Clay Bar & Meguiars Step 1 **edited**

[CBASS]

I have been told that it is a better idea to clay the car instead of step 1 to get a smoother finish. Is it neccessary to Use Clay then step 1. or would step 1 do just as good of a job? Or is it one or the other?

PS... What about Stage 2? The polish...does it help a lot in the finished product?

Thanks

Colin

[rastaman]

i would just use one or the other. both is redundant.
in my opinion, i would clay bar once a year, and the rest of the times, just use stage 1.

[Mike]

I found the clay bar made NO difference on my car. I wouldn't reccomend it. But thats just from my experience. :shrug:

[DaveW]

Clay bar will remove surface contaminates like cement dust, old wax, pollution & over spray, but will not leave it much shinier. On black you can see the difference since must contaminate will be lighter color.

[SpreeGuy]

The following is from Autopia Car Care Site:

"The job of a paint polish is to improve paint surface quality. The abrasive level determines how much paint material it can remove and the final finish. A high abrasive polish will remove oxidation, swirl marks and light scratches. Heavy abrasives are good for cutting, but not for creating a high-gloss finish. A low abrasive polish will improve paint gloss but will not remove heavy oxidation, swirl marks or surface scratches.

Not long ago, detailers used polishes, often containing cleaning chemicals, to remove contamination on the paint surface. Polishing to clean the paint is a lot of work and it reduce paint thickness, which is critical on vehicles with a clear coat.

Paint detailing clay is a polishing abrasive suspended in a plastic or elastic clay material. When used with a proper lubricant, detailing clay removes surface contamination from paint and glass without polishing.

Even though clay contains abrasives, it does not cut or polish paint because it is hydraulically suspended by the lubricant. However, and particle contamination protruding above the paint surface is easily cut off by the clay. "


More on clay (http://www.autopia-carcare.com/clwicl.html)