I keep reading about Clay Bars. I have never used one...never even seen one. Can anyone tell me what they are? How they are applied? and how they work? Also, would it be necessary to use it on my Superb (when it arrives!) which will be `Lifeshined`?

I keep reading about Clay Bars. I have never used one...never even seen one. Can anyone tell me what they are? How they are applied? and how they work? Also, would it be necessary to use it on my Superb (when it arrives!) which will be `Lifeshined`?

Lots of information on Goggle and it is something I want to read but haven't yet as I have "Lifeshine"

Autoexpress have a nice write up as do "Detailing World".

Edited 21 June, 201214 yr by Danny 57

The trouble with that is...the info gleaned from sources like that is invariable from professionals with a vested interest in `writing/showing it at its best. I much prefer to hear from people who have spent their own hard earned cash on the product themselves and have a unbiased opinion... people like Skoda owners.

Clay bar will take the lifeshine off along with any contaminants and other sealants.

It is basically 'clay'. You spread it out with your fingers and just rub over the car (panel at a time) teamed up with a lube.

Different grades are available.

The car must be clean first before claying then washed down after clay.

If you run your fingers over clean car you will still feel rough bits in/on the paint. (Contaminants). Clay will get rid of these contaminants leaving your paint smooth.

Does the car need to be waxed and sealed again after being clayed?

Does the car need to be waxed and sealed again after being clayed?

Yes and generally the wax applied lasts a whole lot longer than it other wise would have

Thank you for all this. Would it be sensible to Clay Bar first and then add the `Lifeshine`?

Personally i would say yes. Unless car is New, in which case it should be good to go

From my (limited) experience on claying yes.

You normally wash, clay, wash, polish, wash, then wax.

My car was clayed at 2 months old (as part of a full detail) and although there was not a great deal of fallout contaminants on the car it certainly removed a fair bit.

Do you only `Claybar` a car once? The reason I ask is...earlier someone said that `Claybaring` a car would remove protection such as `Lifeshine`. If that is the case, and you `Claybar` a car more than once...what is the point of Lifeshine! I'm confused.

The bodywork is layered as such:

wax / lifeshine

polish

clear coat (lacquer)

colour coat

primer

panel

So every time you clay the car you will either take off the top coat or at least part of it, the lifeshine, wax and polish will all breakdown over time and any containments will adhere to the clear coat, so to remove these containments you will also be removing the added protection (polish wax / lifeshine etc)

Contaminants will constantly be trying to stick to the car, regular washing and waxing will reduce the chance of it sticking, but it will still happen over time.

Thank you. Seems to me then, that if I want to keep my new car in pristine condition (and I do), regular `Claying` is appropriate and `Lifeshine` is really a waste of money... there's nothing `Life` about it!

Ongoing I would only clay once a year and lifeshine the same.

So, as this is thread is about claying (and thus, detailing) your car, I hope I'll be forgiven for distracting you from whatever you should be doing with your day and share this video link. It's the nearest thing I've seen to car porn :p . By my calculations, the bill for this car "clean" came to something approaching £4,000! Full details on the process they followed and the kit they used can be found here.

WOW! What a job...what a car.

Its changed my mind slightly about using an angle grinder myself!

Thanks very much, Simon.

I've clayed cars and its worth it.

The clay grabs all the bits of tar and fly that are stuck to the car and won't come off with a normal wash. The result is that the car paint feels smooth to the touch. You can then polish it to a gleaming shine and then wax it to protect it. You could probably clay a car every 6 months and get a reasonable amount of grime off.

Don't clay a sealed car, you will strip the coating, go to the dealer and ask to see the car in a well lit area, rub your finger or hand over it, if it doesn't feel smoth ask if you can clay it before the sealant is applied, or take it unsealed and then return later to get it sealed, btw those seal packages are bullsheep, I used to do them years ago, they charge you £150 for something you can buy in Halfords for £16, look for an Autoglym,Meguires or Mer polish that states it is a sealant and use that instead.

