for you buck. When kneading clay into a patty, you don’t need or want a huge, THICK patty of clay, a medium size, thin patty will do the same job while saving the other piece or pieces for the next time you need to clay.
Step 1: Remove clay from packaging.
Step 2: Twist clay bar like taffy to change from a bar to a workable hunk of clay. Twisting and working the clay will tend to warm it up making it easier to knead.
Then squeeze this warmed-up clay into a ball.
Sandwich the ball of clay between the palm of your hands and then using your fingers and arm muscles to squeeze your palms together, squeeze and twist your hands in opposite directions and this will get your patty formed and ready to knead.
Next using your thumb and index finger, knead the clay patty into a uniform shape and thickness about 4” to 5” in diameter.
The freshly kneaded clay patty should look like this:
Step 3: Mist some clay lubricant onto a section of paint and also onto the face of the clay patty. Most large body panels like the hood, roof and trunk lid are too large to clay at one time. Divide large panels into smaller, more manageable size sections and work one section at a time.
Step 4: Gently rub the clay over the section of lubricated paint using a back-and-forth motion. When you first start out, it’s normal to feel the clay patty grab or try to stick to the paint, this is due to the contamination. As you continue to rub the clay over the paint, contamination will be removed and after the majority of the contamination has been removed and gathered onto the surface of the clay, the clay patty will begin to glide effortlessly over this section of paint.
Step 5: Using a clean, microfiber towel, remove the clay lubricant residue.
Repeat the above claying process to a new section of paint. After claying an entire body panel, move onto a new body panel and if it’s a large panel, divide it into smaller more manageable sections.
Step 6: After using both sides of the clay patty to clay bar 2 sections of paint, next fold the clay patty in half and then twist the clay like taffy like you did initially. Then refold the clay into itself and re-twist the clay to work all the contamination into the clay. Then re-knead the clay to form a patty.
When Should You Throw Away Your Clay Bar?
There is no easy answer as to how to know when a clay bar is too full of removed contamination to safely continue to use. The best answer is to use old-fashioned common sense. If it looks too dirty and contaminated to use – it probably is too dirty and contaminated to use.What Happens If I Use a Dirty Clay Bar?
You risk marring the paint if you use a clay bar past its safe working lifespan. The more filled with contamination a clay bar becomes, the more risk there is that as you rub the clay over the surface of paint, that some of the contamination (now embodied in the clay), will be exposed to the surface, and be rubbed against the paint. This can lead to marring of the paint. The word marring is the kind, fluffy way of saying scratching. It’s safer for the paint to switch to a fresh clay bar anytime there’s any doubt or question about the contamination level of the current clay bar.
What Should I Do if I Drop My Clay Bar?
If you accidentally drop a clay bar or a clay patty onto the ground, you should throw it away. Because clay bars are naturally tacky or sticky, it’s highly likely that some type of sharp abrasive particle, or even tiny rocks or sand can attach to the clay.Even if you knead the clay bar into itself and form a new patty, the risk is too great that by using the clay bar – you will put scratches into your car’s clearcoat paint finish. If you do this, the only way to undo the damage is to perform a paint correction process using a polisher and either a compound, polish, or all-in-one type product. Machine polishing will level the paint by removing paint equally over the surface being machine polished and thus visually and physically remove the scratches.
Keep in mind, while it takes only seconds to put scratches into your vehicle’s paint due to using a clay bar that has been dropped onto the ground – it will take HOURS of machine polishing to undo the damage. So word to the wise, if you drop a clay bar, throw it away and switch to a fresh, clean bar of clay.
How Should I Store Used Clay?
After claying your vehicle, you can re-knead the clay into either a bar, a ball of clay, or a patty ready-to-use and then store it in a clean sandwich baggie. It can help to mist a little spray detailer into the baggie or onto the clay to help prevent the clay from sticking to the plastic baggie.
Some clay bars come in a plastic storage case. You can use this, but in my experience the clay WILL stick to the plastic storage case and be difficult to remove without leaving clay behind, stuck to the inside of the plastic clay storage container. A clean sandwich baggie works much better.
Can You Use Soapy Water As a Clay Lube?
The short answer is yes. The primary difference between using a dedicated clay lube from a reputable manufacturer of car care products has to do with the wipe-off results.A quality formulated clay lube will lubricate the surface AND also wipe off clean and clear. Most clay lubes also work as spray detailers and spray detailers are known for wiping off and leaving a nice, shiny looking finish.
Soapy water on the other hand will tend to be more difficult to wipe-off completely and can leave the paint looking streaky or there will be residue smudges all over the paint.
A clay bar restores a clean, smooth surface by removing bonded contaminants that normal washing of the vehicle will not remove. It’s an important step for maintaining the health of the paint and also prepping the paint for any paint correction steps and/or when installing a ceramic coating.
The process of claying is easy as long as you follow the simple steps included in this article. Claying does not pull contaminants off the paint surface but instead abrades off the contaminants bonded to the surface. After claying a section or two, remember to fold the clay into itself and then re-knead the clay to create a patty with a fresh clay surface to clay the next section of paint.
Use plenty of clay lube when using a clay bar and divide larger panels into smaller sections. At some point, the clay will become filled with the contaminants being removed off the car and you’ll need to look at the clay and then using common sense, decide when the clay has outlived its useful service life and discard.
When not in use, store the clay in a clean place. If the clay came with its own storage case you can use this or you can use a clean plastic sandwich baggie. It helps to spray a little clay lube into either the case or the baggie to help prevent the clay from sticking to either.
If you accidentally drop a clay bar, do not continue to use it as you can put scratches into the paint finish due to contamination the clay will capture while it’s on the ground. It’s much safer to throw dropped clay away and switch to a fresh, clean piece of clay.
Claying paint restores a clean, smooth surface, which is an important part of any other paint correction steps and also ensures maximum performance, protection, and durability for any LSP you use to seal and protect the paint.
Here To Help
If you have any questions, need help or guidance, I always make myself personally available to assist.At Dr. Beasley’s Future of Detailing automotive and boat detailing classes, we cover many of the tools, techniques and products shared in this how-to article. If you are interested in taking your knowledge and skills to a higher level, check out the dates and locations for upcoming classes here:
Class Schedule
If you have any questions about clay bars, claying paint, or any other related topic, please post your questions in the comments section below.
Mike Phillips
Chief Education Officer for Dr. Beasley’s
Mike@drbeasleys.com
760-515-0444