I bought the Clay Magic clay with detailer spray and tried it on my daughter's 2001 metallic silver Civic. ...my first impression was what a pain...every time I tried to re-knead it, I would have to run up and put it in my microwave for 30 seconds....and it didn't seem to be doing too much, but the paint job is in pretty good condition

My second impression, after I wiped it off, and applied a coat of meguiar's NXT was....wow!!!
I left a quarter panel un-clayed but put a fresh layer of NXT on that to see the difference....doing the fingernail test, the unclayed panel was smooth and slippery and seemed great, but you could hear the fingernails scraping across....but then when you move on to the clayed panels, the fingernails scraping would be totally gone and became silent and would feel like on glass and was frictionless.....I am now a clay convert!

Now I can't wait to get to work on Umberto

 

Clay does wonderful things! I love it.

A few thoughts:

1. Try switching brands of clay. I love the knead-ability of the Zaino clay, though I have also heard good things about Mother's clay. I think that Clay Magic rated fairly poorly in a thread a few months ago.

2. Cut your clay into small pieces and don't knead it. I can get about 8-10 silver dollar sized disks (when flattened) from one Zaino claybar. Use one disk on both sides and then throw it away (or relegate it to a separate air-tight bag and container for glass or wheel use). By kneading your clay, you are imbedding particles deeper in where they may re-emerge later to scratch your finish. That, and if you drop the disk, you only dropped a $0.50 piece of clay, not a $5 piece... Warm the clay in the microwave and then store the fresh bits in a zip-lock bag in your pocket (to keep it warm and ready to use).

3. Use diluted auto shampoo as lube. Just dilute your favorite auto shampoo 1 to 10 with water and put into a spray bottle (though clay and clay lube often come together in a kit at the car supply stores).

 

You will find yourself always walking by and "feeling" your car now. It's a real addiction!

 

At my local Autozone, they had the Clay Magic and Mother's.....I also saw Meguiar's someplace around here too. Which of these three brands is the easiest to work with and the most recommended?

 

Of the three I would rate Mothers and ClayMagic pretty close. Maybe give the edge to Mothers.

But stay away from Meguiars. I hate the stuff. It's gooey, leaves way too much residue and is a pain to use.

Do a search on my instructions on how to use clay properly.

 

After having read about it many times, Saturday was the first time I clayed Molly - or anything for that matter.

OMG! To me it is almost like magic! I was impressed with not only how simple the whole process was but how great a job it did! I'm still in awe. I just can't believe I waited this long to try it. (I had purchased Mother's.)

Claying always "read" like a tough job to me - I was intimidated by the possibility of doing something wrong - irreparable damage - to my baby. Now I think back over all the time I've spent trying to scrub off the little black spots from the PS paint. Don't I feel silly.

I am so glad that I finally jumped in - the water sure is nice!

 

I got some mothers clay,going to try it out on my 94 Dakota,figure out how it works,then do my MINI