I am new to owning a Skoda and weather permitting I will be claying and buffing and waxing and sealing my car. It is at much as it sounds, I even own a DAS Pro Machine - basically and idiot proof rotary buffing machine (needs to be idiot proof for me - as I have used one many years ago, and it is soooooo!!!! easy to remove paint)

I used a BILT Hamber soft clay bar which has got very high results from Auto Express reviews for the past few years.

Firstly, YES it will remove what people refer to as "lifeshine" althought I know someone who was a pre-delivery car preparing and all they did was remove protective polystyrene pads, plastic sheeting covering forward facing on the cars. He then wash and used a solution to remove sticky residue.

All they then did was wax it to a good finish and shine, clean inside thoroughly, then they applied a sealant which creates like an invisible barrier and can last a long time (lifeshine - I doubt it as there are tooo many variables, ie, washing car using right materials (ie, solutions and sponges), and the life the car has.

Personally I do as follows:-

Wash car thoroughly.

Use a strong solution of TFR remover and rinse.

Clay bar the car (using water as a lubricant- water can be used with the Bilt Hamber clay bars, as opposed to others who need expensive specific detailing spray lubricants)

Get the panels feeling extremely smooth, like a babies bum ( now before anyone accuses me of being a pervert - it is so my friend tells me as it feels better than her babies )

The I go over the car with my DAS Pro machine using different compounds and pads to remove swirl marks, and scrape marks (ie, tree branch marks, etc) Will end up looking like glass

One of the compounds used in DAS above is also a high quality polish, so no separate polish procedure required.

Now I use an Autosmart product called WAX, and is really easy to apply, great quality and very durable. Very much better then other high spec names (personal experience)

In future I will also be sourcing a suitable paint sealant product.

Even without the sealant my wax treated car looked like new for months, each time wash and dried returned it to same condition. Any rain water didnt stay on for long.

What I will say is the above took me two days and that was on a Kia Pro Ceed. When I do my Superb I am expecting to either need hospital treatment or take 3 days!!!!)

I can say though when finished and you stand back it certainly becomes worth it!!!

GO onto Detailing World website, also clean your car website, and also Autobrite Direct and there are loads of competition out there. So I would suggest make a shopping list of things you "want" to do and then cherry pick your ingredients from different sources to get cheapest prices (I would also say don't ignore Ebay or Amazon in this process either). They aren't all professionals, also some of the websites I have mentioned also have forums, and also you tube clips of how to do certain things.

I would also say use you tube and you will see a huge amount material out there that you can review to educate and perfect your skills.

What I would say is the amount of effort you put in, will determine the results you will end up with. If you have "pride in your ride" then believe me pushing that little bit more, does pay dividends in the finishes you achieve and the longevity you will enjoy.

I would suggest twice a year, once before the summer to reap the visual impact a car like yours would have in bright light, and also before winter (I do it here so that ice and snow don't damage paint finish as a non treated car can get damage from ice, especially if scrape away to enable driving.

Hi Guys & Mandp.

Im running my own little detailing place in Copenhagen Denmark, and i just last week got my very first Superb Combi VAN ! 2.0 TDI DSG 170

On the claybarring.. I allways claybar, before doing anything to a cars paint. Simply because, its annoying in case there is contaminants on the paint, to pull them around the bodywork, before i start the polishing OR if a new'er car sealing/waxing..

You then all so ask, if you should apply "lifeshine" ( which i dont even know what is ) - but im guessing some wax/sealant thingy - again after you did the claying. Ill agree with the others there aswell.. You should.. However, some American dealers, have a ULTRA fine clay, since americans really love claying, they even do it between waxings of the car.. However, i've personally never really found this to work very well.. I clay to remove, all before starting the sealant waxing part

@Simon Cobb, that is pure porn i've watched that movie so many times, they do excellent work, both in the filming department and the detailing department.

