How Is Using a Clay Bar Different Than Using Meguiar's Scratch-X?

marks70

New member
I've never used a clay bar, but based on my reading, it sounds like it does some of the same things that Meguiar's Scratch-X does, one of which is removing contaminents from the paint. Does using a clay bar offer additional advantages over just using Scratch-X, and how else are they different?
 
Clay will do a better job than scratch-x, and is faster. Also if you're doing additional polishing steps, you won't have to worry about the fillers than scratch-x leaves.
 
Saying clay is like Scratchx is like saying a car wash is detailing.



To answer the question, you need to do a test...



Wash your car really well and dry. Now put your hand inside a regular plastic sandwitch bag and lightly rub the surface of the car. Select different areas like the hood trunk and especially on fenders behind wheels. Feel any bumps? These are contaminants in the paint that detail clay will remove.

Claying is the next level of surface cleaning after washing.



ScratchX is something else again. I don't know much at all about ScratchX, but I THINK it is a mild polish with fillers and a chemical cleaner. It's purpose is to reduce the appearance of scratches, partially with fine polish, partially with fillers.
 
Removing contaminants is just a sidejob of ScratchX whereas it's main purpose is to polish. Clay is specifically for removing contaminants like rust, fallout, etc. Besides, I'd much rather clay a whole car than go over it with ScratchX.



You even get to see all the dirty and contaminants you pick up, which is always pretty cool.
 
claying is so cool, it's addicting. but the 3 step process tha tmeguires has is not! itsso tiring! lol. but the end result is amazing.
 
Clay removes bonded contaminents from the surface of the paint. It basically makes the paint smooth. Meg's ScratchX is a hand polish that will do a good job of removing light swirls and scratches and making bigger ones less visible. Think of it this way:

Wash

Clay

Polish

Wax.

If you don't want so many steps you can use a cleaner wax after you clay and be done. I would really suggest claying the car first though. It gives you a cleaner slate to start from and if you car has never been clayed then chances are it needs it.
 
Scratch-X has a very specific purpose, so does clay. Scratch-X is for removing fine scratches/etching on a small area, such as under door handles or the etching left behind by a bird bomb; spot polishing in other words. Clay is for removing tiny embedded contaminants over the entire paint surface. Clay won't do much for scratches or other marring on the paint surface, that's a job for an abrasive polish or something that has fillers.



Here's an article from Meguiar's on how to use Scratch-X:



http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1516





Here's an article from the Autopia "Knowledge Base" on how to use clay:



http://www.guidetodetailing.com/articles.php?articleId=14
 
Jason_M & superstring nailed it! They're two totally different products for two different purposes. As Jason said, clay removes bonded contaminents from the 'surface' of the paint. Clay isn't going to remove 'below' surface defects like scratches, swirls, etc. ScratchX contains microscopic diminishing abrasives that allows you to remove 'below' surface defects by gently abrading the surface. As you work the ScratchX against the finish, the diminishing abrasives that do the abrading breakdown and then polish the finish. ScratchX works well, but it takes a lot of effort to make it work well. It's good for small spots, but you would not want to do a whole car by hand with ScratchX as it would take forever and a day to do so.
 
Would it be ok to use ScratchX on the parts of the car that need it then go over the entire car with ColorX? Should there be a washing in between these applications?
 
Yes, it's fine to use ScratchX and then ColorX. Although you do know that ColorX will not remove many swirls, right? No washing is needed.



marks70, like everyone has said clay and polish are two completely different things. Clay removes contaminants such as dirt particles, tar, rust specks, etc... Polish removes a miniscule amount of clearcoat to remove swirls and holograms on the paint. Polish restores the shine and gloss of the paint of a car. Clay removes the particles that are stuck onto the paint. Clay will also improve the shine somewhat due to less bonded particles.
 
Another thing to remember is that it is a good idea to use a polish after claying as you may introduce some light marring while claying. Especially on heavily contaminated areas. Not to scare you away from it as claying a car is always a good deal regardless of if you are using a machine to polish or just going at it by hand. I have gone at some pretty large areas with ScratchX before and the results are great. Using a terry cloth towel or applicator will give the ScratchX a little more bite over a foam pad as well. So yeah, your plan of using clay, ScratchX on the bad areas (horizontal panels especially), and then following with ColorX is a good place to start.
 
Is it ok to clay the car if you don't use dawn first. All the steps I have read include washing the car with dawn, then clay. ?
 
Just to clear up, there is NO NEED for Dawn. It is just a "folk-lore" type of thing. It will work, but there is pretty much no point in using that instead of a regular car wash, other than it is more sudsy.
 
clay wont rem;ove wax will it? like clay magic or meguires? how abrasive are those? if they dotn remove wax, how will you be able to get rid of all the contatiments that are under the previous wax you are claying over?
 
While I realize the main purpose behind Scratch-X is, like its name implies, to remove scratches, the bottle specifically states that it removes contaminates from the paint, which is the same thing you are trying to accomplish using the clay bar. That's why I thought they could essentially fill the same purpose.
 
marks70- While I commend you for reading the labels (so many people don't bother doing that!) the two products work in such different ways (clay= all mechanical, paint cleaners = mostly chemical with a little mechanical) that you really oughta use both. If nothing else, the clay will remove the large pieces of contamination so your paint cleaner won't have to do as much work. Before detailing clay came out in the early '90s we had to do it all with paint cleaners, and I can assure you that clay was a giant step forward, making it much easier to do a better job. No reason *not* to avail yourself of this great product; you'll see when you try it ;)



gopedhead- Whether clay removes your wax depends on a lot of stuff: how healthy your wax/LSP is, how aggressive your clay is, how aggressively you clay. If you clay aggressively enough to remove conaminants that're under a coat of wax then IMO you're claying pretty aggressively.
 
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