Valeting Tips – Part 2

Many will find this conceptually bizarre and contradictory, and a few will have seen its wonderful results. I'm talking about Clay Bar; a product beloved by professional valeters but which can be yours from any number of suppliers for around £20.

The idea of dragging mineral clay over your paint strikes many as counter intuitive, but this is special stuff, made in a handful of factories overseas. It's smooth, often sticky, in various colours – blue, yellow, green, grey, sticky to varying degrees and in one case crumbly (not recommended). Coupled with a special lubricant, a small piece is used to glide over the surface of the paint, lifting off anything stuck to the surface. So baked on bird muck, flies, tar spots, brake dust (you can use it on your alloys, though keep this piece separate from your bodywork piece), overspray and general bits of stuck on micro-debris just lift off.

'Concourse smooth' as opposed to 'just shiny'

Keep the clay moving back and forth over a small area of paint, about A4 size, use plenty of lubricant until it glides effortlessly, and you'll see the leading edge turn black. Fold it over to expose a clean piece. Once the area is roughly dried off, it will feel glass smooth – guaranteed. This is what marks out concourse-smooth paint over a surface that just looks shiny. You can reuse the clean parts of the bar such that a 100g bar will do a car several times.

Ongoing usage is recommended for summer flies, tar and annoying scuffs or marks on paintwork, chrome, glass and metal, but general bodywork will only need this treatment annually. It's a revelation, and everyone who uses it is amazed - just try it!

At this stage your car is clean, the paint is ready to be treated for swirls, scratches and colour deterioration. And you'll need to polish it. That's the subject of the next instalment.

Please call 0845 0 944 942 for a FREE no-obligation consultion or click here to email Karlsson Collins Mobile Car Valeting.