Here is two little video's i've made when detailing cars - one video link

and one

I far as I can see, `Bilt-Hamber is the only clay with which you can use just water. So my question is...is water enough (as all the other products use a lube) or would it be better to use a lube with Bilt-Hamber even though its not strictly necessary. Any personal experiences would be appreciated. Many thanks.

lifeshine will be the same as most dealers offer under another name it's just hard wax for as most have said extortionate pricing normally £30 quid wax charged 2-350 for

i got a bargain wash clay wash sealed wax job done off a friend and went nuts when my old car went to the dealers for a service,all the flecks of glitter in the paint disapeared,seems they have no idea it was waxed off with colinite 246 i think it is which is a very hard wax that lasts a year in america 6-8 months over here because of our weather

I far as I can see, `Bilt-Hamber is the only clay with which you can use just water. So my question is...is water enough (as all the other products use a lube) or would it be better to use a lube with Bilt-Hamber even though its not strictly necessary. Any personal experiences would be appreciated. Many thanks.

You are correct Bilt Hamber is the only one so far that only needs water.

If you think about it if you use a lube, you are using a clay bar to "remove" contaminents of the bodywork. So why on earth would you use something that will do the opposite

The water is only there to lift the clay of the car so it can float across the panel, as you move it backwards and forwards the water disappates and the clay goes to work on metal. do it in small patches and check as you go.

You will notice a massive difference between untreated and clayed. It surprised me a greatdeal when I first did it.

I agree with all the above, claying worthwhile particularly when you see the cr*p that comes off on the clay bar.

I do my car once a year after the winter then polish with orbital machine (maguires) then good coat of quality wax which seems to last longer when preceeded by claying and the polish.

there are various grades of polish (a sort of mild tcut) some more aggressive than others from mild to remove light swirl marks to very aggressive to remove scratches.

there is confusion by some companies about polish and wax......polish prepares surface......wax protects and improves shine

I just did my superb estate yesterday for the first time and whilst it looked ok before it now sparkles and the has enhansed the appearance of the metalic in the paint.

as some one posted earlier go on youtube and search for detailing and all will be revealed....products...techniques...ect

I personally use Maguires products ( no connection)....they are not the cheapest nor the most expensive but are good.....the only problem is they have such a vast array of products that it is sometimes confusing as to what to use, but reading up on detailing forums will help with decisions.

I was sent a small tin the size of shoes polish tin of a pink wax for protecting the wheels dont know the name but it was well worth the effort as the wheels come clean with just the jet wash ...no need for wheel brush

none of this is difficult just read up on the forums/youtube and you will as I have the neighbours asking how you get the the car looking so good........a police car stopped yesterday as I was finishing the waxing and asked how I got such a good result.

good luck

Detailing is worth every penny and every second spent during the process.I did my car a few months ago.This was the process:

-wash the car very very well

-use a clay bar+lube(I used a Optimum kit).After this process many defects of the paint will be seen and the entire paint will feel very very smooth.

-use polish.This process is tricky because it's all about what you want from the car.If you have deep scratches and you want all of them gone you need to use a 2-3 step polish which include an abrasive polish and a fine one for finish/shine.But keep in mind that this abrasive polish will remove a lot of clearcoat.I chose to use only a fine polish from Sonax which removed all those swirl marks but left the deep ones and also removed only a small amount of clearcoat.

-after this you must wash the entire car again very well to remove all the dush from polishing

-the last step involves a paint protect product.You can choose a wax which will give you a very strong shine but will last only about a month,or you can use a polymer sealant which will give you longer protection(up to a year) but won't give you that strong shine.I chose a polymer sealant from Sonax called Nano Lack Protect and I can tell you the result was incredible.

I let my car about two weeks without washing it and I can say it was full of dirt and bird crap(sorry but I don't know a word for this),so I went to wash the car.I used only water,pure water and in about 2 minutes the car was like new.Then I used a microfiber cloth to wash it.In 5 minutes the car was dry and clean.I was very very very impressed with the result.