Good analogy-

Clay is a funny material-I think the term is thixotropic. As it it is pressed against the paint, it tends to conform to the surface. You spray on a soapy water that helps it glide over the surface. It takes no force really, you only press enough to hold onto the slippery little bugger. When a 'peak' (be it an overspray dot, sap, bug, etc) comes in contact with the clay, the clay becomes rigid at that small spot and 'shears' the peak right off. The beauty is that it doesn't have any effect on the flat areas, only these peaks.

(I once was spraying some epoxy paint at the house on metal railings- full blown part A part B paint. And got overspray all over my car. I was thinking repaint... maybe sand and re-clearcoat. I tried compounding it, buffing, etc, etc... Finally someone said 'just claybar it'. Amazing stuff.)

So the short answer is: just mix up a soap solution of 30% car wash and 70% DI water, spray a section at a time and slide a claybar back and forth in your bare hand...fold it over on itself as it gets dirty...if you drop it, THROW IT AWAY. Rinse, dry, then proceed with the normal detailing steps.

A

 

Looks fantastic! I love the clay bar. I have used it twice so far and plan to a lot more this spring/summer!

 

First picture looks like you photo shopped a crest on your pants...But seriously I'm inspired, especially when I look at my January-Ohio-Salt covered car, and it's 13 degrees F outside. Spring can't come soon enough.

 

When I first purchased a package of Clay, it was from PEP Boys and the clay bar was about the size of a Motel Soap Bar (Tiny little thing). The next time I bought a package, I bought two bars. That made the process a little easier. Before it felt like I was poking at the car with a Q-Tip Cotton Swab. Well I finally found a better place to purchase. My local Auto Body Supply Shop has it. It is just the can of Clay, no special spray bottle of solution, I can make that... The can is about the size of large coffee mug. Not sure what the weight is; going to buy this afternoon. Cheaper? I'll find out and respond back. www.griotsgarage.com has Clay (8oz) for $19.99 plus shipping.

 

who makes that?

 

Spent a little time today using the Griot's car care kit that my wife got me for Christmas. I tried the fine glass polish on the front windshield. Pretty amazing results. It took off all of the water stains and some light scratches. The only thing it didn't clean up are the small chip marks caused from road debris. I thought what the heck, I'll try it on the headlights. It really did a nice job on them after 2 to 3 minutes with the orbital machine. They both had spider scratches and were a bit dull from sun, washing, etc... I didn't think to take before pictures but here's a couple of after pictures. I'm going to work on them again to see if I can bring them back to looking OEM new. Guess I have no choice now but to clay bar, polish and wax the whole car. I like the idea of doing a panel each evening as opposed to spending the whole day on it. My back is feeling pretty old after playing golf today

 

Opps...my picture size was to large. Here they are downsized.

 

Just wondering did you use claybar or the glass polish to take away the swirlmarks on the headlight? I have pretty bad dwirl marks and looks like oxidation staint on the light lens. Can you give me some information. Thanks.

 

No, I only used the Fine Glass Polish with the orbital machine. I don't think the clay bar would take out swirl marks. Evidently the fine glass polish has enough abrasive in it to take out the scratch marks in the plastic lens cover and not dull the finish of the plastic. I have read on the forum the use of fine grit sandpaper followed by buffing with polishing with a high grade polish. I believe they used 2000 grit wet sandpaper. You would need to use a orbital polisher with the polish as doing it by hand would take quite a bit of time and even then I don't think it would do the job that an orbital polisher would.

 

And I assume it was Griot's glass polish right? On their website, they also have a plastic polish as well. And I am wondering if I should buy the plastic or the glass polish to work on the swirl marks on the headlights.

 

Wow, tjj7ff they look great!

I wanted to do the same thing to my head and tail lights. I used to (like 10yrs ago) use a Macguiar's super fine polishing compound. Wish I could remember the name of it, but if you would wetsand your headlights up to like 1200 or 1500 grit and follow up with this stuff, they would look brand new.

It came in a tan/grey bottle and was the professional brand. Wish I could remember...

 

Just use Novus Plastic Polish- it comes in three different 'grits'.. you use the coarser stuff first then gradually step down to the final optical polish.

Do a google search - very reasonable, probably the same as what many others sell with their name added to the bottle!

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Yes, it was the Griot's glass polish. They have to types of glass polish...Fine and Regular. I used the fine. My wife didn't buy the plastic polish. I would certainly use that over the glass polish if it's made to take out swirl marks, scratches and removal of the dullness that happens over time. I would suggest that a great investment, if you don't already have one, is a high quality orbital polishing machine. Using a orbital polisher beats hand polishing hands down. I've used an orbital polisher that I got from Sears for many years and can't believe how much better the new polishers are today. Much faster RPM's that gets the work done much faster with no swirl marks. Plus the applicators are easy to work with, sturdy and clean up fast. I just wanted a polishing system that was easy to use with great results. My wife made a great choice in buying the Griot's orbital machine. Changing the application pads is really what's makes it an easy job. Sounds like the Novus Plastic polish would be one way to go, or the Macguiar's super fine polishing compound after wet sanding with 1200 or 1500 grit sandpaper. Maybe Jimmer 23 will remember where he got it and will let us know. Good luck with whatever method you use and let us know how they come out. Take some before and after pictures and post them.

 

Looks great.

 

you did a great job, the car looks great