New way to clean clay

T

thevolvoguy

New member
It seems obvious to me. I dropped my clay bar in the dirt today, better throw it away. Right? NO! Don't do that, clean it. Here's what I did-



Turn your tap water on as hot as it will go (hot enough to where you cant touch it) Find a glass mug or somthing and put it under the running faucet. So now its constantly filling up w/ hot water. Drop the dirty clay bar in the water and let it sit for about 5 mins w/ water still running. Now take the clay out and it should be extremely moldable. Stretch it out as thin as you can get it and pick out any obvious dirt or sand. Stretch and fold the clay under the running water until it becomes clean. I got mine perfectly white, like new, with no dirt on it in less than 10 minutes. I dont know how soft bars (clay magic) will react to the hot water. But meg. cleans very well.
 
I doubt it's possible to remove every piece of foreign object stuck to a clay bar after being dropped.



Forget the cost of a bar. For the cost of a new quality repaint, I'd throw the bar away and buy a new one. I don't know any clay supplier who recommends trying to clean a bar after being dropped.
 
Originally posted by thevolvoguy forrest- You don't know until you try
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Well maybe he hasn't ever tried to clean a piece of clay after dropping it in the dirt, but then maybe he has and found it didn't work. Getting a new paint job just because you got a few scratches from a missed piece of grit in your clay is a little extreme. I think that before I'd go to all the trouble to wash off any grit, it would be easier to take a single edge razor blade and cut off the area that landed on the ground. When I get ready to detail my car, I sweep my garage floor, hose it down and then run a squeegee over to remove the water. That way if I do drop anything on the floor it's less likely to pick up any grit. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine if there's any grit in the item you dropped. You rub your fingertips over it and you either feel something gritty or you don't. If it's clay that I dropped I also look at it with a magnifying glass just to be sure. If I have any doubts, it's in the trash. One thing that is for sure, if you never reuse a dropped piece of clay, you will never induce any scratches from that piece. And that is the whole point.
 
Personally I'd try refrigerating (or freezing?) the clay and cutting or shaving off the top layer first. While you can try picking off grit and dirt, this sounds a bit tedious for my tastes and besides, what if the dirt is the same colour as the bar?
 
4DSC said:
Personally I'd try refrigerating (or freezing?) the clay and cutting or shaving off the top layer first. While you can try picking off grit and dirt, this sounds a bit tedious for my tastes and besides, what if the dirt is the same colour as the bar?
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I haven't blue or yellow dirt in awhile. What about purple?
 
Intel486 said:




I haven't blue or yellow dirt in awhile. What about purple?
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Okay, true, but last week I saw a bar by Meguiar's (?) that was whiteish-gray, so that's what I was thinking about. Also, clear bits of sand could blend in... :nixweiss Just ideas, that's all.
 
I'm thinking you wouldn't do that if it were clay you were using on your OWN car volvoguy...... but since it was your EX's FARM TRUCK, why waste using two whole new bars on it, right?? ;) :p
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
I'm thinking you wouldn't do that if it were clay you were using on your OWN car volvoguy...... but since it was your EX's FARM TRUCK, why waste using two whole new bars on it, right?? ;) :p
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lol... good point Shiny:wavey
 
that's true... hot water with clay softens it up a lot... I did it to my Soft99 clay as well, wasn't able to remove all dirt, but maybe around 98% of it on that surface.. then I just pinched off the ones that are too deep... then used that clay on mouldings, and other "non-essential" parts of the car.
 
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