I was turned on to a new potential clay alternative by Todd when he wrote his review on
The Speedy Surface Prep Towel. I was a little skeptical, and if you're anything like me, you take everything with a grain of salt when it comes from someone selling you something. That is NOT a knock against Todd, it's just a general thing I live by. If you haven't checked out his thread on it, go find it. It's really great, this is just another perspective.
Anyway, I got a chance to try it today as I muddled through 9.5 hours of detailing my car (still not done
). I'm here to tell you, you can throw your clay away. This thing is amazing, and better than clay in every way I can think of. I'll tell you why.
First of all, it's FAST. It cut my claying time at least in half, and that's even with me being paranoid about marring with a new product. What you do is mist a panel with clay lube, mist the rubber part of the towel, and just wipe it across. If it gets contaminated, rinse it off in a bucket of water and keep going. The towel is much bigger than a piece of clay and it also clears the paint in less swipes than clay does. Win-win.
Second, it's safe. I keep my paint in probably 90-95% perfect condition at all times, something I have to work at very hard since it's a DD. I noticed no marring whatsoever under garage lights and the Brinkmann. I didn't post pics because, well it's hard to post pics of what doesn't happen...
Third, it's easier to use. What I mean by this is it's easier to know when you're done. The towel acts/feels like the baggy does when you're testing your paint. You can feel all the grit and then feel it become smooth. You don't get that with clay.
Fourth, it's more economical. A cheap clay kit can cost you $20, and usually comes with 2 clay bars. For me, that's usually about 4-6 cars. This towel claims to be good for up to 100 cars, and costs $60. To get to 100 cars, I'd have to spend upward of $300 on the clay kits.
Fifth, what's the most frustrating thing about clay? You're working a panel, getting it all smoothed out and it slips out of your hand. Great, now you have to throw it away and get a new piece. What if that happens with the Speed Towel? You rinse it off in water and continue. Love it.
If I had one complaint, it's that it's difficult to tell when the black rubber becomes contaminated. With clay, you can see it and you know when to fold. It's hard to know when to rinse off the towel, but I did it after every panel to be safe. Maybe if the rubber was a different color it would be easier. I know that's not much of a "flaw" but I had to try to come up with something.
This is my
absolute favorite new product I've tried in a long, long time. I honestly would've paid twice as much as I did after trying it. It's THAT good. I'm extremely pleased and doubt I'll ever go back to clay. I may keep a bar on hand for some really nasty crap, but this is the future for me. I just wish I had found it sooner.