6 -7 hours to clay bar and wax a WRX?

[Sasquatch]

Does this seem too long? No wonder I hate clay barring and waxing! What could I be doing wrong?

At least the WRX looks great!

[D0WNxSH1FT]

hey any tips for clay barring? My WRX needs it bad. ive never done it before.

My old RSX's paint looked so much better (granted it was desert silver metallic and had a real clear coat). I also hand washed the RSX once a week besides in the winter when a car wash was used. With my WRX i dont have a driveway or time (i live in Boston now, not at home in NY), so im always using car washes and the crappy subaru paint, red has no extra clear coat, and it has lines in it when the sunreflects and a carwash guy told me i need to claybar to get all the dirt out.

[Sasquatch]

hey any tips for clay barring? My WRX needs it bad. ive never done it before.

It is easy and relatively fast. Simply keep the area being working on nice and wet with the detail spray in the kit.

[D0WNxSH1FT]

It is easy and relatively fast. Simply keep the area being working on nice and wet with the detail spray in the kit.

Is it like waxing? You just spray the polish and then rub the bar on the car? or what? lol.

[cavallino333]

Is it like waxing? You just spray the polish and then rub the bar on the car? or what? lol.

Claybaring's easy but somewhat time consuming. Just spray the car with a load of quick detailer then rub the clay on the paint. I just go down in lines (sort of like mowing a lawn lol) until it feels like its not picking anything up in the area.


Last time I clayed and waxed my car it took me about 6-7 hours. I washed it clayed it, cleaner waxed it, waxed it and then topped it off with a carnuba wax. I only clay it about once a year.

[ScreamnRex]

Ive never done this....Overall is it worth doing it, rather than just waxing?

[Sasquatch]

Is it like waxing? You just spray the polish and then rub the bar on the car? or what? lol.

Yep, pretty much ... you need to keep the surface wet.

Ive never done this....Overall is it worth doing it, rather than just waxing?

Absolutely worth it. When the clay hits the paint there is some resistance. A few rubs later the resistance is gone (clean paint). Simply wipe off the surface with a dry towel and you are left with a super smooth finish ready for wax. Once I saw what it can do, I would not wax a car without using clay first.

[Redline927]

well it seems like you really took your time with it, which is a good thing, so 6-7 hrs is fine.

i dont know how you work, for me it would probably be:
1.5 hours, thorough wash
1 hour claybar
30 min. second wash
30 min 1 coat of wax

= 3.5 hours.

next time, maybe include polishing before wax. It is critical in achieving the perfect shine/gloss/depth, etc. It seems that a lot of you guys forget about polishing, and jump right to the wax. The wax is merely something to seal your paint with after you "perfect" it using a polish or compound. Just something to consider.

[orvtech]

Yep, pretty much ... you need to keep the surface wet.



Absolutely worth it. When the clay hits the paint there is some resistance. A few rubs later the resistance is gone (clean paint). Simply wipe off the surface with a dry towel and you are left with a super smooth finish ready for wax. Once I saw what it can do, I would not wax a car without using clay first.

how often should one clay the car ?

[Sasquatch]

well it seems like you really took your time with it, which is a good thing, so 6-7 hrs is fine. next time, maybe include polishing before wax. It is critical in achieving the perfect shine/gloss/depth, etc.

Agreed, but with aready taking 6+ hours for the two steps, polishing would take too long. I am not after a show car shine like you. My WRX looks great now. I think PSM is an easy color to keep shiny.

how often should one clay the car ?

Depends how much you wax. I would not think twice a year as being too much clay ...

Tyler, what do you think?

[WRXDrummer04]

I didn't think adding polish to the mix took too long. I did mine a few weeks ago. Started ~11. Wash, claybar, second quick wash, polish, wax, final buff. Finished ~5. It only took me ~25 mins to wax though as I used Turtle Wax Ice. Good stuff, going to add a second coat as soon as I get a day off to wash the car again.

[Jje121]

I agree the results after the clay bar are outstanding. There are a couple of pics of my car after I used a clay bar, and my sideskirts drying..

Clay Bar and Wax (pics 56K go away)

[Sasquatch]

I agree the results after the clay bar are outstanding. There are a couple of pics of my car after I used a clay bar, and my sideskirts drying..

Clay Bar and Wax (pics 56K go away)

Very nice!

[Jje121]

Very nice!

Thanks

[Sasquatch]

Thanks

WRB had much more potential to shine than PSM.