The Low-Down on Clay Bars

I was not familiar with giving a car a clay bar treatment until the former owner of my 911 told me that's what he did every so often.  He said it helped retain the finish by pulling contaminants off the paint, and was worth checking out.

So recently I tried this.  I'm not advocating any particular brand, but I bought the Mothers brand California Gold Clay Bar Kit, because that was what I noticed at my local Advance Auto Parts store.  But no doubt you can find this and many competing brands at any auto store and at Target, Walmart, and their competitors.  And of course on Amazon and tons of other online shops. 

With the Mothers kit you get 2 clay bars each the size of a bar of soap, a microfiber detailing cloth, and detailing liquid spray.  The basic idea is to wash and dry your car, spray the painted sections one by one with the detailing liquid, and rub the clay on that section to remove tar, tree sap, and other pollutants from the clear coat.  Then you polish it with the cloth.  The trick is to keep kneading the clay with your hands to encapsulate contaminants and so that a fresh swatch of it is on your car as it picks up grime-- you don't want grains of sand scratching your finish.  If you drop it on the ground, toss it and get a new bar.  The clay is sticky, and has the consistency of Play-Doh.  It's not real clay, but synthetic Polybutene that is pliable. 

Ideally, once you finishing buffing the excess detailing solution off the car with the microfiber cloth a good wax treatment is recommended.  

It did boost the shine, for sure.  And the surface felt very smooth. 

My garage reflected on the 911's door

The common thinking about how often to do this is once every six months, although some folks like to more often.  It depends on what kind of climate you live in and how often you drive, if your car sits outside, and other factors.  One rule of thumb is to run your hand over the paint. If it feels a little rough, it may be time to get out the Clay Bar.  As with most things, everyone will have a different opinion about this. 

To be perfectly honest, half the fun of detailing one's car is because it's therapeutic in some way, especially if you have an office or desk job.  And if you have the time.  Washing, drying, and detailing my car with the Clay Bar took about two hours-- time which I rarely have to myself or to spend doing what I want.  For me, it's probably worth detailing my 911 like this a couple times a year.  And the Clay Bar combined with the detailing liquid seems to work.  I would recommend if you have the time, or have a professional auto detailer do it for you.