First off, i would like to say that I am not a pro at detailing. I am relatively new at the detailing stuff and I have not used a regular clay bar so I don't have much to compare my experience with.

I used the liquid clay bar the other day on my 2k2 max. It's black and there are a whole lotta swirls and rock chips. The actual liquid doesn't look like anything spectacular, just like blue milk or something. The pad is pretty cool. its perforated and spongy like. The regular clay bar pulls the contaminants out of the clear coat, while this pushes it out. And whatever that isn't pushed out is trapped inside of the perforated spongy thing. I have mostly rock chips and not so many contaminants, because when I feel the paint, it still feels rough. It turns out that its the rock chip and not contaminants that make the paint feel rough.

However, As I was using it, it DOES seem to work. The area feels a little smoother after I use it. And as I am pushing on the car with the pad, I see little particles ( similar to when you are sweeping with a broom, it all builds up where you push it away). I think these particles are contaminants, but I am not certain. Pushing was kinda tiresome. I switched hands frequently cuz my fingers were getting tired. and after the whole procedure, you have to spray the area down with water. You have to dry it afterwards. The water stays on there a little weird. I used the absorber to wipe it off, but it didn't dry like regular water. I think that residue was still on the car with the water, because if you waited too long to wipe it off, you get this water stain look ( it wipes off though). Thats about it, in the end, my car was looking pretty clean.


Pros: a little cheaper. less worries about adding swirls by messing up, works pretty good

Cons: makes your hand tired, it dries a little weird, its not that bad tho, I think it takes longer time than the regular clay bar.

no before or after pics. My desktop is going crazy, 2 hard drives, trying to recover, cant upload pics, no free space on my sd card. crazy stuff. but here it is. If you guys are willing to try it, i don't think its a bad product.

 

Pushing stuff on paint is no bueno. This leads to swirls. Clay works so well because it literally lifts the small particals of dirt off, instead of pushing them off which is the cause of swirls. The reason why your paint wouldnt feel like glass is because you have small particals of dirt in/on your paint. Because some of them are in groves in the clearcoat, you want to lift them out. Pushing them will result in the scratching.

This is just another Hype-product Turtle Wax has put out for the every-day driver person who doesn't know that much about the subject...just like that 'Ice' wax or whatever. Try some Meguiar's Clay Kit, Clay Magic, or Mother's Clay Kit and I highly doubt you will ever use that stuff again.

I don't care if people like Meguiar's products or not (I personally swear by them) but I would highly recomend checking out their forums. They have proven research on the matter with physical evidence on how to properly maintain your car.

 

I agree with Wolf. I'd stick with the actual clay bar.

There are some chemical decontamination kits out there that I read about on Autopia. They are expensive multi-step products and have had mixed reviews.

 

I too have always had good experience with an actual clay bar.

 

I used a Meguiars clay bar kit on my hood the other day after washing it for the first time ever. There was so much stuff on that bar I was amazed. I didn't bother to finish the whole car though because the paint on my car is beyond saving. I didn't do it, previous owner obviously didn't know how to take of paint, at all. But yeah, the clay bar really works and is rather easy to use, just sucks trying to remember what area you have done already.

 

when i think about clay bar, i touch myself.

 

I thought I was the only one.

Anyhow, I'm glad you had a good experience with the liquid clay bar. I've never used the liquid stuff, but I have used regular ol' clay many times & I Love it. It sounds to me like the liquid stuff may be more difficult to use. I think claying is easy enough & if you do it right, you shouldn't be worried about scratching your paint.

 

Yeah when I was claying mine there was alot of stuff on the bar. About how long do you go between kneeding it to get to a clean side. I had to kneed mine like 7 times just on the hood but I did it that much thinking I would scratch it up if i didn't. Are you supposed to do it that much or can you let the contaminants build up a bit before it scratches?

 

Thanks for your review about this product. I posted not too long ago about the same thing and was wondering about it. Have you tried waxing after you "clayed" it? That might be why the water stays on there "funny". The water is suppose to bead up instead of looking splattery on your paint.

 

after clay bar'ing the car, is it recommended wax afterwards?

 

Clay will usually strip the car of most/if not all your wax. You ALWAYS wax after claying/polishing.

 

I can vouch for this stuff (ICE CLAY BAR). The stuff works well and DOES pull the contaminants out of the paint...How do i know? well i used my brothers Meguiars clay bar after using the ICE to see how rough an area would be (basically to see if the product left anything behind)...The clay bar glided right off of the car. Almost dropped it on the car actually lol. But yea, this stuff works just as good, if not better, than a meguiars clay bar. I can say this after using Meguiars products for close to 5 years now (every since i got my license @ 16).

 

Clay does not lift particles. Thats just a myth because of how Mothers and Meguiars have been marketing their clay bar kits. I used to think the same thing looking at that picture on the back of their boxes. Clay is abrasive, you can cause marring easily if you hit a dry patch on your paint, or light marring just in general from using a different grade of clay.

From other reviews Ive read of this, people say it works just as good as clay. But its more expensive and takes longer to finish the car.

 

it only looks "splattery after the process is finished. i put the liquid clay bar on the applicator pad, rub it into the paint. repeat and repeat. afterwards, you are supposed to rinse the car off with water. I wash it, and everything appears to be straight. but after a little bit, when the water falls off, there is some residue thing that stays on the car. it's really weird. next step is to dry, so i have to dry all that stuff off. but yeah, the water DOES bead while im rinsing the car with water. its quite amazing looking.

 

what the hell are you talking about? clay does clean paint and lift off impurities. that's it's purpose. if you're a knuckle head that hits a dry spot on your car with clay, then that's your fault, not the clay.

 

Again, NO

It doesnt LIFT particles up off your paint. Explain to me how it lifts off particles when you need to keep the paint lubricated. Read my post carefully again, I never said it doesnt work. I said its abrasive

Maybe you should actually know how clay works before telling me it lifts off particles out of paint.