Technical The power of the clay bar on paint

I have not used a clay bar, have a black '51 and a very dark blue '51.
Do you use the clay bar for one total cleaning, then throw the clay bar away?

 

I have had great success with clay bars. Like it was said previously, keep kneading the bar from time to time, and DON'T drop it, especially if you're using it on a pristine paint job. When you're done, store the clay in a sealed Tupperware-style container with a lid to keep the air out.

If you run out of detail spray to lube the clay, use a low-sud baby shampoo like Johnson's Baby Shampoo. It works great, and it's cheap.

 

Once you have used a clay bar, you will get a feel for how long to reuse it. The continual kneading of the bar to get a new surface with which to rub finally gets so much junk in the bar that it needs to be discarded, but this will either be from a very bad paint job contamination that you have cleaned off, or after several uses.
If you don't drop the bar, or otherwise get grit in it, the bar can be sealed up in a container with some of the detail liquid to keep it moist and then it will be reusable again. If you run out of the liquid that comes with the bar, then use the spray, and wipe detail liquid from the same brand of product. I use the Meguair's (sp?) brand clay bars and detail liquid, and have been pleased with the results.

 

Also, at some point there will be too many contaminants to reuse it on paint. I label it "rims" and use it to clay wheels before eventually throwing it away.

If it's cold out and hard to knead, throw it in the microwave.

 

Griots Garage on the alliance vendors list sells a clay bar kit, larger clay bar and cheaper than mothers or meguiers !

 

Actually no I hadn't tried that yet. I will.