Clay bar vs Towel vs Mitt?

[BrrrBrrr is verified member.]

I was looking to buy another clay bar and I came across clay towels. Then I remembered I had a Blackfire medium clay mitt. Naturally, I got to thinking about which I should be using or the situation on when I need to use a specific one over the other.
A mitt/towel will cover more surface area than a bar, won’t have to knead it over and over again, but does it get rid of the contamination that a bar does to let that clear coat shine?
And what’s the difference between a fine clay towel/mitt and a medium one? I always just bought the two bar pack of Meguiars at the wal mart.


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[PaulMys]

A mitt or towel will not remove deep contaminates on neglected paint as well as a clay bar. If your paint is well-maintained, a mitt or towel will be all you need in most cases.

And a "fine" clay mitt/towel vs. the medium one is self-explanatory. The "medium" is more aggressive. (Like a compound vs. a polish.)

 

[noorth]

From my understanding aggressive traditional clay will outperform synthetic clay - heavy decon. But medium and fine clay will give similar results to synthetic clay....

I stand to be corrected because i never did get to the bottom of it.

 

[PaulMys]

From my understanding aggressive traditional clay will outperform synthetic clay. But medium and fine clay will give similar results to synthetic clay....

I stand to be corrected because i never did get to the bottom of it.

Any clay bar ("traditional clay") will outperform a synthetic in its intended purpose/goal.

The synthetics were introduced as a "shortcut" for those who do not want to labor for hours with a clay bar on well-maintained paint. (ME!!).

But if you were to check the results under a microscope, the clay bar would prove to be better at "leveling" your surface of imbedded contaminates. Whether that means "pulling them out of" the paint, or "shearing them off" is a another argument altogether..... Lol