If you have never claybarred a car and think you have a glass-like finish, try this. Put your hand in a zip-loc bag and run your fingertips over what you think is a great finish. If you feel little bumps in your fingertips, you will be amazed how it will look and feel after you spend an hour or two claybarring the surface.

First step is to wash with a detergent like dawn to strip off some of the wax. Next, claybar the car using a detail spray as a lubricant for the clay. Squeeze the clay and use different areas of the clay as much as possible. If you drop the claybar on the ground, it is garbage. Do NOT try to reuse it as it will have picked up dirt particles that will scratch the surface. Finally use your favorite wax, preferrably on a random orbit polisher and do the ziploc baggy test again.

 

Clay bars are awesome.

 

I need help with chrome. First time I have had it on a car or anything for that matter. What is the best way to clean it? You seem to have a wealth of knowledge on the subject of cleaning cars.

Thanks!

 

 

I will have to check this out. Looks promising but I wonder if it will be as good as a real clay bar?

 

If anyone tries this new "Ice liquid clay bar" PLEASE post your results..

Does sound promising...Thanks for the info..

 

Want to see some REAL car care? Check out what this guy did to his brand-new car...hint: the wax job cost $7,118. It may be overkill but their is certainly some good technical informational about paint surfacing.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/23/n...prehensive-ca/

 

For cleaning get a good metal/chrome polish from a known company. Wenol, or Dri-Wash-N-Guard seem to be the best I have tried, both are tough to come by.
Mothers comes in a distant third and is generally available at most auto parts stores.
Most have a mild abrasive in them, so you need to work the polish to achieve the right results.
Abrasives in polishes have a "staged" breakdown in them.
The polish comes out of the bottle with the abrasive being used as a cleaning agent. If you rub gently and don't work the polish, it will leave some slight marring on the chrome. As you work the polish the abrasive breask down and will begin to polish the surface. Generally you work these polishes until they are gone and dry. Wipe clean with a good towel with a decent nap.
Using a diaper will allow the remaining powder to slightly mar the just finished surface.
I personally steer very clear of anything that claims to clean chrome chemically.

Once you have it clean up apply your best paint polish and give it some protection.

 

I have used "Liquid Clays" before and found them to be a very fine cleaning agent using an abrasive to clean your paint. Note they state there are no HARSH abrasives, but there will be some mild abrasives.
Mild is OK, but you should be careful with them.
I was not impressed at all with the ones I tried.
The problem I have with these is the fact that you are rubbing the dirt you just pulled of the surface over the area you are working on. In another words, you pull some contaminint off the surface and some of it gets pulled into the applicator/towel, but if it does not sink in completely, you are dragging that dirt all over the surface and recreating the fine scratches you are trying to get rid of. I went through 6 applicators because I was pulling enough dirt off the surface to cause swirls.

With a Clay Bar you should be constantly inspecting it for dirt, and the material is soft enough to absorb the dirt and in many cases will embed itself into the clay so it never touches the surface again. You should be turning and folding the clay bar with every new panel, if it is getting dirty. Plus a Clay Bar is floating on a surface of soapy water that gives it a very, very minor insulation from marring the paint.

This may be a fine product, and by all means give it a try. But be careful with its usage.

 

There is very little real chrome anymore, so what you are dealing with is a plasticized chroming process on many of the "chrome" parts. True chrome plating (also misnamed "triple chrome plating") starts with a completely smooth base metal. The first part of the plating process is copper, then nickel, then finally chrome. I use a product called "BlueMagic" metal polish. It says it is safe and nonabrasive and works on virtually all metal surfaces and plastic and fiberglass too. It also leaves a protective coating behind. I don't know if it is the best product out there, but I have never had any problems with it and it works well for me.