Clay bar convert

[neilgsxr69]

I decided to commit a day to giving my Z a good thorough cleaning with the weather looking dry all day I set out with the usual wash and leather off, I've owned my car for over a year now and although the paint looks great feels rough to the touch even after the usual waxing, so I decided to try Mer's Ultimate polish, I did the front of the car and buffed up the paint definitely looked shinier but still felt rough to the touch so after a bit of Google research took a trip to Halfords and purchased Turtle Waxes refine and shine clay bar kit, I went for this due to the fact that it contained twice the amount of clay bar than maguires offering and the fact that Auto express had given it a commendation. Read the instructions twice and nervously set to my paintwork tried a small section plenty of lube (supplied) and my god! It actually works! Dried the panel off and yes paintwork like glass what a revelation! Panel by panel until the whole car was complete probably took about an hour you could actually feel the clay removing the roughness from the paint. Finished off with Farecler's G3 pro resin wax and she looks as good as New probably better! I am definitely a clay convert! I would advise after research if you decide to try a clay bar try it in a inconspicuous area first because there have been a few horror stories on the net!
Anyway see what you think :thumbup:

 

[Sanity]

Looks sweet!

 

[RCZ1]

Looks good.

Claying is probably one of the best things you can do for your car. This really helps enhance the shine. The only time you would get a horror story is if you applied pressure with the clay which can cause marring. It should lightly sit in the palm of your hand.

Did you also use a tar remover and iron contamination remover ? Use the three in conjunction and they really make the paint silky smooth.

Did you know you can cut up the clay to make it go further and also if you drop the clay bar you haven't lost the whole bar (as you should not use a dropped clay bar).

You should also consider a clay mitt next time as they are much quicker and can be reused many many times.

 

[2retro]

Looking good. I'm still loving that carbon roof too. :thumbup:

 

[neilgsxr69]

Thanks for the positive comments guys,
I didn't use any pre treatments and to be honest there wasn't much sign of actual dirt tar etc on the clay but I still kept folding it in. I did break the bar into two so still have half left. The piece I was using did go very soft though and seemed to get water clogged not sure if this is normal?

I did clay the carbon and plastics including headlights and taillights and they have all come up brill with a lovely smooth as glass feel.

The result super beading!

 

[RCZ1]

The clay bar should be moist at all times as should the paint (using the clay lube).

Tar - you may have been ok with but its always advisable to use an iron contaminated action remover such as iron x. Iron x will draw the contaminants out whereas a clay bar "cuts" the iron contaminants off leaving the other half still embedded in the paint. Just something to bear in mind.

Nice beading though. Looking good :thumbup:

 

[renegade79]

looks great :clap:

White cars are not easy to bring up the shine and photos do not do it justice but you seem to have done a fine job there. I just noticed today that my new car needs a good clay so I may follow suit cause my paint work ain't smooth..

 

[Anonymous]

Did you also use a tar remover and iron contamination remover ? Use the three in conjunction and they really make the paint silky smooth.

Sometime in the near future I'm going to take this job on. I have bought the Gyeon iron x and Gyeon clay bar. My question is, once the iron x has been in contact with the paint for several minutes and turned purple do you wash the panel down removing the product then clay or clay when its purple? Then will there be enough product left to lube the clay?
Would this be a good time to seal the paint (can coat) afterwords?

 

[RCZ1]

Did you also use a tar remover and iron contamination remover ? Use the three in conjunction and they really make the paint silky smooth.

Sometime in the near future I'm going to take this job on. I have bought the Gyeon iron x and Gyeon clay bar. My question is, once the iron x has been in contact with the paint for several minutes and turned purple do you wash the panel down removing the product then clay or clay when its purple? Then will there be enough product left to lube the clay?
Would this be a good time to seal the paint (can coat) afterwords?

After washing the car, rinse it down, then whilst still wet spray on Gyeon Iron X. Leave it for several minutes (but don't let it dry on the car) and watch it bleed, them rinse it off thoroughly. Be careful around black trim with it. It's at this point you would then clay the paintwork. You need separate clay lube for this. A quick detailer like Meguiars for example. Never clay a part of the car that has not been sprayed with lube. This is how you will introduce marring. Don't apply pressure when claying. The clay should sit in the palm of your hand and just gently glide your hand back and forth.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks shiny which is always good, as RCZ1 says a clay mitt is the other option which is what I use as I have a tendency to throw the clay bars around inadvertently. I tend to buy the Farecla ones from Halfords three at a time when they have the 3 for 2 offer on which they do at the moment.

