What Is A Clay Bar? | Does My Car Need Clay Bar Treatment?

On Plenty of our packages, we use something called a clay bar to remove embedded contaminants from the paint, such as tar, sap, bird droppings, etc. You may be thinking, what is a clay bar? That is perfectly fine, it can be difficult to know whether you should choose a package that has a clay bar treatment or does not. This blog explains exactly what a clay bar is, how we use it, and whether your car needs it or not.

What is a clay bar

What Is A Clay Bar?

A Clay bar, mitt, or towel, is a malleable material made to remove embedded contaminants from your paint. These can include things such as tar, sap, bird droppings, bee droppings, artillery fungus, iron fallout, etc. A clay bar needs lubrication on the paint, such as soap or a chemical to work effectively.

Our Clay Bar Process

  • When we use a clay bar or mitt, this is what we do.

  • First, we wash the vehicle to remove surface-level dirt and road film.

    Clay Lubricant

  • Next, we either use a chemical called ONR as a clay lubricant or use soap to lubricate the vehicle for the clay bar.

  • We glide the clay bar smoothly and gently across the glass and paint of your vehicle.

  • We rinse the soap off if we use it and hand dry your vehicle with microfiber towels.

  • We then apply a protective wax, sealant, or coating depending on the package and the customer’s preference.

How Do I Know If My Vehicle Needs A Clay Bar?

Some vehicles may not have embedded contaminants in them while others will. If your car has contaminants in its paint, waxes, and sealants will not last as long as they are supposed to, and you will also be marring your paint.

The way to know if your car has contaminants or not is to put your hand in a little plastic baggy and run it over your paint.

If the paint feels rough, you have contaminants, if it does not, you are all clear!

Clay Bar VS Clay Mitts

Many people get confused when we start adding clay mitts into the equation. A clay mitt is a microfiber mitt with the same clay material as the clay bar (traditional clay) on one side of its exterior. It does the same thing as a clay bar, think of it like a car wheel versus a bigger car wheel, they both roll, it’s just one rolls faster. We use synthetic clay mitts to decontaminate your vehicle safely and efficiently.

Car detailing clay mitt

Clay Towels

Clay Mitts and clay Towels are basically the same, they provide a wider surface area of clay and make the claying process more efficient. Clay towels are just a towel of clay while clay mitts are well… mitts.

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