Car Clay & Lube

A car clay cannot be compared to traditional clay as many people know it. A car clay is a special formulation of clay specifically made to be used on cars. Claying your car is often necessary even though many people don't see it at first glance. People usually wash their car with a car shampoo, a washing glove and a bucket and when it is clean in their opinion, they rinse it with a garden hose or pressure washer and then they think the car is clean. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, there is almost always very small dirt stuck in the pores of the paint, glass and wheels. This can be anything, iron particles, tar, tree resin, road grime, and so on. This dirt gets stuck in the paint and prevents the paint from achieving its maximum shine. In addition, the paint also feels very coarse. This contamination must also be removed before polishing and before applying long-term protection such as some waxes and all ceramic spray coatings and real coatings. You can remove this contamination by using a car clay. This is available in a traditional clay bar, clay mitt, clay towel and a clay pad. They all have their pros and cons.

Before you clay the car, we recommend, of course, not only to wash the car properly so that it is clean. But also to use an iron remover and if necessary also a tar remover before claying. Although a clay can also remove this dirt, if you can remove dirt in a less aggressive way and preferably even without touching the car it is always recommended to try that method first. In fact, an iron remover and tar remover together are already going to remove a lot of this ingrained contamination so you have less work and effort with the clay and your clay will also last longer and while also making less scratches and marring. So it's just a win situation so we can only recommend this!

The clay is used in conjunction with a lubricant. There are sometimes specific clay lube products for this but sometimes spray waxes and quick detailers, car shampoo, iron remover and even glass cleaner are also used. Generally anything that allows the clay to glide well over the car and paint can be used. As long of course as it is not aggressive to the paint, plastic or to the clay.

When you rub the car by hand it will feel coarse, you can enhance this feeling by putting your hand in a plastic and rubbing it over the paint. You will immediately feel all the little bubbles that are on the paint. This is the ingrained dirt that you cannot remove without a clay treatment.

To remove them, spray some lubricant on the surface and on the clay you are going to use. Then start rubbing the surface back and forth. The clay will pull the dirt out of the paint and absorb it into itself. You will feel this immediately on the surface as it will become softer and softer and the clay will glide across the surface smoother and smoother. You will also notice that when you start with the clay you will hear the clay rubbing the surface, from the time the dirt is gone the clay glides over the surface noiselessly. From time to time also spray the clay with lube to contaminate the clay. If you are using a clay bar, knead the clay bar every now and then so that you get a new piece of clay again. The excess lube can be removed with a microfiber cloth or you can just hose the car down with water or completely rewash it.

What exactly is special about the different car clay bars? The one that was used first was the clay bar. This was the first to hit the market and is often still the most used by the DIY detailer. The clay bar is a piece of car clay that you can knead by hand into a flat clay so you can rub it on the paint. It has the advantage that it is often less aggressive than the other options and can easily get into hard-to-reach places. It has the disadvantage of being dangerous in the respect that if it falls on the ground or if it is placed on a dirty surface that it will absorb all the dirt. It also cannot release the dirt making the clay bar worthless and must be thrown in the trash. It can also get full after repeated use which means you have to throw it away as well.

The clay towel, clay mitt and clay pad are all called synthetic clays and work on the same principle. They are durable, but therefore often more expensive than a clay bar. They can also be washed off if they are dirty and should and can also not be kneaded again to get back a fresh piece of clay. When you have used the clay for a while you can simply spray the surface clean with a degreaser and use it again, even if it has been dropped on the ground or on a dirty surface. They are more aggressive than a clay bar which can sometimes cause marring. These are very small scratches that can occur from car claying with a synthetic clay. Professional detailers often use them since they can give a car a clay treatment very quickly and still often finish it with an all in one polish or a single step polish which eliminates the marring.

The clay towel is useful for claying smaller and hard to reach areas. Then again, the clay pad is extremely fast as you can quickly put it on a polisher and clay a whole car in 15. But you don't get to small and difficult places and it is also much more aggressive than a clay mitt. The clay mitt is pretty much in between the 2. You can quickly do large areas with it and you can also bend it to get into smaller and harder to reach places but not as good as a clay towel and you work kidney as fast as a clay pad.

We always recommend doing a clay treatment before polishing or even sanding. This is because if the contamination is still in the paint when you start polishing or sanding you are going to pull the contamination off and it will end up in your sandpaper or polishing pad. When your sandpaper or polishing pad will rotate, the hard dirt will also rotate and start rubbing the paint. This will make you scratch again which will put you in a vicious cycle. In addition, it will also make your polishing pads wear out faster.

Before applying protection and especially with a coating, it is also recommended to clay the car. To ensure good adhesion between the surface and the protection, it is necessary that there is no dirt between them. No matter how small it may be. It will not only significantly reduce durability but also reduce the self-cleaning and water-repellent properties by not using the coating to its full potential.

So, claying your car with a special car clay has great advantages and is absolutely necessary! You can find all types of clay in our webshop together with the necessary lubricant.