If you’ve been a do it yourself detailer for awhile now, you’ve probably heard of the clay bar. What is a clay bar you ask? It is just that a bar of clay, like play dough, except designed specifically to be rubbed over your vehicle’s paint without scratching or marring the finish. The sole purpose of the clay bar is to remove contaminants above the surface of your vehicle’s paint finish. How do you determine whether your vehicle needs a clay bar you’re wondering? Simple, grab a plastic bag ziploc bag, put your hand in it, then rub it softly over the surface of your paint. If you feel any so called grittiness, then your paint could most likely benefit from a thorough clay barring.

Plastic Bag Test

From my personal experience as a professional automotive detailer, the clay bar is one of the most vital overlooked steps in the process of detailing one’s vehicle. Time and time again we hear our customers request for a simple coat of wax to be applied after a thorough cleaning of the vehicle’s exterior. Upon doing the plastic bag test, we find that approximately 75% or more of these vehicles are in average to above average need of a clay barring, and so we advise them. To apply wax without prior claying, whether it be a basic spray wax or a high end carnauba paste variety, would mean to trap debris and contaminants beneath the wax. Therefore, the newly applied wax is not able to properly adhere, and hence the existing contaminants are still penetrating your vehicle’s paint finish.

In summation, the clay bar is one of the most vital overlooked steps in the detailing process, and an especially important step when it comes to prepping for application of a paint protectant or coating, like a paste wax or sealant.

Feel free to give the clay bar a try on your own, or, if you’d rather have us take care of it, feel free to reach out to us!

Schedule online at Bellinghammobiledetail.com/scheduling

Or Call Us at 360-393-6963

We appreciate you.

-Sheldon Lycan