Thinking about Clay Bar and general waxing questions

[accordztech]

What do you mean compound the whole car? I presume they sell Meguirs Swirt Remover 2.0 at most auto parts stores? Where do you buy your bonnets?

i mean basically put swirl remover on the whole car, it will enlighten the shine and get rid of alot of things before you do the clay bar coat.

i buy my bonnets from sears, cause i have a 6 inch buffer its easier and sears is the only exact fit ones i seen, but auto stores have them but they are a bit bigger.

I've never used claybar at all and am trying practice. BTW, claybar is sold at autoparts stores too, correct? How much $?

claybar is about 15 to 20 bucks, i use the mothers one...its fun to use

What are the steps you'd take then?

basically i wash the car down then buff it with swirl remover and that gets the scratches out and alot of imperfections. then i feel the paint for smoothness...usually even if i feel a bit of grit i dont claybar but if you do then id claybar...have fun.

then after that i always top off with a coat of wax. you can apply the wax with a clean terry cloth..

tip---when using the terry cloths dont use them bone dry, it may scratch...wet them and ring them out as much as you can. then put it on the buffer and turn the buffer on to get the excess water off...then you can put the wax on it.

www.autopia.com i hope that link works.

[accordztech]

An easy way to clay your car is to do it while your washing the car, a quality wash will work as a good lube for the clay bar and you kill two birds with one stone. If you have never used a high speed buffer before I dont recomend trying it out on your car you can easily burn through your paint if you sit it one spot to long especially on corners of the car. Go buy a porter cable DA polisher, you can get almost the same quality with out the worry of ruining your paint.

good point. but right now i should point out we are all talking about a small dual action or random orbital buffer that spins in many directions at 3k rpms. the other kind runs at like 5k rpms and in one direction which shouldnt be used by beginners...

but the random orbital buffers its a good tip not to stay on one spot but to coast over it a few times working the wax in.

[accordaffair]

I'd like to chime in and say I just started using clay bar about a week ago, and I'm very happy with it!

[H23 Lude]

I'll probably use Clay bar this week. Since some of the paint feels kind of rough

[H23 Lude]

I was amazed when i used the clayber yesterday, it left my paint so smooth and a bit shinier. It was so easy to use.

[do0dfromcali]

Clay bars are awesome....I love it

[Blk EX Coupe]

i buy my bonnets from sears, cause i have a 6 inch buffer its easier and sears is the only exact fit ones i seen, but auto stores have them but they are a bit bigger.

Which bonnets do you use? I barely even use my craftsman buffer because I stopped detailing my car as much and my car looks horrible now.

[accordztech]

Which bonnets do you use? I barely even use my craftsman buffer because I stopped detailing my car as much and my car looks horrible now.

the 100% terry bonnets from chraftsman...good stuff.

[doylna]

Time to buy some bonnets now. I have a 6" Wen ROB. Th Terry one i have is in decent shape, but I think I'd like to find some better quality ones as well. Once the weather gets nice, I'm going to strip everything down with clay bar and then put a serious shine on my car.

I just need to find some bonnets. Anyone have a good source?

[accordztech]

Time to buy some bonnets now. I have a 6" Wen ROB. Th Terry one i have is in decent shape, but I think I'd like to find some better quality ones as well. Once the weather gets nice, I'm going to strip everything down with clay bar and then put a serious shine on my car.

I just need to find some bonnets. Anyone have a good source?

go to sears and buy theirs, its the tightest fit out there.

you do have a foam pad built into your buffer right?

[doylna]

go to sears and buy theirs, its the tightest fit out there.

you do have a foam pad built into your buffer right?

I don't have a sears anywhere near me, but I do have the foampad part on the buffer. There almost has to be someplace online that sells the bonnets.

[mrvinyl33]

You may wish to consider micro-fiber bonnets, such as the ones here:
http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?&SKU=11518

Of course, products from Griot's aren't cheap. I have ordered some products from there with great results (but I don't have an oribital).

Also (as an example only):
http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bi...&query=bonnets

[doylna]

thanks for the suggestions...any others out there as well?

[doylna]

time to get to it...and time to find the bonnets. Maybe ebay? Hey accordztech, how much are the bonnets you're buying at Sears, so I get a sense of how much to spend..

thanks.

[accordztech]

they are like 5 bucks.