What Does a Clay Bar Do?
Here in sunny Chattanooga, TN, lots of things can land on the paint of your car. Go outside and rub your hand across the paint of your car. In certain spots, you may feel a rough texture. This texture is the result of contaminants such as bird droppings, tree sap, rocks, and other items. The presence of these contaminants affect the overall shine of your car’s paint. Not only that, but your vehicle’s clear coat could be damaged if too many of these contaminants are present for too long. If you’re clear coat is damaged, you will have to spend thousands of dollars on a new paint job.
A clay bar solves this issue. A clay bar is a piece of malleable clay that is used to remove these contaminants and pollutants. Here’s the process of using a clay bar on your vehicle’s paint:
How To Use a Clay Bar
Step 1: First, you need to make sure your car is completely clean. You’ll be gliding the clay bar across the paint, so making sure that all the dirt is off the paint is important so you don’t scratch it.
Step 2: Use a lubricant to spray both the clay bar and the section of paint you are working with. This will allow the clay bar to glide across the paint while picking up any contaminants. The most common lubricant is a quick detail spray.
Step 3: As your clay bar picks up more and more contaminants, it will get dirty. When you notice this, simply fold your clay bar and use a new section of it.
Step 4: Once you’ve clayed a section, use a microfiber towel to dry it and run your fingers across the paint. If it feels super smooth, you’ve done a great job!
This process takes time and can make a difference in the overall shine of the paint. The smoother the paint is, the more light it will reflect back, which results in more shine.
A Word of Caution
Use caution when clay barring your vehicle. A lack of lubricant can risk marring your paint, which would require much more work to fix.
What Next?
Once you’ve completely finished clay barring your car, you’ll want to replenish its protection. The most common way to do this is to use wax.
If you’d like to get your car detailed in Chattanooga, TN by Branza, contact us using this link. Contact Us.