Wax, clay bars, polish???

[jagssrsbeast]

What are clay bars for? and what is the difference between polish and wax?

[Moose]

Originally Posted by jagssrsbeast

What are clay bars for? and what is the difference between polish and wax?

Clay is for removing surface contaminants.

Wax will correct minor blemishes. It can also clean paint.

Polish will provide the better shine and durability IMO.



DO some browsing in this section, and you'll find alot of thoughts/opinions as well as experiences from using each of these items.

Ed

[ud_lose]

Clay is to clean the surface.
-Put your hand in a plastic bag and lightly rub over your paint. If you feel very
small bumps (like sand in the paint) you need to clay bar your surface.
Polish is to correct problems (minor scraches).
Wax is to seal/protect the surface against future problems.

[2LTRS]

Originally Posted by Moose

Clay is for removing surface contaminants.

Wax will correct minor blemishes. It can also clean paint.

Polish will provide the better shine and durability IMO.



DO some browsing in this section, and you'll find alot of thoughts/opinions as well as experiences from using each of these items.

Ed

Flip the wax and polish around and I'm on board.

[Most] Polish will remove / correct minor blemishes.

Wax will bring out the shine and protect the finish left by the polish.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by Moose

Wax will correct minor blemishes. It can also clean paint.

Polish will provide the better shine and durability IMO.


Ed

The opposite is true.

[2LTRS]

Here comes a whole lot of confusion!

[jagssrsbeast]

ok so then i use wax to make my car shine?

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by jagssrsbeast

ok so then i use wax to make my car shine?

No, you use polish, which cuts clearcoat to make it shine. You use wax to protect and seal that shine in.

Clay bar- pull off surface contaminents in paint that washing won't touch (road tar spots, paint transfer, stubborn water spots, etc.)

Polish- most people define as a way of cutting the clear coat by a tiny amount to reduce blemishes, swirls and minor scratches. This is where the shine comes from.

Wax- Seal everything up, protect from the elements, make your car a lot easier to clean.

[jagssrsbeast]

so is this the order? clay bar, polish and then wax? could polishing or using the cly bar to much over time harm the paint?

[CamaroDreams07]

Originally Posted by jagssrsbeast

so is this the order? clay bar, polish and then wax? could polishing or using the cly bar to much over time harm the paint?

Here's what you wanna do.

1. Wash with Dawn dish soap. This strips off any waxes you may have already had on the paint.

2. Don't bother drying, just pull into the garage and go to town with the clay bar.

3. Do another full wash using your car soap of choice

4. Dry thoroughly, polish until you achieve the results you want.

5. Wax the car.

6. Enjoy all the compliments!

To answer your question about harm- claying isn't abrasive so it doesn't remove clearcoat. It can cause some marring if you don't use enough lubrication or use it on a hot surface. Polishing does remove clearcoat, but you should be able to withstand at least 15-20 or so full polishes before any damage occurs. If you properly wash your car, you shouldn't need to polish your car any more than maybe once a year, because you shouldn't be getting many swirls. So that gets you 15 years or so until you have to worry about anything.

[2LTRS]

so is this the order? clay bar, polish and then wax?

Correct.

could polishing or using the cly bar to much over time harm the paint?

Clay bar - no way
Polish - depends on what your using to apply it. If you use a rotary buffer to polish and your not experienced you could be on the road to the paint shop. If you use a safe dual action / random orbital buffer like the PC7424XP - its almost impossible to do any damage.

[Adam's Polishes]

Well heck, you guys don't need me around here anymore... I'll just retire to the nearest tropical island and spend my remaining years carving coconuts into monkey sculptures with googly eyes.

[CaniacFan]

Originally Posted by Dylan@Adams

Well heck, you guys don't need me around here anymore... I'll just retire to the nearest tropical island and spend my remaining years carving coconuts into monkey sculptures with googly eyes.

I'm coming with you, Dylan... We're getting pretty good on here, aren't we?? A year ago, I was still waiting on my car and reading so many threads on washing, waxing, polishing, detailing that my head was spinning..

Thankx for all you guys do for our Camaros..

[ud_lose]

Originally Posted by Dylan@Adams

Well heck, you guys don't need me around here anymore... I'll just retire to the nearest tropical island and spend my remaining years carving coconuts into monkey sculptures with googly eyes.

Don't worry Dylan, your shine monkeys have this one.