What is better clay or auto scrub for car body cleaning
Content
- Clay and car body scrubs: what's the difference
- Clay: the latest effective remedy
- Clay composition for detailing
- Varieties of clays
- How to clean a car with blue clay
- What is an auto scrub
- How does he work
- Is auto paint scrub safe?
- Auto scrub molds
- How to use clay and auto scrub
- What contaminants do they deal with?
- Advantages and disadvantages of clay and auto scrub
- Cleaning clay or car scrub, what to choose
It is difficult to clean biological components: bird droppings, insects, tree resin, leaving stains on car enamel. In such places, the "glue bar" needs to be pressed and held for a while. But, in general, an auto body scrub and clay successfully cope with all foreign compounds on the body elements of the car.
Car washing is a common car care procedure. But in the XNUMXs, the culture of detailing came to Russia from America and Germany. This is a combined set of activities, including washing, degreasing, body polishing, for which an auto scrub or clay is used. Let's figure out what these means are, what effect they give. And also about the terms of application, the pros and cons of the two methods of car cleaning, read further in the article.
Clay and car body scrubs: what's the difference
Clay, which looks like a piece of plasticine, has long been used to give an unsurpassed shine to metal parts and machine disks. As an alternative, during the development process, a car body scrub appeared: in the form of napkins, mittens, sponges.
Autoscrub
Means used with one purpose differ in a number of properties and characteristics:
- Clay after an accidental fall to the ground must be thrown away, while it is enough to rinse the car scrub under a running stream of water.
- Some types of auto scrub are specifically designed for machine cleaning of body panels, while clay is used only by hand.
- The service life of items is different: clay (Clay Bar - glue bar), which has absorbed a certain amount of dirt particles and therefore is capable of harming the paintwork, is replaced. And the scrub made on the basis of rubber is enough to rinse with water - and it will serve for a very long time.
However, the impression that clay has outlived its usefulness is false. The material is indispensable in hard-to-reach places where nameplates and other car accessories are attached. The tool allows you to correctly dose the pressure on the surface, so real experts in detailing are in no hurry to refuse the “glue bar”.
Clay: the latest effective remedy
For many owners, the condition of a car's paintwork is a matter of prestige, an indicator of status.
cleaning clay
However, the car enamel experiences constant mechanical stress from road dust, metal particles formed by brake pads, pieces of resin and bitumen. It is not difficult to restore the former attractiveness of a car, to smooth out microscopic scratches, if you periodically use cleaning clay.
Clay composition for detailing
Clay is made on the basis of a natural material or its synthetic counterpart with the addition of abrasive particles. The main component of all clays is hydroaluminosilicates. Completely natural, extracted from the bowels of the earth, "clay bar" cannot be.
Elastic tenacious composition captures large and small substances. At the same time, clay for detailing is easily kneaded in the hands (therefore, it received a different name - plasticine), twisted, stretched, flattened without loss of properties.
Varieties of clays
Manufacturers package Clay Bar in standard rectangular briquettes weighing 200 g (unit price - 300-700 rubles). Most often, the composition is blue or red. The first is suitable for gentle processing, the second (with a large amount of abrasive) - for more thorough cleaning. But yellow and other colors of bars are possible. There is no strict agreement between the manufacturers of detailing products, so the abrasive qualities of multi-colored materials may be different.
The gradation of autoclay is as follows:
- This is a soft material for "non-started" cases: it will bring a not too dirty surface to a mirror shine, but it will not cope with paint dust, resinous tree buds.
- A more aggressive type, firm and resilient to the touch, removes stubborn dirt before polishing the machine.
- This consistency is good for particularly difficult situations, so it is not recommended for frequent use. Although Heavy clay corrects many paint imperfections, it is safer to clean rims and glass with it.
Use the latter type only after unsuccessful attempts to clean the car with fine and medium fractions with blue clay.
How to clean a car with blue clay
It's worth getting down to business by learning the secrets of using cleansing clay.
Further instruction:
- Wash and dry your car. It is better to use cleaning clay for cars in the cool morning hours: due to the extreme heating of the body, the lubricant will soon dry out, and the bar will become very soft.
- Apply clay lubricant to a small area. Clean first horizontal, then vertical and sloping surfaces.
- Divide the briquette into two parts: put one in a plastic container, put the second into action.
