No you want to get a detailing spray. Spray a bit on the paint or glass you want to clean and then rub the clay bar across it. I had forgotten about this thread and need to try it on my windshield.

kurt, is your windshield pitted like mine? i can feel them with my fingers..damn distracting to drive with them. you think the clay bar or the bon-ami works better? what is a 'detailing spray' example? not sure why i'm not understanding that..except that..i don't. lol.

At a detailing clinic I went to the lubricant recommended was a bucket of water with car wash soap. This mixture liberally applied.

Or... the Meguiar's clay bar kit is pretty cheap at wall mart and comes with a detailing spray bottle.

Detailing Spray is like an oily type of liquid. It is usually used when your car is clean and waxed just to give it an extra deep shine. You spray it on and wipe it off, almost like a wax.

ahhh...the meguiar's kit is what i have..must be in the box. thanks! and thanks for the explanation, bpoteat

You are going to be amazed that you've never clay barred your paint yet. It is an essential part of pre-waxing to get a really good shine on your car. Takes a little longer, but oh, so worth it.

I don't know if it will work as well but my wife recently used a Magic Eraser on our glass shower and the result was amazing! I then tried it on my shaving mirror that stays in the shower and gets a lot of water spots; equally nice!

I have heard that Magic Eraser is full of formaldehyde (carcinogenic). I don't know if it is true, but gloves might be in order.

Sort of makes sense, anything that works that well can't be good for you.

I've been here a long time and have never seen a better glass-cleaning thread. The only thing I'd add is that something special is usually necessary to strip silicone. From paint or glass or whatever. It's hard to detect and will really mess up your plans if you try to work with paint without first making sure all silicone traces are gone. Anyway, the auto paint stores have stuff to strip silicone. Oxy-Clear.

Here's a tip my on passed on to me and it works like a charm (Concours competitors cover your eyes you'd probably be horrified)

Wash your car with ordinary car wash soap and rinse it, re-wash with newly made soap and don't rinse it off. At this point use the clay bar and the soapy water acts as the lubricant. Works AWESOME. I've got a huge black Dodge Ram Quadcab 4x4 and I've started doing this. Claying goes SO much faster this way. Just remember to stretch and refold your clay bar often so you don't rub contaminants back into the paint. I do about half my truck easily then I rinse. I do the other half, rinse and depending on what I'm doing I either wax with Zaino or I use 3M Hand Glaze, then wax. Remember, my truck is huge compared to doing a 911. Love the clay on windshield followed bythe Invisible Winshield product to fill pits. I'm trying it asap. Ryan, break out that clay and get to it! How long have you had that car anyway? I'd have done it the first weekend:>)

how often do you stretch and fold the clay bar?

berettafan, Not picking on your question just making a general comment to all of you that have never clay barred before:

This is a simple inherently obvious process once you start it.

If you've never done your paint - after doing a panel, say a door skin...look at the surface of the clay. If its truly never been done before you're going to see a brown film around the edges of the bar. Thats the contaminants you have picked up. Stretch it out a few times and refold into a nice palm-sized pad and start again. You can do several cars before you truly need to buy another clay bar....at least that's been my experience. Living in a big metro area like L.A. where there is smog and microscopic sap drops on the paint I clay my car a couple of times a year. If you do it CORRECTLY it is impossible to hurt your paint. But it does strip wax and leave it naked so good waxing thereafter is mandatory. That's great if you love to wax your car like I do. If you don't? Well, it makes the job a little longer. But waxing a freshly clayed and otherwise good paint job is an easy task.

Oh P.S. to Ryan. If your clay bar has been sitting in its package forever and if it is cool, once you get it out of the package hold it in both your hands for awhile to warm it. This makes it easier to stretch out and fold into a useable pad. I've heard of guys that microwave it for 10 seconds but I think that is uncessary unless you're doing it in the dead of winter.

Like all operations on your paint, do it in the shade, don't be in a hurry, have some music you like on the radio/stereo. If you use too little lube or try to extend too far without adding lube (which isn't a problem if you use my soapy water trick (works like a charm) you MAY experience a little transfer of the clay to the paint. No worries, spray on more lube and go back over it with the clay. If its a hot as hell day like August in SoCal and you do it, the clay may transfer to your fingers...which is a PITA to get off but hurts nothing. Those of you that haven't done it? You're gonna feel like you discovered the greatest thing in the world.

Trivia, someone told me clay barring was invented by a Concours competitor looking for an edge using florist's clay and soapy water in the 60's. I wonder if its true?

I used to do this all the time when I worked in a detail shop. Use glass cleaner to generously lubricate the glass, then finish it off with glass cleaner and newspaper, clean up the corners and edges with a microfiber towel. It may not get off heavy water spotting though, for that you need to go to an abrasive glass polish.

subscribing

For heavier duty windshield work, I am happy with cerium oxide. It's available over the net and reasonable. I had a major scrape from a bad wiper on a '68. I bought a kit with a polishing pad that mounts to a 1/4" drill and approached the job cautiously. Apparently, the biggest concern is overheating so I took my time and it turned out well. It's the only way to get a heavy scrape polished out.

subcribing, thanks to all, I was going to 'have a rock hit my wind screen' but I'll certainly try this 1st. I'd like to keep the original as ong as possible.

Cerium oxide is indeed what the glass shops use for all kinds of glass. It's a powder that you make into a paste. Applied with a hard felt wheel in a circular motion. No lubricant needed. For clay lube, I use liquid soap, not liquid detergent. You're stripping the car anyway, so general purpose soap is fine.

Milt, Car wash soap? Or something like dishwashing soap?

Over the years with various cars I have used dishsoap, but that's just because I'm a waxing fool. I actually like doing it. For most guys its probably a bad idea especially with Dawn because it strips wax very fast.

A word of caution. If you drop the clay bar on the ground THROW IT AWAY. If you were to use it after being on the ground you will damage your paintwork because of what it picks up.