Cheers
Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Did you also use a tar remover and iron contamination remover ? Use the three in conjunction and they really make the paint silky smooth.

Sometime in the near future I'm going to take this job on. I have bought the Gyeon iron x and Gyeon clay bar. My question is, once the iron x has been in contact with the paint for several minutes and turned purple do you wash the panel down removing the product then clay or clay when its purple? Then will there be enough product left to lube the clay?
Would this be a good time to seal the paint (can coat) afterwords?

After washing the car, rinse it down, then whilst still wet spray on Gyeon Iron X. Leave it for several minutes (but don't let it dry on the car) and watch it bleed, them rinse it off thoroughly. Be careful around black trim with it. It's at this point you would then clay the paintwork. You need separate clay lube for this. A quick detailer like Meguiars for example. Never clay a part of the car that has not been sprayed with lube. This is how you will introduce marring. Don't apply pressure when claying. The clay should sit in the palm of your hand and just gently glide your hand back and forth.

Thanks for the advice.
So you don't use the Iron x as a lube? The reason I ask is that the blurb says Gyeon clay bar won't dissolve with Iron x and when I ordered at PB they said 500ml might not be enough to lube the whole car so we recommended you get 1 litre.
I'm a little confused as if the iron x lifts the contaminants the clay will only rub it into the paint again. :crazy: :crazy:

 

[RCZ1]

Did you also use a tar remover and iron contamination remover ? Use the three in conjunction and they really make the paint silky smooth.

Sometime in the near future I'm going to take this job on. I have bought the Gyeon iron x and Gyeon clay bar. My question is, once the iron x has been in contact with the paint for several minutes and turned purple do you wash the panel down removing the product then clay or clay when its purple? Then will there be enough product left to lube the clay?
Would this be a good time to seal the paint (can coat) afterwords?

After washing the car, rinse it down, then whilst still wet spray on Gyeon Iron X. Leave it for several minutes (but don't let it dry on the car) and watch it bleed, them rinse it off thoroughly. Be careful around black trim with it. It's at this point you would then clay the paintwork. You need separate clay lube for this. A quick detailer like Meguiars for example. Never clay a part of the car that has not been sprayed with lube. This is how you will introduce marring. Don't apply pressure when claying. The clay should sit in the palm of your hand and just gently glide your hand back and forth.
Thanks for the advice.
So you don't use the Iron x as a lube? The reason I ask is that the blurb says Gyeon clay bar won't dissolve with Iron x and when I ordered at PB they said 500ml might not be enough to lube the whole car so we recommended you get 1 litre.
I'm a little confused as if the iron x lifts the contaminants the clay will only rub it into the paint again. :crazy: :crazy:

I've never heard of anyone using Iron X as clay lube and I don't think you would really want to, because it smells AWFUL ! Spraying iron X on the paintwork draws out the iron particles (hence the reaction when it turns red/purple). Then you rinse it thoroughly. It's quite a harsh chemical. Claying then removes any other contaminants on the paintwork that you can't necessarily see with the naked eye but you can certainly feel and hear when claying.

Edit: I've noticed you said you ordered Gyeon Iron, not Iron X, which is a different product. The Polished Bliss website states to use the Gyeon clay bar as follows, which does indeed say to use Gyeon Iron. I hadn't heard of that before.

"For best results, use GYEON Q2M CLAY in conjunction with either GYEON Q2M CLAYLUBE or GYEON Q2M IRON (we receommend wearing gloves in the latter case). Although claying is a relatively straightforward process, there are various important practical points to consider that are too numerous and involved to go into in detail about here. Therefore, if you require more detailed information about clay bars and how to use them safely and effectively, please take the time to read our illustrated guide entitled "Decontaminating Paint"."

 

[Anonymous]

I'm going to play it safe and get the lube too, thanks for the input. Cheers :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[Anonymous]

O.K , yesterday i had a go with the Gyeon iron. I was thinking there won't be much on my car it goes nowhere, how wrong was i !!!!!!!! The biggest surprise was there was more contamination on the boot than the bonnet






Next up i'll give the clay bar a shot next weekend, the paint after the Gyeon iron was much smoother. On reflection i think you could use the clay bar and the iron, after all the contamination is there to start with and how often is a clay bar used without using an iron decontaminate?
I was amazed at how much was on my car