Clay bars

Cheers mate!I totally agree

Full respect to you gunhand but I think in this case you miss the point.

Firstly, from the paint wholsalers I usually get a two pack for $45.

The clay bar was originally a "pro" product. Its not in any way designed to replace the buffer. As above its got its job and the buffer has a different one.

Its just crazy IMO cutting hang out of paint on such a regular basis as to try and keep paint to the standard you would get from using a clay bar.
Plus its not any quicker/easier to run the buff over the car.

I suspect what many are doing is actually waxing contaminants into the paint without realising and then just ripping into it with the buff now and then thinking that makes it all better.

Sure, there is an element of nit picking here but there is zero advantage of using the buff (cost is not an advantage when you calculate it with tape, wear on buffs and compound).

Why is it so hard to just use the correct tool for the job!

BTW, I see plenty of cars (especially white ones) that develop pin rust spots after a few years which would almost be guaranteed not to have occurred if the car had been clay barred when required. One car in particular I bought from a family member with 40K on the clock was like this, it had been polished religiously several times a year and kept in a clean garage. The owner was as fussy as they come. but he didn't know about clay bars.

Silicone is indeed the devils urine, sabotage in a bottle it is and almost as bad in paste form for a painter to deal with.
"Don't you have wax and grease remover!" say the unintiated.
It doesn't remove the evil stuff from behind things or from crevices and stone pitted tupperware parts.

Thats why I like farecla hand glaze. Cheap as chips, easy to apply, does a supurb long lasting shine and being a pro product it contains zero silicone.

attitudedesignz and gunhand.Don't take this the wrong way.I have full respect for our resident "paint slingers".We've all seen your quality work, but for us plebs out here who just want a good shiny paint job most of us tend towards the Mothers/Maguires/Turtle waxes and polishes that give us that result.When I bought my '57 it had a pretty sad paint job.With the aid of off the shelf products I got it looking pretty good. If you know of any better techniques to get our cars looking good without the so called "devils paste and devils urine" then we'd love to hear them.

No worries, i fully understand what ya saying mate.

I occasionally sell a clay bar (usually 3M) to car painters for removing overspray, very effective. To get them to buy a second one when the old one wears out can be a challenge, as usually it isn't worn out but the junior staff member assigned with removing the overspray dosn't appreciate how much the bar costs and simply throws it away. Good effective product.

Hey there generally nothing wrong with most off the shelf polishs etc. Our cars sit out side 24 7 so they do get that rough feeling for sure. Mostly all I do is hose em off then using a good sponge, quality made for the job car wash and hot water removes the rest then just a wax with a good poilsh. If paints bit dull then a run over with a polisher.Ive had my current car 6 months now, wash it weekly and waxed it twice but next time ill run the buff over it.And it still looks as shiny as.
I think regular washing with good products works just as well and a good protectant/wax to stop the greemlins stickin to the paint and they also provide UV protection as well.
And straight after a wash I towel dry my car and go round the shuts at same time, comes up good and no streaks etc also no water stains.

I am a pleb like you but use the professional farecla products because they are better than the off the shelf and a fraction of the price. $40 buys you a litre bottle of hand glaze, enough to last years and years!

If your paint is in good condition a bottle of farecla hand glaze, a clay bar and some microfibre towels will generally be all you need to maintain it.

If paint is in such bad state that it needs a machine polish other than a LOT of hard work there is not really an alternative. However. I have a sneaky way of getting pro quality results on a budget.

I use a $90 knock off of the professional hitachi style polishers. I have combined that with genuine farecla buff wheels and compound. For under $200 all up I have enough compound to last me decades and a machine that works just as well as a $1000 pro setup.

I had a fleet of black cars and was able to get better than pro (because I have more time) results straight off the bat. All I did was follow farecla's demonstration video's.

Sorry to hijack your thread John3:16but now might be a good time to let us know what finish you all swear by.We've all just clay barred the car.what next!Jazz obviously reckons Farecla is the ducks nuts.I've tried AutoGlym, found it too greasy. Maguires NXT is awesome but leaves white residue on plastic.Have settled on Turtle Ice Synthetic Polish cos leaves a good finish but because it doesn't leave residue means you can apply to plastic.

I must confess that I have virtually lost the thread of which wax products are most effective due to the increasing sensitivity of paint systems to silcone. It's got to the point where I won't have wax products in the workshop and rags are binned after one use because they might have become contaminated with silicone from a car, still have a few wax problems though. Most are caused by ArmourAll type compounds.

cowboy,

Yes I love the farecla product but in fairness there are some other great "pro" products too. I find its more about where you buy it than the particular brand. The likes of"Repco" type outlets are just full of overpriced often gimicky junk.

Go to a paint wholesaler and you get a whole different kettle of fish.

Its much like trying to buy a welder at Repco rather than a Welding supply store.