The Clay Bar - How A Piece of Clay Fits Into Cleaning Your Car

For all my time in the detailing business, I have heard more confusion and questions about this little blob. I hope to clear up some confusion and provide a little education.

When you “clay bar” a car, you are literally taking a lump of clay and “scrubbing” the exterior painted surfaces of the car. A lubricant is used in the process (soapy water or a liquid spray wax - my personal favorite), keeping the clay from sticking to the car and increasing the performance of the product. When the clay is used, the contact surface is so smooth and flat that it creates more surface contact than any buffer or hand towel can. This close contact is what provides the clay with the ability to remove surface contaminants like industrial fallout. The clay absorbs the contamination and does not transfer it back to the car.

At the end of the job your paint is left super clean and ready for the best wax application possible. If you do not clay the car and still wax it, you may notice little white specs on the car. This is where the fallout traps the wax. I have never felt a finish so smooth and seen a wax job as good as I have after a thorough clay job. You will be amazed at the results!

This is a job you can do yourself but I do not recommend it unless you have done it a few times already. The clay traps everything that it contacts so picking something up that will scratch your car is a real possibility. It is time consuming as well.

This is a process that is used in conjunction with buffing, but it doesn't always accompanies just buffing. If you want this process done, it is best to ask specifically for it.

If you do it on your own, I do recommend using a liquid spray wax. The job is cleaner and, I think, better. As for the clay itself, just use a high quality product and you will be happy. I recommend pretty much anything that you find at Griot’s Garage. They do a great job with their products.

Happy clay bar, people! Put some diapers in your car because the finish will be Baby Butt Smooth!

Removing Decals: How to Defeat the Bumper Blogger!

We see a lot of cars that are covered in stickers, some more ridiculous than others. There are a number of reasons for this. Sometimes you simply want to remove a sticker you wish you hadn't place on your vehicle. Other times it's because you got a great deal on a car like this. Generally, the person that would cover their vehicle with stickers is not a person that takes excellent care of their car. We also get the occasional customer with a higher end vehicle who wants to get all of the factory marking off of it for one reason or another. Whatever your reason, I'm writing this update to help you remove those pesky decals! Generally, it is much easier to get stickers off of new paint than old, but by applying the proper techniques, you can safely remove stickers and decals from any vehicle.

First, let me tackle how to get decals off of glass. It is actually very simple - go get some glass cleaner and a razor blade. Wet the area down with the glass cleaner and use the sharp razor blade to scrape the sticker off the window. You should keep the razor blade at a 45 degree angle to avoid scratching the glass. Generally, it is difficult to scratch a window with a razor blade, but it can be done, so you should be reasonable in this application. Don’t viciously attack the window and you should be just fine.

Removing stickers from paint isn’t quite as easy - especially if the sticker has been on the car for several years or more. You are going to need the following items (I am going to list a less aggressive and a more aggressive option):  

Less Aggressive:

• Hair Dryer
• Terry Cloth Towel
• Glass Cleaner/Tar Remover
• Hand Waxing Compound

More Aggressive (Pro):

• Industrial Heat Gun
• Sanded Down Razor Blade*
• Lacquer Thinner 
• Buffing Compound/Buffer  

*We take a razor blade and we sound down the sharp edges and corners with a piece of sandpaper. You have to be careful to get all of the sharp edges being especially careful to sand down the corners of the razor blade.  What you have left once you have accomplished this is an excellent tool for scraping paint without scratching it.  

When approaching the decal that you are removing, start by heating up the decal. If you are using the industrial heat gun, you should be careful not to keep the heat gun to close to the paint. You can burn the paint with the heat gun, so be careful! The sticker doesn’t have to be extremely hot. It should be almost too warm to touch, but you shouldn’t have any trouble or pain when touching the heated decal. Next you can take your fingernail or a plastic razor blade and begin to peel back the decal. There is a certain level of heat required, and if you get it right, the decal will be warm enough that it will come off, but not so warm that it comes off in a million pieces. You should be able to peel the decal back fairly easily.

Peeling away the decal will most likely leave an adhesive residue. There are a number of ways to get this off. A less aggressive approach is to take some glass cleaner and a terry cloth towel and try to scrub it off. If that doesn’t work, you can try tar remover which, often times, works like a charm. If that still doesn’t work, you can do what we do and use some lacquer thinner. If you choose to go with this option you should be very careful - lacquer thinner is made to remove paint! Apply the lacquer to a terry cloth or micro-fiber towel (a micro-fiber is less aggressive, a terry cloth towel is more aggressive). Next, rub lightly on the area that has the adhesive. It should come off fairly easily. If it doesn’t, you are in for some long hours with a plastic razor blade or “gooch” (this is what we call a retractable razor knife with a sanded down razor blade).  

You can use the above method to remove almost any adhesion type product from a car. This is how we remove clear bras, racing stripes, and anything else that is sticking to the vehicle and needs to be removed. If you are careful, you will be fine. Once you have completely removed the decal, it is a good idea to thoroughly clean and wax the area. Often times we cut/buff the area where the sticker was in order to remove any minor scratching that may have occurred during the process.

Of course, if you don't have the tools or aren't comfortable removing decals yourself, bring your vehicle over to The Car Bar. We'd be more than happy to help!