After 18 months of driving, I finally used a clay bar on my MINI. The toughest part was accepting the fact that my many wax layers would all need to be removed. That Dawn detergent did the trick..wierd to see the water sheet, rather than bead on the paint. I have to admit, when I read that you could "hear" the clay pulling the contaminants out of the paint...I was sure they were all smoking something! Well claying does work and you can hear it, too. Once the clay cleaned the base paint(about 90 minutes), I just had to reapply my layers of wax. The feel and shine are unbelieveable! If any of you have a day to kill, I'd highly recommend it.

Motor on.

 

that's discusting. i don't hear anything when i clay my MCS just
glides back and forth.

 

Congrats - claying your car is one of the better "bang for buck" (and bang for effort) that you can get. You really don't have to rub hard and if you use proper lubricant mist and start with a clean clay bar and clean car it's almost foolproof. Makes the polish, sealant and/or wax a pleasure to apply.

 

Agreed, MINI552, very light touch and let the clay do the work.

Kenchan, it might be the Minnesota winter grit up here on top of whatever got on her between here and Oxford. I'll definitely do this every 6 mos.

 

Gave Dylan her first claybar treatment this past weekend too. Feels like butter! Waaaaay cool!!!

Sadly, my apt. is right next to a major hwy so I couldn't hear jack except for the constant shhhhhhhh of the cars. But I sure could feel the difference!

 

Love love love clay! After I clayed my MINI I decided to do my husband's Passat. Note: 1 month old MINI Cabrio and 4 year old Passat do NOT have the same surface area! But what a difference after!

 

How often should one start claying?
I picked up my '05 in April of this year (new to me)...but to me, the paint looks new and fresh! Everytime i wax it, i can read the serial number off my shoes its so reflective!
What will claying do for me at this time?

 

Your wax will last longer too, because you're applying the wax to the actual paint and not to the layer of contaminants on the surface of the paint.