Baby BMW Forum banner

Clay cloth/mitt

6K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  Woody95 
#1 ·
Hi guys what are peoples opinions on clay mitts as aposed to using a clay bar? I bought one for my current car but it can easily mar the paintwork, I don't think it's the finest grade available and with renault paintwork it might not be the best combo.

I was thinking of buying a finer grade clay mitt for the arrival of my new bmw as they do make the process of claying a car far quicker. However I would rather take longer with a clay bar if this will reduce the chance of marring.

Cheers!
 
#2 ·
Claying in general terms is the process of 'scraping your paint' - and is a really rough treatment, and will marr your paint as you mention. Clay bars, Clay cloths, clay mitts will all introduce some marring to paint - and as such I try and avoid it where possible unless absolutely necessary. Fine grades are better than medium grades but will still introduce fine marring.

Always soak your mitt / cloth in warm / hot water after use (helps break down the tar build up) and always 'break in' your cloth or mitt on glass before each use are the golden rules with these products..

I certainly don't clay new cars unless they are getting machine polished after for this very reason.

Plenty of fallout remover and tar / glue remover is all you need on a new car..
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
sootyvrs said:
Ben GT said:
I recently bought this " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good value compared to most clay cloths I've seen and many many reviews on detailing world about how good it is
Funny how it says it lasts 5x longer than clay bars... I bin mine after one use so everything lasts longer :lol2:
I don't care about how long it lasts, hate claying! The cloth had the car done before i'd have normally managed to warm a clay bar though so I'd go for one every time now
 
#6 ·
Blackroc said:
Claying in general terms is the process of 'scraping your paint' - and is a really rough treatment, and will marr your paint as you mention. Clay bars, Clay cloths, clay mitts will all introduce some marring to paint - and as such I try and avoid it where possible unless absolutely necessary. Fine grades are better than medium grades but will still introduce fine marring.

Always soak your mitt / cloth in warm / hot water after use (helps break down the tar build up) and always 'break in' your cloth or mitt on glass before each use are the golden rules with these products..

I certainly don't clay new cars unless they are getting machine polished after for this very reason.

Plenty of fallout remover and tar / glue remover is all you need on a new car..
When I come to the decontamination process I will just use tardis and iron x and leave out the clay stage.

Since my cars going to be glacier silver I'll be looking at getting a sealant. Probabaly go with tough prep/tough coat combo and maybe a layer of collinite 845 for extra protection.

I don't have a DA or rotary and the last thing I want is brand new car covered in marring, looks horrible!

Generally speaking is it normal for bmw paint to come swirl/blemish free from the factory?
 
#7 ·
#9 ·
DaleB90 said:
Blackroc said:
Claying in general terms is the process of 'scraping your paint' - and is a really rough treatment, and will marr your paint as you mention. Clay bars, Clay cloths, clay mitts will all introduce some marring to paint - and as such I try and avoid it where possible unless absolutely necessary. Fine grades are better than medium grades but will still introduce fine marring.

Always soak your mitt / cloth in warm / hot water after use (helps break down the tar build up) and always 'break in' your cloth or mitt on glass before each use are the golden rules with these products..

I certainly don't clay new cars unless they are getting machine polished after for this very reason.

Plenty of fallout remover and tar / glue remover is all you need on a new car..
When I come to the decontamination process I will just use tardis and iron x and leave out the clay stage.

Since my cars going to be glacier silver I'll be looking at getting a sealant. Probabaly go with tough prep/tough coat combo and maybe a layer of collinite 845 for extra protection.

I don't have a DA or rotary and the last thing I want is brand new car covered in marring, looks horrible!

Generally speaking is it normal for bmw paint to come swirl/blemish free from the factory?
I've seen some good and some not so good!

New cars don't tend to come too badly swirled as such, but the paint clarity is not usually great.

I've seen lots of bird bomb evidence on front wings and bonnets though..and the odd scratch / mark.

Oh and fallout like you won't believe! Bonnet, front wings, door panels and boot are particularly bad!

Protection wise, whilst I like Tough Coat, it's durability lets it down badly. I've seen it gone in 6 weeks. Get GTechniq c2v3, AngelWax Ti-22 or CarChem Hydro Coat. All look great and last much longer than Tough Coat does..
 
#10 ·
Blackroc said:
DaleB90 said:
Blackroc said:
Claying in general terms is the process of 'scraping your paint' - and is a really rough treatment, and will marr your paint as you mention. Clay bars, Clay cloths, clay mitts will all introduce some marring to paint - and as such I try and avoid it where possible unless absolutely necessary. Fine grades are better than medium grades but will still introduce fine marring.

