One clay bar per car?

I have read that some guys use one clay bar for a few cars. Others have said throw away the clay once you have used it once.

Can you use the clay on more than one car?:shead:

 

I use more than one car until it die!

 

i break mine up in peices to use on each car once the bar gets contaminated i throw it away.

 

How often can I re- use detailer’s clay?
Inspect the clay surface often and fold (knead) clay to present a clean surface to the paint to avoid scratching; when the clay surface becomes really soiled (it becomes more difficult to find a clean surface by kneading, *relegate and use fresh clay. Do not over use a clay bar. Take a 100 gm bar and divide it into 6-8 pieces (this allows you to drop a piece and not have to throw away the whole bar) A mid size car usually takes around 25-50 grams

*Once the clay becomes too soiled for paintwork, relegate to glass surfaces, and from there to wheel surfaces and finally discard.



Clay - Detailers Automotive Clay: - An Article by Jon Miller - Detail University - Auto Detailing Forum

 

I use Meguiars Blue Clay and break it up into two bigger pieces.

After use I store in a zip lock back with some Final Touch or Quik Detailer and then place it in the container it comes with.

If it hits the ground, its garbage.

I generally keep my older pieces of clay for things like windows, chrome trim, wheels etc...

 

Good Idea

The stuff is also expensive, so to just chuck it is a waste.:shakehead:

 

I break my bar up in smaller pieces and use a smaller piece to clay the vehicle. When it's been turned and kneaded into every single possible direction and it's contaminated, it's used for wheels, windows, etc.

 

What they said. :thumb: Or as Bogart said: "Clay it again, Sam"

 

:nod: I agree with all of the above :nod:

 

It's dropping it that pisses you off.:fs:

 

Totally depends on what you're removing from the finish. I extend the use/life of my Clay Magic to the fullest. I usually stop using it when it looses it's effectiveness, not on a per car basis.

 

Yes, dropping it does suck. I found a bar of Riccardo clay a loooong time ago, when they first stopped selling it. Was an awesome feeling when I found it. I opened it and dropped it... lol

I'll say I spent half the day picking it clean....

But no, I use a bar for many vehicles...

 

I don't, I trash the bar after each use. I deal with some expensive cars and don't want to take the risk of scratching a vehicle.

 

Can't remember where I read it but anyways....The article suggested you cut the bar into 8 equally sized sections, use one piece for the hood, one for the roof, and then another piece for the boot lid and/or rear. It is usually the horizontal surfaces of the car that have the most bonded contaminants, the sides sections are generally not as bad as the top. Turf the pieces you used on the horizontal parts as they would usually be in the worst shape and possibly re-use the ones used on the sides. The article also mentioned that rolling the clay often, whilst exposing fresh clay, could at the same time expose some contaminants that could mar the surface.....

I tried what was mentioned in the article when I took delivery of my previous car and it actually worked out quite well, I used the 3 pieces for the horizontal areas and then wound up only using 2 more for the side surfaces. At the end of the day I had a little over 1/2 a bar left that was still in tip top condition, 3 pieces unused and 2 that were used but didn't really have any contaminants in them.

 

That's an interesting way to clay Carn, as I normaly just cut the a clay bar in half and save the other half but cutting it into 8 peaces makes sence...:thinking:..mmm...very intersting I may give this a try. Nice thing is that clay just keeps expanding and expanding so even if you start with a small section by the time your done you'll have it the size of your hand.

Thank you for sharing eace:

 

Personaly i never clay a car that im not going to polish but i can see how that would be one of the safer ways out there.

 

The pieces you left with are usually around 5/8" in diameter when rolled into a ball, and roughly 2" in diameter and around 2/16" thick when squashed. As you said they expand as you use them, all in all it worked ok for me.....Oh and it was a Meguiars clay bar, not sure if they all the same size as that is the only one I have used before :mounty:

Edit to add : One thing I forgot to mention also is that I used one side of the disc for 1/2 the hood/roof/trunk/ect and then flipped it over and used the other side for the other half ;-)