Welcome back!
If you ever wash your car and it still feels and sounds rough to the touch,
you need to decontaminate the surface with a clay bar.
This sound and feel is pollution and contaminants that stick on to the paint,
and you need to take it off before you put on any wax, and remove any rough feel.
We have a lot in store for this vehicle, so I'll tape down half the hood, and decontaminate just half
before we move on to other steps like machine polishing.
I'll just put some tape down the middle to see a stark 50/50 before/after the clay bar service.
You don't actually need to use any tape when you do this to your car,
I'm just doing this to demonstrate how the car looks and feels before and after the clay bar service.
I'm going to use the Chemical Guys OG Clay Bar.
This is a good all-around you can use on any vehicle with light to moderate levels of roughness
and contamination on paint, glass, and plastic.
All Chemical Guys clay bars come in 100 gram blocks.
You don't need to use this entire block to clay bar your car,
you only need a little piece.
I like to take off the plastic shield...
and I'll break it into about 3 pieces.
I'll just break off one third of the bar.
You see how elastic and stretchy the synthetic clay is.
To use the clay bar, roll it up into a small ball,
then spread it out into a small patty.
That way I can spread pressure over a larger surface area and scrub more with every swipe.
There we go, I have this all spread out.
Before you scrub the surface, you need to use a lubricant.
I'm going to use Chemical Guys Clay Luber.
You can use any quick detail spray or specialty clay lubricant like Clay Luber.
You don't want to use soap and water with the clay bar.
That doesn't provide enough lubrication, and it can break down synthetic clay over time.
Take your lubricant, mist it over the surface,
and use a lot of lubricant as you scrub with the clay bar.
Press down fairly hard and scrub.
As you scrub, the sound and rough feeling go away as you pull off all the contamination.
I want to remove the rough feeling and anything stuck on the paint.
You saw all these yellow spots: tree sap, bird droppings, airplane fuel, and industrial fallout.
We are in Los Angeles, so there's lots of industry, smog, and pollution.
All that stuff falls down and ends up on your car.
If you don't take out that contamination, it will feel rough, and not look as shiny or reflective.
All that contamination blocks light from reflecting off the paint.
It can also lead to paint failure over time. Those contaminants oxidize and degrade paint.
If that car still feels rough after you wash it, use the clay bar,
then after the clay bar is when you do advanced techniques like using a machine polisher
to remove swirls and scratches.
And it's best to do the clay bar service before you put wax on the car.
The clay bar pulls out the contamination and helps wax stick better to the paint.
You can also use a clay bar on things like headlights, clear optical plastic, windows, glass,
but for this demo I'm just doing the painted hood.
Now the hood feels nice and smooth!
There's no more rough feeling or sound.
Now I'll take the clay bar and store it in a safe place.
If you ever drop this on the floor, you have to throw it out
because it's so sticky, it'll pick up any rocks or dirt from the ground.
Then you'll effectively have sandpaper.
You don't want to scratch your car by using a piece of dropped clay.
I'll take the clay bar and put it in this little plastic box to protect it from contamination.
Now I'll take a clean microfiber towel, and buff off any remaining lubricant.
Now the surface is clean and decontaminated.
Just to show you the quick 50/50, I'll pull off this tape so you can see the difference.
Now you see the before side looks very dull, full of pollution, tree sap, bird droppings, and airplane fuel.
It's not looking good, and it's not feeling good.
Then look over here: it feels smooth as glass!
This is how your paint should look and should feel.
You have to take off any pollution with a clay bar.
If you have any other questions about the clay bar or any other detailing steps,
subscribe to our YouTube Channel,
we have over 700 videos showing you how to detail just about anything!
You've got a nice car!
Let's keep it clean with Chemcial Guys.