Clay Bars Tested

To give your car’s paintwork the ultimate look, you should prep it with a clay bar. We tested 12 to find the best.

Auto Express Car Reviews

July 2010

Once a dark art practised only by diehard detailers, claying has gone mainstream in the past few years, with bars now lining the shelves of most accessory shops.

And there’s something magical about them, as they can pull off contaminants and debris from freshly washed and apparently clean paintwork, providing a pristine surface for a wax or polish. As the clay bar glides over sprayed-on lube or water, it effortlessly removes tree sap, overspray and bird droppings from paintwork or glass, and stubborn disc dust from wheels.

As trees, bugs and birds do their worst, now is a good time to banish all traces of them from your paintwork, then add a protective coat of wax or polish. But which clay bar should you stick with? We tried 12 to find out.

The Test

Key to this test is how well the bars clean, so we used them all to the maker’s instructions, with water or lube. We carried out limited wiping on a section of roof, looking for the smoothest finish. We also lightly spray-painted a side window and checked how much was removed after a set number of passes over the area. While you only need to use a clay a few times a year, they can be expensive, so we awarded marks for value for money. In addition, we assessed whether they needed lube to work, and came with extras such as storage boxes, cloths, polish or wax.

Verdict

Reigning champion Bilt-Hamber hangs on to its crown, but this time with its Auto-Clay Regular. It combined super cleaning with a cracking price. Past winner, the Soft, slips to third place. Splitting the Bilt-Hamber pair is the new Vertar Medium V bar. Among the kits, Meguiar’s just snatches the verdict from Mothers.

Contacts
Autoglym 01462 677766 www.autoglym.com
Bilt-Hamber 01277 658899 www.bilthamber.com
Halfords (Meguiar’s, Autoglym) 0845 762 6625 www.halfords.com
Meguiar’s 0870 241 6696 www.meguiars.co.uk
Race Glaze 01780 749449 www.raceglaze.co.uk
Smartwax 01992 466481 www.smartwax.net
Ultimate Finish (Sonüs, Mothers, Bilt-Hamber) 0845 838 1200 www.theultimatefinish.co.uk
Vertar 0800 177 7808 www.vertar.com
Zymöl 0845 474 0167 www.zymol.co.uk

Top 3

Bilt-Hamber Auto-Clay Regular
Bilt-Hamber Auto-Clay Soft
Vertar V-clay Medium V

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2 Comments

Mistake!

Thats not the Top 3, just the first 3!!

Bilt-Hamber Auto-Clay Regular was the winner. I've never tried clay but I'm keen to have a go now.

By bmw1502 on 20 July, 2010, 1:27pm

Bilt-Hamber Auto-Clay Regular

Read the article, as I have never seen or heard of this product, I ordered it and to my surprise - it actually works, very strange stuff but excellent it what it does....great on the glass

By durbanite on 24 July, 2010, 11:48am

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