Gray Clay Bar

I have a "retro-bird" (Thunderbird) that, like any vehicle over the years, has collected a series of clear-coat scratches, discoloration, and lack of luster. I've had it detailed by a personal friend multiple times over the past 12 years, but the paint really needed a major "refresh". I began researching several "how to" videos on YouTube for auto finish restoration. I learned how to correct clear-coat scratches (with sandpaper, no less), use rubbing compound to remove discoloration, and to blend the clear-coat finish. Mind you, my lifetime experience ends with wash, wax, and protect.After correcting all of the blemishes, I ordered this Chemical Guys Medium Clay Bar after watching the company's "how-to" video. The detailer made it look easy as he demonstrated tips, techniques, uses, and explanations. I learned that the medium clay is their "go to" for most jobs where the finish is in relatively good shape but never had a clay bar before. I did purchase their lubricant, but.... opted not to use is as I was fortunate enough to be able to clay-bar the Tbird during a day of light rain. (note: rainwater is naturally clean, naturally "soft" leaving no hardwater spots, and offers a continuous lubrication and rinse action).You can really see and feel a difference in the clear-coat. It stripped out all of the rough contaminants, wax, oxidation from the finish. Lastly, I used Turtle Wax hard wax and laid down a heavy coat before buffing out.The end result was car-show competition finish! It took me about 4 days from start to finish, but the clay bar process was actually the easiest, fastest part of the process yielding the highest possible return on results. If you are like me and have never clay-barred a vehicle before, you owe it to yourself to strip the wax off, clay-bar, then use a good hard wax. you won't be disappointed.One last thing - I'd like to pass one of the most important tips the Chemical Guys passed along in the video. DO NOT USE THE WHOLE BAR OF CLAY AT ONCE. What I mean is, cut about 1/4 of the bar off and use that. If you DROP the clay-bar onto the ground, you cannot use it - throw it away immediately. It will instantly pick up and embed any grit from the floor, and will ruin your finish. Just cut another 1/4 of the bar and continue on. Trust me, I dropped two pieces during the process. If it had been the whole bar at once, I would have been sunk.

I never used a clay bar prior to buying this. It was on sale for prime day so I thought I would give it a try. I bought a used car a few months ago and noticed rough paint and a little light overspray on a panel. I bought the gray bar and the yellow bar kit with the spray.I could actually feel it working. As I started rubbing the bar on the paint it felt rough and then it slid across the paint like ice. It not only easily removed the roughness, it also removed the overspray. Amazing results and worth every penny.I do wish that the bar was bigger though. I only tore off a corner of it for my test instead of using the entire bar at once. It should be big enough to do the rest of the car but it would be nice to have more of it.I highly recommend this clay bar.

Product as described and worked well with Megauirs quick shine. I tend to use quick shine as lubricant vs soapy water. I find the best results come from a wash and dry followed by the clay bar. The bar worked well and maybe I just didn't get the right bar. I would suggest this for a car that has been clay barred inside of a year. If you haven't clay barred your car in over a year or have lots of tar/road grime, you will want to opt for their heavy grit option.

Just remember to get the lubricant, too. I had oopsie-strips on the edges of my car doors (not the clear kind, but the black slip-on ones with adhesive on the back side--done as a Mother's Day surprise gift that didn't turn out so wall after all haha) and the AZ sun melted the glue. The strips came off, leaving the glue behind. Looked like old dried snot on the edges of all the doors LOL. NOTHING I tried, short of slow and painful scraping with my thumbnails, was taking it off. This claybar, lube, and half an hour of elbow grease has all 4 doors clean and ready for the proper edge protectors. Shoulda gotten it sooner!

This clay bar is great. Works amazing no matter how dirty the paint is. It is soft enough to work like the soft bars yet durable enough to get the most worked in dirt of paint. You can make this your one and only clay bar to handle whatever you come across when detailing.

This is my first time claying my car (seems very odd to say it that way). I was very apprehensive after people said to make sure you have plenty of lubrication (again, seems very odd to type that). First off, I wore nitrile gloves because I've read some ppl got staining from the lubricant. I started off breaking the clay in half and kneading it to soften it up. Very easy to do. It was very tacky and I was glad I wore gloves. I even had to spray some lubricant in my hands to get it to release the gloves when I began kneading it. It is very easy to work with once warmed up. It never lost it's tackiness and was very easy to continually fold over and reform when using. It felt and smelled like well chewed cinnamon chewing gum. I worked on a Kia Optima and used about half a bottle of the lubricant while claying the entire car (windows and all). I felt it gave me more than enough lubrication without using excessively. I started at the top and worked my way down. Better because the bottom of the car had much more issues to use the clay on. After using it for a while, I didn't worry about dropping the clay because it stayed tacky. I did drop the first half about 2/3's of the way through when I was focusing on working the bottom of the car. I had the 2nd half of the bar to complete and can definitely use it again. I would buy this again, but might explore other brands due to cost of the amount you get. I would say that because of cost I wouldn't clay each vehicle except maybe once a year unless your mileage or wear and tear are higher than daily driving. I am extremely satisfied with the results and now have experience to do a better job next time. BTW, definitely do this in your garage or covered area if you can with the doors open for plenty of natural light or have LOTS of lighting in your garage.