Mother's Claybar kit and general detailing questions

[dasmurph]

Ok, well I'm sure that all of these questions have already been answered, but here goes...

I just bought an '07 Laser Blue New Beetle on April 1, 2007. Looking on the sticker on the driver's side door frame, it was actually manufactured in 12/06 so I figured I could clay bar it fairly soon just to freshen it up and protect it from the sun and the winter weather.

question 1.) Is it true that my car is too new to claybar? I've heard that you can harm the paint if you do it too soon. I don't really notice that the water beads up after I wash it and I want to take really good care of my baby, so I really wanna do the whole wash, claybar, and wax routine, but I don't want to hurt anything.

question 2.) Does this kit really contain everything I need? (pix below). It says to use the "showtime" lubricant and to NO use water or othr unapproved lubricant. Also, the wax included is called a Carnauba Cleaner Wax. The directions say to put this on after claybaring and that'll finish off the process. Does this all sound good to you guys?

question 3.) Are there any tricks or "not-to-do's"? I remember back when I was 13 and first waxed my dad's car I got some on the rubber and it totally didn't come off and I really don't want that to happen again.

Thanks for your help and for reading this long, lame post I can't wait for my car to be all smooth and clean!!

OH one more thing...Can you use a claybar more than once? I wanna do my car, my roommates, and my partners...I know I'll probably have to buy another for 3 cars, but how far will a typical clay bar get you?

[GINA]

1. I've heard it's never too soon to claybar. There are people that claybar the same month as buying the car. Whether or not that's right, I'm not positive. But I don't see how it could hurt anything.

2. You can use what they give you, or use your own stuff. It really doesn't matter. You can use any type of lubricant (quick detailer, soap and water, etc. as long as you keep it very moist), and you can use any wax afterwards. They just say to use their own stuff because, well, they want you to use their stuff. Cleaner wax is just nice because it kinda cleans the surface a little more than regular pure wax, but you can use whatever brand you want.

3. Not-to-do's as far as...claybarring? Or detailing in general? As far as clay goes, just keep the surface very wet as you move it around. Wax...it kinda depends on the type of wax you're going to use. Make sure it's dry before you take it off (I know that's kind of elementary), getting it on rubber is a no-no. Let me know if you have more specific questions, I guess.

You can use a claybar more than once, but if you drop it on the ground, it's history. It really depends on how dirty the cars are. Yours shouldn't be horrible, I think you said your partner just got a new car so his shouldn't be too bad either. As long as they clay doesn't look like dirt and doesn't have a lot of grime in it, I'd say go for it. But when it starts looking really gross (technical, I know), throw it away. Good luck David!

[dasmurph]

Gina, you ROCK! so i guess here's a specific questions. Should I avoid waxing near the rubber? I'm thinking like just going within an inch or half an inch of the rubber just to be safe...it's not bad if you don't wax right up to the rubber, right? Just so long as you get the main big parts of the car I'm guessing it should all be good...I'm so scared but so excited!!

[GINA]

Yeah, that should be fine. If you're nervous about hitting the rubber, you could tape it off with painters tape or something.

[digitalputty]

If you do hit the rubber while waxing just spray a bit of silicon onto a rag or old sock and carefully wipe it away. This also protects the rubber from icky sun UV. My antennae base still looks new!

[CoriBug]

I was nervous about using the claybar the first time, but it was fun and Daisy enjoyed it too! I keep my claybar in a Tupperware like container with lid. It was easy to use on the car. I could definitely tell the difference between my car and my friend's 2000 Golf. You're supposed to keep going over the paint until the claybar glides over it really smooth. Daisy only needed one pass through on the whole car. My friend's poor Golf needed lots of attention - I had to keep going over the same section of paint!!

Good luck and have fun!

Cori

[dan]

clay bars rock. we just did the wifes car with the same system you have and it came out nice and shiny and silky smooth.

theres also some new waxes out that i guess are silicone based and wont mess up the rubber if it gets on them. never tried any of them personally but it's worth a shot.

additionally, if you start noticing little swirls and scratches in your paint, you can buy a product called "show car glaze" that will remove them pesky little swirls, but you'll need to wax again afterwards.

when I paint cars I have a 7 step buffing routine I go through to get the nice and shiny afterwards, lol.

[pdoel]

I'm against using the solution that these kits provide. They're typically a quick detailer solution that contains some wax.

I normally use the claybar as part of my waxing routine. So the first step is to strip off the old coat of wax, before applying the new.

The claybar helps with that, along with getting rid of all other airborne contaminents. So using a lubricant that contains wax, defeats that whole purpose.

So, I HIGHLY recommend making your own solution with water and car wash soap. It works great, is very slippery, and does a much better job in helping strip off the old wax.

And yeah, like the others have said, even brand new cars have contaminents already. I have always heard that you need 2 months to let the paint cure before waxing, so I kinda follow that rule. Not sure if claybarring would fall into that, but I'd probably stick with that. Being that yours was built in December, you're good to go!

[FuscaTDI]

A clay bar treatment is great for any car, but I also found a Zymol product called HD cleanse. It is great to use in between clay bar treatments. I clay bar twice a year. Once in Spring and again in the fall right before Winter, but I wax and polish several times in between, and this Zymol HD really works nice. Use it as directed to on the bottle and follow up with a good waxing job and your car will remain new looking.

[digitalputty]

I tried the liquid claybar (ICE) ... and I just didn't like it. I couldn't tell where I had been already on the car so I went over it twice. Then, the directions said that the claybar liquid would dry to a 'haze' (3-5 minutes) so I let it sit. It never dried to a haze. I mean it dried but it wasn't hazy. I couldn't see the stuff. To remove the clay bar they said just rinse... so, I did ... and I had to rinse the car for close to an hour while using my hand to gently rub away any extra clay bar.

The end results were just not that great compared to the actual clay like claybar. I think Ill stick to mothers. Mothers knows best!

[niki]

I use the Mother's Claybar kit and I love it. I keep the clay in a little tupperware container for the next time and I love the Detailer mist they give you. It makes your car very slick afterward. The only thing is that it goes pretty quick so you'll have to buy a new bottle of mister every 2 times or so... or maybe I just use a lot!

[amari]

Here is my thoughts and experience about The ClayBar.

I always use the claybar once a year or even twice. It all depends on how smooth is the paint. Just test your paint surface by feeling the pain surface with your hand/palm and move it around. The paint must be clean before the test. I do it after each car wash. If it feels rough not a smooth like a glass, then those are sign of above bonded contamination. And it is the time to use the claybar.

I have always under estimated the claybar. I thought it is useless. But when i tried it for the first time, it made a huge difference. New cars will have bonded contaminations due to the transportation method by rail, train or even open trailers.

I am a detailer working from home for almost two years now. It is my hobby you can say. I do my cars and friends as well for a little side pocket money. I have tried some many brands before But i have found the Meguiar's detailing products are the best.
I am also a member in a couple of other detailing forums (one of them Meguiars online ) where I have learnt so much about the main 5 steps to take care of my cars and the detailing as a whole thing.

We must understand what is meant by above bonded contamination first then we will know the benefits of the claybar. Have a look at Megs new release called Smooth Surface Clay Kit.

Here is a link to Jay Leno experience.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...l?vidID=106496