- Knead the tile or soak for a minute in warm water. Form a “cake” on four fingers, start with a little effort to drive it along the greased panel left and right or up and down (do not make circular movements).
- Wipe the treated surface with a fiber.
- Continue scrubbing, periodically clumping the clay to allow the collected dirt to go inside.
At the end of the operation, wash the car again.
What is an auto scrub
The nanomaterial produced a revolution effect in detailing: glass, painted body parts, moldings, plastic and chrome elements of the car acquire the shine of an “army badge”.
How does he work
Rubber-polymer material cannot be used constantly: it is enough to "heal the wounds" of the paintwork twice a year. Before the first use, wet the car scrub, rub it on the glass for about a minute to remove the shipping sealant, which can scratch the varnish.
Car body scrub
The essence of deep cleaning is that the auto scrub does not adsorb particles of contaminants. The material breaks and removes inclusions from microcracks and pores of the paint, takes them out along with the lubricant. Spray the latter in the form of a special spray or soapy solution onto the pre-washed and dried surface to be treated.
Then start cleaning hard-to-reach places by hand. On large surfaces, walk with a two-way eccentric sander, installing an auto-scrub plate on it.
Is auto paint scrub safe?
Like everything new, motorists greeted the facility with caution. But soon the question of whether it is harmful or not to use an auto body scrub to clean the body disappeared: the result is an updated, radiant paint.
- Make sure the panels are perfectly smooth like this:
- Put a plastic bag on your hand.
- Pass through the cleared area.
- If you feel roughness, continue the cleaning procedure.
Movement on the panels of the car must be straight.
Properly selected abrasiveness of the material (low, medium, high) does not pose a danger to the paintwork to the level of contamination of the body.
Auto scrub molds
For ease of use, manufacturers produce an auto scrub of different form factors:
- Sponges are inexpensive. The miniature size allows you to clean places that are difficult to get close to.
- Towels - capture a large area, easily folded. Napkins can be used for a long time without rinsing.
- Mittens are the most comfortable to wear.
Auto scrubs are also produced in the form of grinding wheels for quick mechanical cleaning.
How to use clay and auto scrub
Materials are essential when you prepare your car for polishing and applying protective films: the surface must be perfectly smooth.
Rely on 5 basic rules common to clays and car scrubs:
- Clean the surface of the machine in fragments - the area to be treated should be 50x50 cm.
- Use a soap-based lubricator.
- Do not use excessive physical force.
- Do not allow chaotic and circular movements.
- Knead the clay during the cleaning process, and rinse the napkins and sponges in water after several passes.
It is important to store cleaners in airtight containers.
What contaminants do they deal with?
Physical, chemical and biological substances whose concentration in the environment exceeds background values are called pollutants. Tar, sand, pieces of asphalt and metal, industrial precipitation penetrate into the smallest irregularities of the paintwork, causing destruction. Particularly dangerous are metal inclusions, which lead to corrosion of the body.
It is difficult to clean biological components: bird droppings, insects, tree resin, leaving stains on car enamel. In such places, the "glue bar" needs to be pressed and held for a while. But, in general, an auto body scrub and clay successfully cope with all foreign compounds on the body elements of the car.
Advantages and disadvantages of clay and auto scrub
Cleaning materials are not perfect - each of them has strengths and weaknesses.
Clay benefits:
- well, to sterility, removes any contamination;
- not hazardous to health, as it does not contain toxic chemicals;
- the risk of micro-scratches is minimized;
- easy to use in hard to reach places.
Disadvantages of autoclay: in addition to the fact that after falling to the ground the material must be thrown away, during cleaning it is necessary to monitor the level of contamination of the material (cut off contaminated segments).
A synthetic auto scrub applied to special devices has the following advantages:
- high cleaning speed;
- ease of use and storage;
- reusability and long service life;
- the possibility of cleaning with grinders.
However, the auto scrub does not effectively remove embedded particles.
Cleaning clay or car scrub, what to choose
Professional detailers solve the problem simply: they have both cleaners in their arsenal. For high-quality bodywork, experts combine means: where the auto scrub did not collect dirt, clay is used.
The choice - auto scrub or classic polymer clay - is a matter of personal preferences and financial capabilities of the owner. It is better for an ordinary driver to take a car scrub. Do not bring the car to global pollution, do light cleaning of the body more often.
