I was going to take my car to Mr Baker this month but due to a couple of financial set backs and the purchase of a new Dell computer I will have to make that wait for a short while.

I'm looking at removing most of the surface contaminants from my car's paintwork and then giving it a proper good polish and wax just in time for the spring rain

Can anyone recommend me a good clay starter kit that preferably includes lubricant and doesn't cost the earth?

And finally - can I use clay on my alloy wheels to get rid of all of the embedded crap?

You can't go wrong with the Meguiars Quick Clay kit. It's £15 & includes the lube (their detailing spray).

Should be fine on alloys.

also worth adding that bilberry wheel cleaner is excellent at removing baked on brake dust etc..

ive just used it this lunchtime, diluted 1:1 left for 5 mins and agitated with detail brush, and oh my word what a difference its made to what is likely 5 years of filth (prior owner never paid any attention to the car me thinks)

bilt hamber imo and you can use water as the lubricant and its only around 10-12 pounds for a 200 gram block

You can't go wrong with the Meguiars Quick Clay kit. It's £15 & includes the lube (their detailing spray).

Should be fine on alloys.

I recommend the above as well. It's how I started off doing it, and although I have got new clays, I still use the Megs bottle from the Quick Clay kit as the lubricant.

bilt hamber imo and you can use water as the lubricant and its only around 10-12 pounds for a 200 gram block

Exactly what I was going to recommend, based on the fact you can use water as a lube.

You can use clay for the wheels as well.

Megs kit, all you really need

And do I buy it from cleanyourcar or elitecarcare? Thanks to everyone that's suggested stuff

I might buy the megs kit for the car and the bigger block of clay for the wheels as the wheels have a terrible amount of stuff embedded in them...

bilt hamber imo and you can use water as the lubricant and its only around 10-12 pounds for a 200 gram block

I've had very good results from that as well. I've started using an older one on the wheels.

And do I buy it from cleanyourcar or elitecarcare?

I can vouch for CYC being a very reliable and professional supplier only thing i could comment on is they tend to be out of stock on a few things quite often

also used polished bliss in past, again very reliable..

havent used elite though

hth

Cleanyourcar is fantastic and I love their customer loyalty reward scheme (money off next purchase) - but know that elitecarcare gets good reviews from Baker21 and co .

elite and go with the BH IMHO too.

HTH

I've found CYC to be an excellent retailer with good customer service however I still use the Megs clay kit which if you want to save yourself some postage can be bought from Halfrauds!

John

The Megs Clay Kit is a good starter kit IMHO as I started with it also however I would strongly advise you invest in some Megs Last Touch as you can use this as your lube and also aid your drying process.............

For clay I would recommend the Bilt Hamber or my personal favourite the Sonus Green Clay..........

I've got some megs last touch - I bought the starter kit you offered last month

I've got some megs last touch - I bought the starter kit you offered last month

Then all you need is the clay mate and your away..............

i started with megs clay kit, although the QD doesnt last too long and is expensive to renew. This morning my sonus clay recommended by Baker21 arrived through the door. Cost about the same as megs but you get twice as much clay.