Always soak your mitt / cloth in warm / hot water after use (helps break down the tar build up) and always 'break in' your cloth or mitt on glass before each use are the golden rules with these products..

I certainly don't clay new cars unless they are getting machine polished after for this very reason.

Plenty of fallout remover and tar / glue remover is all you need on a new car..
When I come to the decontamination process I will just use tardis and iron x and leave out the clay stage.

Since my cars going to be glacier silver I'll be looking at getting a sealant. Probabaly go with tough prep/tough coat combo and maybe a layer of collinite 845 for extra protection.

I don't have a DA or rotary and the last thing I want is brand new car covered in marring, looks horrible!

Generally speaking is it normal for bmw paint to come swirl/blemish free from the factory?
I've seen some good and some not so good!

New cars don't tend to come too badly swirled as such, but the paint clarity is not usually great.

I've seen lots of bird bomb evidence on front wings and bonnets though..and the odd scratch / mark.

Oh and fallout like you won't believe! Bonnet, front wings, door panels and boot are particularly bad!

Protection wise, whilst I like Tough Coat, it's durability lets it down badly. I've seen it gone in 6 weeks. Get GTechniq c2v3, AngelWax Ti-22 or CarChem Hydro Coat. All look great and last much longer than Tough Coat does..
Looking on your site I notice there is a CarChem pre cleaner/hydro coat package. Would AF Tough Prep work with c2v3 or Ti-22 out of intrest?

Which brings me onto my next question, do all pre wax/sealant cleaners have fine polishing properties?

Thanks :thumbs:
 
#11 ·
DaleB90 said:
[

Looking on your site I notice there is a CarChem pre cleaner/hydro coat package. Would AF Tough Prep work with c2v3 or Ti-22 out of intrest?

Which brings me onto my next question, do all pre wax/sealant cleaners have fine polishing properties?

Thanks :thumbs:
I use AF Tough Prep with sealants, but will be dropping it when CarChems new PTFE polish is launched (edit - its been launched today but I cant order it yet!) Basically - you can apply any polish under a sealant, BUT standard polishes contains oils that stop the sealant bonding very well to your car - so protection levels can easily drop by half at least as a result. Tough Prep / CarChem Paint Cleanser is oil free, and designed to clean and leave a base for sealants to work at their best. As a result - use normal polishes (AG SRP / AF Tripple / AF Rejuvenate etc..) with waxes only :cool2:
 
#12 ·
Blackroc said:
DaleB90 said:
[

Looking on your site I notice there is a CarChem pre cleaner/hydro coat package. Would AF Tough Prep work with c2v3 or Ti-22 out of intrest?

Which brings me onto my next question, do all pre wax/sealant cleaners have fine polishing properties?

Thanks :thumbs:
I use AF Tough Prep with sealants, but will be dropping it when CarChems new PTFE polish is launched (edit - its been launched today but I cant order it yet!) Basically - you can apply any polish under a sealant, BUT standard polishes contains oils that stop the sealant bonding very well to your car - so protection levels can easily drop by half at least as a result. Tough Prep / CarChem Paint Cleanser is oil free, and designed to clean and leave a base for sealants to work at their best. As a result - use normal polishes (AG SRP / AF Tripple / AF Rejuvenate etc..) with waxes only :cool2:
Perfect! Now I need to decide which products to chose. Thanks for all your advice!
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
The halfords link dont work no more, was it the G3 mitt?

Would you use this like a microfibre wash mitt, so you would use minimal pressure and just glide across the paintwork?

I was watching the chemical guys youtube channel as they have something similar but theirs is £40!!!
 
#15 ·
I've used my clay cloth a couple of times and it is a lot better than clay bar for getting at large areas quickly. But for really stubborn spots, I still use my clay bar which seems to be better.

Tip: I've been spending decent amount of money on clay lubrication but a mate was saying that you can just use diluted car wash shampoo.
 
#16 ·
You can but if you buy the Bilt Hamber stuff you can just use water.
 
#17 ·
On cars that have never been clayed I always use a clay bar (AG with rapid detailer) but after claying with a bar the next time i clay I always use the G3 mitt as its so easy to use and works well. However as someone has said it isn't as good as a bar so I go back to the bar for stubborn marks. Also I use G3 body prep shampoo in a bucket of warm water and it works great. I have used it with their detailer and it was also great but it seemed a waste of detailing spray [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Sent from my iPhone 6 plus using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top