integra_man

Did you celebrate by drinking in a Clay Bar afterwards?

Sorry couldn't resist.

Xd

Court, been talking to roadkill and yes I need to get sorted a Northern trip

Jake, it will help lubricate but if there is any grit it will get rubbed over the car hence you should fold the claybar over regularly.

The best bet I have found is to thoroughly clean the car including using a traffic film remover before finishing with a claybar. A good product but it needs respect.

Zudzilla

Agree with above, clay bar is well worth the money and effort. I got the meguiars clay pack which was easy to use and the detailer used as a lube give quite a decent shine also. I used after that Meguiars 3 step paint cleaner/polish/wax system. The results are brilliant, i can bearly see any swirl marks or scratches. Just a shame it rains 10 mins after i clean the S every time lol.

unclefester

If you're claying you car, you want NO grit on it at all - it needs to be washed, rinsed and dried so that the only stuff you're removing is the stuff that's bonded to the paint.

Once you've clayed it to your satisfaction, wash it, rinse it and dry it again.

When rinsing, don't use a hose adapter or spray piece, just use the hose by itself and sheet the water over the car, helps avoid getting lots of water marks.

Once you've got it clean and contaminant free then you can polish it, make sure you've got lots of nice clean microfibre cloths and change them regularly otherwise they collect the stuff you're removing and put it back on the paint.

Once you've done that then you can wax it and once you gently wipe it clean with more clean microfibre cloths it will look and feel like polished glass.

Keeping on top of your cars paint can be a mammoth task but if you wash it correctly in the first place, you'll have far less paint correction to do.

Avoid car washes - those bristles make a mess of the paint and if you use a jetwash, blast the brush with the pressure washer first - get all of Farmer Micks Landrover dirt out of it before you use it on your own car.

To be honest, two buckets of water ( one with clean water for rinsing the mitt between use) , a decent lambswool mitt and hour of your weekend will be all you need. Throw out the washleather, the sponge and the 'blade' as all they do is mark the paint over time.

Lastly if you really want to get into the clean thing, I do suggest registering on detailingworld - the information you can't find there isn't worth knowing.

Taylot

I clayed mine on Saturday ready for another wash and polish on Sunday. Only I went out Saturday night and didn't feel like it on Sunday! Will have to re-wash and polish this weekend! Paint is soooooo smooth now.

funster

Once a year more like.

And even then I get Tango to do it for me!

JimUK

[QUOTE=loftust,Jul 26 2009, 07:47 AM] I have been sceptical about whether claybarring the S is worthwhile, so haven't bothered in the past, just using Zymol every three months and Mer in the interim periods, after a good wash of course.

I can safely say that it does a good job, there is a definite shine to the car now, and the paintwork looks brighter than before, even on the plastics.

The bodywork is also MUCH smoother, and a fair bit easier to polish now I'm not fighting against the contaminants.

Some areas of the car were cleaner than others, with the front end noticeably dirtier than the rest.

It's started to rain now, so my hard work has been undone somewhat, and therefore no pics.

If anyone is unsure as to whether it's worth doing...just do it...it does make a difference. Well worth the