Best bang for buck Clay?

Anyone interested, just left K-Mart and they have blue Clay Magic 100g for $10.99
 
Bunky said:
I consider softer as good.

I did not find any difference between Meg's and Mothers side by side so softness is not necessarily related to effectiveness.
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For whatever reason, I seem to have a tough time using softer clay bars. Maybe I'm too aggressive with them? I'm not really sure. All I know is, the OTC Megs clay bar kit has met my needs every time. I have some pinnacle clay in the mail right now though, so I'm excited to give that a try.
 
I love Zaino clay. Never had an issue with it. It works very well with any kind of lubricant.

I received some no name clay from Ron (rzatch) here on the forums and its pretty damn good. I used ONR version 2 as my lubricant. Maybe he can chime in and let us know where he got it from.

I've used Wolfgang clay and personally did not like it. It took contaminants off very easily but left marring in the finish. I also used wolfgang clay lubricant like the directions said.
 
Again, Griot's everyday price for their 226 grams clay is $19.99. It is soft, you pay no taxes, and can be had with free shipping. That is very hard to beat unless you can buy clay on BOGO.
 
Another big vote for meg's clay. Inexpensive & doesn't fall apart from hot paint.
 
guess I am in the minority that buys cheap chinese bars off ebay...
$4-5 for a 150-200g bar that seems to work just as well as any other to me seems to be pretty reasonable? Gotta wait a little for delivery but shipping is free if you catch the right deal too.

:dunno:
 
I use the Detailer's Pro Universal Clay Bar & lube. Cheap & effective, can't beat it.
 
Tundra_10 said:
guess I am in the minority that buys cheap chinese bars off ebay...
$4-5 for a 150-200g bar that seems to work just as well as any other to me seems to be pretty reasonable? Gotta wait a little for delivery but shipping is free if you catch the right deal too.

:dunno:
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This is very interesting... I've never considered this purchasing strategy before. I'd have to assume the materials are all the same anyway, probably mass produced by the ton in a factory somewhere, and then rebranded and renamed to the companies specs with their logo on it (like so many other thins in the global marketplace). $5 for a full 200g bar, wow, how much "worse" can it be than the premier name-brand bars anyway? Worse case scenario, it's 1/4 the price, and maybe only 3/4 as "good," so the detailer still makes out mathematically :)
 
Capa1970 said:
Griot's gives a lot of bang for the buck and tends to be on the softer side, which I prefer.
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To me after shopping around would agree to this it gives you plenty of clay and for the price at which you pay it really is a bang for buck but is on the softer side.
Lasthope05 said:
Make the switch over to a clay block or towel and you will never use want to use a traditional clay bar ever again. Magna Sponges are really cheap, works 10x faster and lasts several times longer. Plus you can drop them on the floor with no problems. Just give it a quick rinse. They are fairly aggressive so you will need to use a lite polish or paint cleaner afterwards (which you should be doing anyways if you are claying the paint.)
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I believe that If it is that agressive that it is almost a necessity to use a polish its not a very good idea once every two months it be nice to wash your car and clay and reapply your wax/sealant. Thats just my opinion in all honestly, also imo clay should not be so agressive either.
:detailer:
 
Alex22 said:
To me after shopping around would agree to this it gives you plenty of clay and for the price at which you pay it really is a bang for buck but is on the softer side.

I believe that If it is that agressive that it is almost a necessity to use a polish its not a very good idea once every two months it be nice to wash your car and clay and reapply your wax/sealant. Thats just my opinion in all honestly, also imo clay should not be so agressive either.
:detailer:
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For a cheap effective clay to use from a business stand point and when doing customer cars, more than likely the paint will be heavily contaminated to where there is a better trade off to using an aggressive clay to quickly remove the contaminates. Time is money after all and the marring left behind is easily cleaned up a light polish or paint cleaner(1-2 passes and its gone).

Also on personal cars, if you've taken care of it there is no need to clay your car every 2 months. That is, IMHO, excessive. Claying is a 1-2x year thing. I live 3 blocks away from a railroad and only need to clay every 6 or so months.

Anyways, ideally, you should be using a paint cleaner/light polish to prep your paint for a fresh layer of wax and not a clay bar. For me, no matter if its my own car or a customers, if I clay I always follow up with some machine polishing. Light polishes remove an immeasurable amount of paint so I wouldnt really worry about it( even if its done once a month) and always improve upon the paints finish. So for the extra 30 minutes, its well worth it.
 
cool. so what brand would you recommend buying that would give you the bang for your buck?
 
Tundra_10 said:
guess I am in the minority that buys cheap chinese bars off ebay...

$4-5 for a 150-200g bar that seems to work just as well as any other to me seems to be pretty reasonable? Gotta wait a little for delivery but shipping is free if you catch the right deal too.
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Me too. $5.60ish for 160g shipped. I used one this last weekend and it was great.
 
Alex22 said:
cool. so what brand would you recommend buying that would give you the bang for your buck?
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Besides the cheap ebay clay bars its all personal preference. There really is no best bang for the buck clay. Pricing is so similar between all major brands per oz, at best you'll save a dollar or two. Best I can say is stick to what you feel is is best. I like clay magic blue and mothers if I use a traditional clay vs a clay block for a mild maintenance clay.
 
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