Is a clay bar really necessary?

No matter how skilled you are, a clay bar or cloth is a necessity. You can remove an incredible amount with iron remover and tar remover, as well as other car care products, which dissolve the vast majority of impurities that accumulate on your car's paint and really stick to it.

Even though I recommend using car care chemicals to remove as much dirt and grime as possible, it is definitely a very good idea to give your car a clay treatment once in a while.

By using car care chemicals first, you also reduce the risk of creating micro scratches or wash marks when removing ingrained dirt with your clay bar, mitt or cloth.

Typically, about 10-20% of ingrained dirt cannot be removed with car care chemicals and therefore requires treatment with a clay bar.

What impurities are on my paint?

Even though a lot of impurities are removed when you wash your car, unfortunately some remain and simply build up throughout the year. These typically include the following:

• Iron filings (brake dust and similar metal particles)
• Tar
• Chemical fallout
• Water spots

Why should I use a clay bar?

There are various reasons, but it all comes back to making your car easier to maintain and clean, and if you apply some form of paint protection, it also gets better adhesion.

It is also incredibly important before polishing, so that your polishing pads do not fill up with dirt and get smeared around on the car's paint.

So, in short, there are many benefits to using a clay bar.

• Easier to keep the car clean
• Paint protection lasts longer
• Polishing becomes better
• Polishing pads do not get unnecessarily dirty

My car looks clean, should I use a clay bar?

Even if your car looks really clean, it can still be full of ingrained impurities. It is especially on darker colours that it is difficult to see the impurities.

A really good tip to test if your car's paint is truly clean, either when it is completely dry or still wet after a car wash, is to feel the paint. If it feels completely smooth, without any bumps in the paint, then you're all set.

If it feels like there are bumps, impurities or even sounds like sandpaper, it requires a little extra love, preferably with a clay bar.

What is a clay bar?

The clay bar originated in 1990, when a Japanese man named Tadao Kadate invented it to remove ingrained impurities from car paint in a safe and effective way. Even over 30 years after its arrival, it is largely still the same as it was then. However, various variants have emerged in the form of synthetic materials, such as mitts or cloths.

All clay bars have in common that they somewhat resemble modelling clay and are a sticky mass. They collect ingrained dirt from the car's paint, whether it's iron filings, tar or other impurities, and when it's dirty enough, it's kneaded together to force the dirt into the center of the clay bar, creating a new surface.

It is therefore important and necessary to check how dirty your clay bar is, so that the dirt can get into the center, preventing you from unnecessarily smearing dirt onto your car's paint.

Other types of Clay materials

Although the clay bar works fantastically for removing impurities, it also has some disadvantages. One of them is that if you drop it, it must be thrown away, as it collects stones and dirt from the ground. The next is also its size.

Here, you can advantageously use a clay mitt or clay towel. They have a significantly larger surface, which makes it possible to clean the paint faster, and even in conjunction with some iron removers.

They also have a significantly longer lifespan than a traditional clay bar, as they are made of a perforated material that can be rinsed free of dirt, and if you were to drop it, you just need to clean it.

They are also more expensive to acquire, but if you want it to go faster or are afraid of dropping your clay bar, it is definitely worth investing in.

Clay mitts and clay towels from The Rag Company are even so gentle that they can be used to clay clean your ceramic coated car without causing wash marks, if used correctly.