Hey! It's Clay!

K

Knight

New member
I have read the reviews on the board, about clay bars. I don't really like the mother clay bar or QD. The clay is too small and hard to mold. Any clay freaks on the board, that have tried almost all the popular clay products?

Just to give you an idea what I am looking for:



Big clay

thick

Easy to mold

Wonderful at removing the contaminants



Any thoughts would be great.





:up
 
Clay Magic. The blue bar. Rave reviews here. I have both the Mother's and the CM, but CM is difficult to get here in Canada, so I use Mother's more.



Do a search and you'll see that most people here like Clay Magic.
 
is the red bar better? I mean does it remove contaminants better than the blue bar? Though, I am sure it is pretty abrasive and scratches?



I really dislike mothers clay bars. I was thinking either the 3M cleaner clay, similar in color and size to the auto magic clay bar. I have heard great things about the clay magic though.









:up
 
I have not used the red, but yeah, it's supposed to be much more abrasive. I think it is used mainly by the bodyshops for severe overspray. I would stay away from it. It will create its own scratches and swirls.



The blue bar is sufficient for any normal contamination we would run into. I've used it for even cars which have never been clayed for 10 years, and it got everything off.:xyxthumbs
 
Blue is for everyday use and red is for the hard core industrial use. Most users shouldn't need to use the red on any car less than 10 years old that has been washed at least once a year.



Clay Magic makes a very large 200 gram bar that you could purchase. They sell it on their website and also in a dozen online stores. I've never seen it on the shelf though. Usually just the 100 g size bars on the shelf. If you can find the 100 g bar for less than 12 bucks then just get two of them and you'll have the same thing as the 200 g bar for about the same price. Clay Magic is where its at! :xyxthumbs
 
mercedesfanatic said:
It's expensive, but I really like the Pinnacle Poly Clay with their Miracle Clay Lubricant. I've never tried Clay Magic though:(
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I gave up Poly Clay in favor of Clay Magic. You should really get a bar and try it out. I've found that it is just as good as Pinnacle and then some. Its hard to explain the differences. You really should try it out against the Poly Clay and see what you think.
 
Im cheap and when i wash my z car i squeeze till the towel screams like i pinch apenny ;)



AutoZone has Clay magic for $9.99 with a QD

Mothers with Qd and wax for $12.99 @ Target
 
Knight said:
I really dislike mothers clay bars. I was thinking either the 3M cleaner clay, similar in color and size to the auto magic clay bar. I have heard great things about the clay magic though. /QUOTE]



What don't you like about the mother's?? Size only??? Just wondering...I have it but have not used it yet...
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bmw530i2003 said:
Knight said:
I really dislike mothers clay bars. I was thinking either the 3M cleaner clay, similar in color and size to the auto magic clay bar. I have heard great things about the clay magic though. /QUOTE]



What don't you like about the mother's?? Size only??? Just wondering...I have it but have not used it yet...
Click to expand...




don't worry bmw530i2003, i have tried quite a few clay bars and the mothers bar is the only one i use. it's almost the same size as clay magic. it's a tad tougher to mold but we're not talkin world's strongest man here. to me it's worth a little extra molding to have a bar that doesn't fall apart in my hands no matter how i use it. although i strongly dislike the clay magic bar, there are too many people here who like it for it to be a bad bar. but for me it's mothers all the way:xyxthumbs
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I think that it comes down to bang for buck and personal preference when it comes to the better clay bars. Mother's is stiffer and smaller and CM is easier to mould and knead to get a clean surface. Neither of them are like the Meguiar's stuff, which leave residue everywhere, and makes a big mess. It still works well, but is just a hassle to use, requiring more cleanup. I don't think you can go wrong with either Mother's or CM.
 
Even if you find the huge 200g fudge-slab sized CM bar, it's very highly recommended that you cut it up into smaller chunks (or even coin-sized slices as Brad B does), because if you ever drop it while you're claying or kneading or whatever, the whole thing is toast.



I currently use the Mothers bar and like it enough that I'm not bothering to look elsewhere (unless I'd want the clay only). I hold the 1/2 bar under 3 fingers and use it that way.
 
2wheelsx2 said:
Neither of them are like the Meguiar's stuff, which leave residue everywhere, and makes a big mess. It still works well, but is just a hassle to use, requiring more cleanup.
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Is there possibly some advantage to the Meguiar's bar being so sticky? Could that help it get harder stuff off without being more "aggressive" and scratch-prone? Just curious.



I've been able to use Quik Clay without leaving streaks, but it took a few times using it to achieve (and what a pain when it does leave them...). Am I the only one who gets nauseated by the smell of the Meguiar's Quik Clay? I like the smell of Quik Detailer, but when I mix it with the Quik Clay it makes my stomach flop even more than the clay smell by itself. I have no idea why it has that effect, but it happens every time I use the stuff. Does no one else experience this?
 
I don't think it has to do with it picking more stuff up. I think the Meguiar's clay is stickier, because it is the softest of the bunch, which makes it easiest to knead. For bodyshops which use this stuff, they would polish right afterwards anyway, so it would make no difference if there was residue.



As for the smell, I don't recall it having a bad smell. However, if it's like you said, being a mixture of the QD and clay, why don't you try a different QD, or a car soap as lube, and see if the problem persists?
 
BMW- I don't like the mothers clay bar for several reasons. You will find these as small problems as I have. I am almost certain. First I believe the clay magic comes in a plastic case. Which is nice because you get to add some car wash soap or QD to make sure it stays fresh. With the mothers clay your probably are thinking of putting it in a plastic bag? No, don't do it, it sticks in the bag and sometimes it rips the plastic off on the clay and is embedded. So where do you put it? I am sure you could find a place, but it is a small issue. Second issue. It is hard to mold no matter how strong you are. I found myself using the same side when I should have been folding. It gets to be a hassle especially after you have used it a couple of times and are trying to expose a new surface. You have to not only fold, but stretch it. Both are annoying to do and are somewhat hard. If the clay magic is a little softer, it would make all the difference. 3rd, The mothers quick detail I do not like. This might not be that big of a deal but it seems to leave too much residue and is hard to buff out. When i used the mothers I used it with meguiars QD and was much happier. So if you find these to be a problem when you start to use it, it is kind of a waste of money. You however can use it for just QDing normally, but then you would have to have a seperate QD or use carwashp soap. ( which is the way to go anyway ) This might be just preference. I have big hands and the bar is just too small. Not enough area to keep folding and exposing clean surfaces. Too small to work with. I am sure that it picks up contaminats fine so that is the only thing i have to say positive about it. Which is not a big deal since other clays I am sure do the same thing as well.



AutoZone has Clay magic for $9.99 with a QD

Mothers with Qd and wax for $12.99 @ Target



If that is true, then that is another reason you might want to switch.



Though I have not tried clay magic yet, so take this with a grain of salt. Just some observations I have had with the mothers clay bar. Once I get the auto magic clay bar i might be more critical on mothers though. Hey, I might use clay magic and hate it for some reason and switch back. I doubt it, but it could happen, and I will post a review or something.







:up
 
Just a tip for you guys... I use Soft99 clay bar and it's quite stiff (coz the stocks are old here in the shop that sells them). Simply heat up some water (don't boil), add a few drops of car shampoo, then dunk the clay in for about 30secs or so, rinse the clay bar and knead. It makes the clay much more pliable and it doesn't affect the performance at all.
 
Knight,



I've had my Mothers claybar in a ziploc baggy for 2 years with a few shots of the QD. Works great, never had it stick to the baggy. I don't know what's going on over there but it's great here!
 
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