One of the most often overlooked treatments in auto detailing is the Clay Bar. Why is a Clay Bar treatment recommended? While your vehicle is exposed to the elements, it will pick up tar, road grime, insect splatter, and many other contaminants that will bond to your vehicle’s paint. When your vehicle is clean the paint should feel smooth and glass-like. The best way to test if your vehicle’s paint is contaminated is to put a sandwich bag over your hand, and run your fingers across the surface of your vehicles paint. If your fingers slide smoothly across the paint and you do not feel bumps or grit along the surface, a clay bar treatment is not needed before a wax is applied to your vehicle.
If the surface of your paint is contaminated, a clay bar treatment is strongly recommended to cleanse your vehicle’s paint before it is coated with a protecting wax – you surely wouldn’t want to trap contaminants under a layer of wax.
What is a Clay Bar Treatment and how does it work?
A clay bar treatment involves a two step process which involves lubricating your vehicle’s surface and scrubbing it by hand with a special sticky clay, which will absorb any and all contaminants that are on the paint’s surface. Once a panted surface has been treated with a clay bar, its surface is as smooth as glass, and will even be cleaner than when the car was when new (a clay bar treatment will remove a manufacturer’s unwanted paint overspray).
If you’re serious about keeping your car clean and looking new, a clay bar treatment is the only way to go! It provides the ultimate cleaning for your vehicle’s paint, and will greatly help extend the new appearance of your vehicle.