substitute for paint clay?

[hcoles]

I like using paint clay. I don't like that it is expensive and if you drop it.... that's it.. or it gets dirty and you have to be very careful not to put a small scratch in the paint. I was at a car show about 5 years ago and saw a booth and a guy had a special sponge and some spray on goop that worked like clay...
Anyone know about that or have other ideas?

[Bobboloo]

Rubbing compound.

[cgarr]

I got some Modeling Clay from McMaster-Carr and it worked great and you can get it in may colors, its 4 bars for 3 bucks.

[Daveinclarkston]

Zymol makes a pre wax paint cleaner, which works great, but it is far more difficult to use than a clay bar!

[Wil Ferch]

3M Imperial hand glaze....liquid...works fine.

[hcoles]

I like the McMaster idea.... good thinking.. cgarr - it's probably the same stuff or close.
I have used and almost out of the 3M IHG... it does work well but requires a sort of wax on wax off type process....the same with rubbing compound..
one idea is to get the paint clean without taking any or as little as possible clear coat off..

thanks for all the responses..

[rusnak]

I also like Zymol paint cleaner. It's called HD Cleanse, and you can get it from Emmons Coachworks.

Griots Garage sells a paint cleaning clay system. I don't know about cheap though. You generally get what you pay for.

[RWebb]

You generally get what you pay for, but not at Griots...

I'd just get the Meguairs or Mothers clay and be done with it. It is not modeling clay or a real sedimentary clay at all -- just called that.

Similarly, it performs a different function than liquids. See the Meguairs web site for info.

I only use it every few years. I dunno what you guys are doing to your cars to need it all the time.

[911pcars]

My feeling is that most of the clay bars are generic products manufactured in different colors - maybe with formulation differences. Various companies repackage, relabel and resell, some at a higher price depending on their market penetration and name brand recognition.

Sherwood

[RSBob]

I used Griot's clay bar on my (gasp) silver Audi and was extremely pleased at the result. I then used it on my white 911 and the paint felt great - smooth as glass. like the Audi. I then waxed the 911. Later, when I really started checking out the white paint, I saw very subtle streaks, and the paint just didn't look quite as bright. I took some Meguires (yes Randy, I swing both ways) fine polishing compound, and was rather stricken by how much yellow-brown (the color of the clay bar) was coming up. I did the entire car with the Meguires and then used Black Magic liquid wax, and what a stunning difference. No more streaks, and the paint looked like it was just shot. (Since most are probably now saying - yeah but you must have blown it when using the clay bar - I used generous amounts of Griots Speed Shine as the lube. Using light pressure, at no time did the bar act like it was sticking, but it just flowed over the surface.)

[RWebb]

I always use something else after the clay and before waxing. If nothing else, I use a polish (sensu Meguairs - a 'feeder' for the paint).

Clay is used to remove embedded contaminants. A chemical cleaner will do fine for most 'problems' that the washing does not remove.

[RWebb]

PS - Sherwood's scenario would not surprise me one bit.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Here's a trick for clay that works great. Wash your car and rinse it, make a new bucket of fresh soap and lather it up. THEN clay it through the soap instead of using the lubricating spray they sell with the Mother's etc. Works so much faster.

Good tip on the McMaster-Carr modeling clay. I have always wondered if florist's clay would work. I just KNOW automotive clay started out with some other use before detailers found it to use for auto use.


EDIT: Oh and P.S. Wil's suggestion, 3M Hand Glaze works great on my big, black Ram Quadcab 4x4...but it's no substitute for clay. I ran into a guy at the gas station with a black Chevy truck that was about 16 or 18 years old. That thing was gorgeous and he claimed he only used 3M hand glaze, rubbing in straight lines. I asked what wax he used afterward and he said, whatever he had. Didn't matter cause the 3M did all the work. I think I have to believe him cause that truck was simply awesome.

[gtc]

My parents have two janitorial supply companies and sell to a number of detailers. One detailer came in a few months ago and special ordered a case of generic-looking clay bars. He said they were all exactly the same clay, but the big name brands were several times more expensive.

[herr_oberst]

I heard/read/saw that there are different grits of clay bar - anybody else heard that? I'd be a little tentative about using modeling clay.
I get mine from Autotopia, the sonus brand, it's about twice the size of the Meguiers bar, and nowhere near the cost of Griots. soap solution in a spray bottle for lube, Mequiers quick detail after the clay bar and then polish and wax. Once a year does it for me. (car is a bit of a garage queen)

[RoninLB]

clay can be tricky to use and a newbie is in danger of scratching the paint.

3M hand glaze is a fine grit and produces excellent final detail.

bad paint contamination work on a 911 should be left to a pro if owner is a newbie imo.

[75Carrera]

I've been a decades long believer in the 3M Imperial Hand Glaze but last year bought a P-21 kit that includes their "paint/body cleaner" and WOW! It is far easier to use and remove than the 3M and produces an amazing clean surface without swirls or streaks. I've never tried a clay bar but I'm very interested if it will flatten out some of the touch-up paint bumps in the front end where I've attempted to fill small chips.
The P-21 has old Precious looking her best!

[deathpunk dan]

Whatever you do, DON'T use any of those 'liquid clay bar' products. AWFUL.
My sister's boyfriend tried some bs turtle wax liquid clay bar substitute on her 04 Civic SI (blue hatchback, great car), and it left some nasty residue all over the place...in addition to not working nearly as well as the real thing..

[RWebb]

good tip, Dan -- that means no need to spray Detailer while using the clay


BTW - I've never heard a bad word about anything Sonus makes.

[rusnak]

I prefer to approach paint with the least aggressive approach as possible.

That means always using clean soapy water, and using the most gentle cleaner possible with the least amount of abrasiveness or solvents.

I agree with Randy that you should not need to clay the car all the time. I use the Zymol cleaner probably every 6-9 months at the most, which ends up probably every other time I wax the car. My goal is to make the paint last, rather than make it as shiny as possible all the time. Constant buffing and polishing wears paint out in my own opinion.

I have tried Sonax, but not Sonus. The Sonax wheel cleaner actually dissolved the black paint on my Fuchs, so I only use mild soap on the wheels now.