Autostolz Clay Kit Medium (Top Pick)

Claying is one of the easiest and most satisfying things you can do in car detailing.  You actually can feel and even hear the difference as you clay!  You don't have to clay, but you should, and it's very easy to do. 

Claying is like exfoliating your cars paint (or other surface, you can clay glass, plastic and trim too).  

Paint is porous, a bit like your skin.  And over time contaminants clog the pores or your paint.  Even a brand-new car will benefit from claying, as there will be contaminants in the paint from the factory, storage, shipping, the port, transport and sitting at distributors and dealerships, and the final ride home!

Clay is a very sticky substance, designed to pull whatever is embedded in the pores of the paint out.  Did you ever played with blue tack as a kit pushing it onto your desk at school to pill the gunk out of the grooves in the wood?  Claying ids similar.  Like blue tack clay sticks to things and pulls them out.

Lubrication is very important when claying.  you want plenty of lubrication to make sure as you rub with the clay you don't have friction on your paint surface which could mark.  Plenty of lubrication means the job is easier, faster, and safer.  You can use soaps for lubrication, but we recommend using a clay lube or quick detailer, the Autostolz Quick Detailer & Clay Lube is our choice as its formulated to maximise lubrication, which is what we want.  You can use other quick detailers, but some include siO2 or wax, which while great as a quick detailer isn't ideal for claying, especially if you are going to apply a ceramic coating or wax.  You really want to have completely bare exfoliated paint for coatings to properly bond, whether a ceramic, glaze, wax or sealant.

It's also formulated to work well with clay and not break it down.  This can be an issue if using a normal car wash soap as the surfactants in most car wash soaps will break down the clay faster than a dedicated clay lubricant.

The Autosotlz Quick Detailer & Clay Lube is also a handy product to have on hand as you can use it for a wide variety of things.  Its antistatic and safe on matte surfaces as it doesn't include any waxes sealants or SiO2.  It's very new and already a go to in the office and at home, where we use it as a quick safe reliable quick detailer to 

This is great as you probably won't use all the bottle claying, so you can put the rest to good use for a wide range of things.  I found a bottle under the kitchen sink at home, Michele has been using it on the kitchen cabinets and fridge as its anti-static so helps repel dust, is find on the matte fridge, and she like the smell.  It was meant to be for me in the garage, but I think I'll just accept it and get another bottle.

The kit comes with all you need, we have chosen the Valet Pro Medium clay, which is the best choice for 90% of the time.  If you are doing a really contaminated job, I'd also grab the Valet pro heavy clay which is really good.  If the car is brand new and you don't want to clay much then also grab the valet pro light clay bar.  But either way you'll probably want the medium clay as well, and you can step it up or down as needed.  

The cloths we have chosen are the Rockcar roadies.  Currently we have these as midnight black which looks great.

The Rockcar roadie is our choice for claying as its very low scratch risk, absorbent and grabs well to clean.  They are made in Korea, and the weave is different to grab more.  They have no tags, stickers, the corners are rounded to avoid a pointy corner curl, and the seams are offset.  We have a lot of microfiber cloths, but these are our go to, because we can trust that they won't scratch.  Some other cloths we have seen we have not been 100% confident they won't scratch, and there is nothing worse than adding scratches when detailing your car!  

You get a 2 pack of cloths, its hard to see this in the photo, but you get 2 cloths.

Wash them well with towel cleaner and they will last ages.  We have a large range of towel cleaners here our favorite at home is the Fireball Towel Clean which you can also use to clean pads.  But all of them work well.  Avoid using normal cloths washing powders or liquids and fabric softeners, you don't want any products that will leave things behind to make it smell like butterflies or feel soft, as those will make your cloths less absorbent and may also interfere with your car detailing products.

What's in the Clay Kit:

• Autostolz Quick Detailer & Clay Lube - 500ml
• ValetPro Medium Clay - 100g
• Rockcar Roadie Microfiber Cloths - 2 pack

So how do you clay your car?

First wash and dry your car then move it into the shade, ideally in a garage and make sure the paint is cool to touch before claying.

Tear off 1/3 of the clay and leave the rest in the packet and close it up, this helps it to stay soft and last longer.  

You only use 1/3 at a time for 2 main reasons, one it's a nice size to work with, and two if you drop the clay on the ground, it will become embedded with grit from the ground and must not be used, throw it away or give it to someone you don't like.   If you had all the clay in your hand and rip it, then you're having a bad day.  If you have 1/3 and drop it, you look around, no one saw, throw it in the bin, and get another 1/3.  No biggie.  But don't use it if you drop it!  It will scratch, guaranteed.  

OK, so get the 1/3 of clay in your hand and work it around, it will be a bit firm and first but will soften a bit as you move it, mold it into a pad, I normally have a pad the size for my 3 main fingers, but whatever works for you.

Now before you do any more, take a moment to feel the paint, rub your hand over it and feel how rough it is and hear the sound of the roughness.  

Spray the Autostolz Quick Detailer & Clay Lube all over the clay and the area you are going to clay so it's wet and you have plenty of lubrication, now rub the clay across that section of the paint or whatever you are claying and you will feel it grabbing and removing emended contaminants from the paint.

Wipe the residue clay lubricant up with the clean rockcar roadie cloth, have these flat folded into 4 as this gives you 8 clean surfaces per cloth.  Don't bunch it up, wipe flat you have maximum surface area and its faster and more efficient.

Now, the best part, stop and feel with your hand where you just clayed, and where you haven't clayed.  Oh yes there you go!  It's that easy and wow what a difference.  Listen to the difference.  Where you clayed will feel smooth and be quiet when you rub your hand on it, compare that to the rough feeling and rough sound of where you haven't clayed.  You did that!  Well done.

Now repeat until you have clayed everything.  You can clay your windows, headlights, trim, exhaust tips, all sorts of surfaces.  But we do not recommend claying matter, satin vehicles or wraps.  

Remember to wipe up as you go as the residue will have some of what is removed floating around in it, you don't want it to just settle back on the surface again.  

As you go stop and fold the clay over on itself to push the embedded contaminants into the center of the clay to reduce any scratch risk and get the most out of your clay.

You can work quite fast, a lot of the videos you see online go pretty slow, but you can more really fast.  That said take your time to do it right, I find claying very relaxing, put some music on and zone out.  It's also a great time to look at the car.  You are up close and personal with the whole surface, it's like doing a mode check, if you are looking you'll notice anything like a scratch or swirl that you might want to address with polishing.  You can look when washing a car as well, but claying is the best time to have a really close look at the whole surface.  

Once done store the clay back in the container it came in or any other airtight container to avoid it drying out.  You can re-use clay or get a new piece each time, it depends how much contaminates get into the clay.  Always feel with your finger the clay to make sure its smooth you don't want to use clay where you can feel grit etc.

Once you have finished claying make sure you put something on as a layer of protection.  My top picks are:

• Autosoltz Enhanced Wax - great shine and water beading, lasts about 9 months, super easy Here's a link: Autostolz Enhanced Wax
• Fireball Angel Tears Ceramic Costing - the easiest ceramic coating to apply, needs to be applied properly, after claying wipe down with Fireball Reborn.  A little more care needed to apply properly, lasts 1-2 years if properly maintained. Here's a link: Fireball Angel Tears Kit.
• Autostolz Enhanced Spray Wax, quick and easy, spray and wipe, lasts normally about 3 months, great shine and beading.  I'd personally use this in addition to one of the first two.  here's a link: Autostolz Enhanced Spray Wax With SiO2