Clay Bar Review

[Patriot Guy]

Just wanted to let folks know of a product I just used and was absolutley thrilled with. I have never clay barred my car and have owned it since new. We wax it twice a year with good old New Finish in the big orange bottle. It is a DD with 78K miles and the paint was showing the wear. It was in the desert in El Paso Tx for 5 of those years and I don't know of many places with harsher environments. I did some research and decided on the Hamber-Bilt Soft Clay bar. $20.00 for 200 grams. I ordered it from HS Tuning in Ohio. I think they are the only US distributors of this UK product. I chose this particular bar because it was rated very high in the reviews and it DOES NOT use surficants for lubrication just water. I used distilled water due to the hardness of the local water. I am an old guy and am very anal about the products I use on my "Mid Life Crisis" Terminator. LOL!!! I can honestly say this product made the paint feel like glass. It was wonderful. I haven't seen the paint look this wet and deep in many years. Here is the link if you want to check it out. I ordered the soft bar because it is more maleable. Search | Auto Express. To order HS Tuning - Bilt Hamber auto-clay regular. :rolling:

 

[Gixxerride04]

Sounds good. Definitely worth a try

 

[POPPAJ]

Sounds like it did what a clay bar is supposed to do, all except making the paint look "wet and deep".

 

[RC-5.0]

Glad you discovered Clay, but I just think it's funny that you say you are old and "anal" about the products you use, but just before that you said you "wax" with Nu Finish orange. I cringed when I read that part. I would hardly call Nu Finish a "wax" nor would I hardly call it anything i would use on my Mustang.

How did you finish off AFTER the clay?

Any pics before or after?

Congrats!!

RC

 

[Patriot Guy]

LOL!! Unfortunately I don't have any before pics but can post, if I can figure it out, after pics. I finished up with my tried and true Nu Finish and it looks/feels great. I don't get into the hype about products, just use what works. Have been using NU Finish since 1986 when I did the research on CR and it came out way ahead of all the others. Have seen all kinds of other "Expensive" stuff used and everytime I go to a car show someone is hyping the next best thing. They see my car and ask me what I use and I tell them Nu Finish and I get the same resonse from them. LOL!! The proof is in the pudding as they say. Wish CR would do another Wax/polish test just to see how it would fare now.

 

[luke1333]

I can tell you with nufinish it cant touch a full paint correction with a good quality wax. lets see a photo in 1000+ watt spot lights

 

[SON1C]

LOL!! Unfortunately I don't have any before pics but can post, if I can figure it out, after pics. I finished up with my tried and true Nu Finish and it looks/feels great. I don't get into the hype about products, just use what works. Have been using NU Finish since 1986 when I did the research on CR and it came out way ahead of all the others. Have seen all kinds of other "Expensive" stuff used and everytime I go to a car show someone is hyping the next best thing. They see my car and ask me what I use and I tell them Nu Finish and I get the same resonse from them. LOL!! The proof is in the pudding as they say. Wish CR would do another Wax/polish test just to see how it would fare now.

[youtube_browser]6bFd1_Z-H4A[/youtube_browser]
Why don't you try my Carnauba Wax for free? I have used both products and would choose my wax over nu finish -- I may be bias though?

 

[RC-5.0]

Ill try a sample Sonic!
RC

 

[RC-5.0]

Ill try a sample Sonic!
RC

 

[Patriot Guy]

Well I'll be. I just checked the CR website and danged if there isn't a newer Wax test from last April. Product & Services | Ratings & Reviews - Consumer Reports
And guess what came out on top in the paste wax and was second in the liquid or gel wax category. It is also the cheapest with one exception in both categories. LOL!! To each his/her own.

 

[RC-5.0]

Well I'll be. I just checked the CR website and danged if there isn't a newer Wax test from last April. Product & Services | Ratings & Reviews - Consumer Reports
And guess what came out on top in the paste wax and was second in the liquid or gel wax category. It is also the cheapest with one exception in both categories. LOL!! To each his/her own.

When I click on the link, I get a CR link asking me to subscribe.

 

[SON1C]

Ill try a sample Sonic!
RC

sure you just have to register with The Detail Box - Car care samples delivered to you monthly using coupon code --- son1c --- as they're handling that side

 

[RC-5.0]

sure you just have to register with The Detail Box - Car care samples delivered to you monthly using coupon code --- son1c --- as they're handling that side

I don't see a "register" I only see a "join"..don't really want to join any club.

 

[Patriot Guy]

Will try and figure out how to post the charts from CR. Am also trying to post the car pics after the wax but can't figure it out. any hints?

 

[RC-5.0]

Will try and figure out how to post the charts from CR. Am also trying to post the car pics after the wax but can't figure it out. any hints?

Just host the pics to Photobucket.com and link them.
RC

 

[Merlinii]

I can honestly say this product made the paint feel like glass. It was wonderful. I haven't seen the paint look this wet and deep in many years.

Glad to see you've learned about removing contaminants from your paint.
Clay bars any clay alternatives (like Nanoskin) help with decontamination.

Another product I'd suggest is Iron-X to removed embedded contamination.
I normally, wash, rinse, Iron-X, rinse, then clay to do below surface decon.

The Iron-X step will "lift" contamination rather than just sheering off the top.
Iron-X is clear but it turns purple when it reacts with embedded contaminants.