Does Clay Bar Damage Car Paint – Will It Scratch The Clear Coat?

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Clay bar is one of the best ways of removing contamination from your vehicle’s paint. But, is it possible to remove contamination without damaging car paint? Today, I’ll speak about how the clay bar affects the paint, waxes, and sealants.

If appropriately used, the clay bar won’t damage your car’s paint. However, it may mar it, which can easily be fixed by polishing your vehicle. 

That’s the short answer, but I want to dive deeper into this topic and discuss how claying may affect your car’s clear coat, waxes, sealants, and ceramic coatings. 

Clay Bar Impact On Clear Coat

Clay bar is abrasive, removing contaminates (tar, overspray, rail dust, honey due, tree sap, etc.) from the car’s paint. 

There are three grades of clay bar: fine, medium, and heavy-duty. You should always use the least abrasive one, that’s enough to remove all the contaminants from the car’s paint. 

• Here’s a great video on how to choose the right clay bar for your car.

If you clay your car correctly, the clay bar won’t damage the clear coat. Clay bar is made to mechanically remove contaminants without damaging the car’s paint. So, with that said, the clay bar does not damage your car’s clear coat.

When removing contaminants, the clay bar is gentle enough to remove them without damaging the clear coat. However, clay barring your vehicle may cause some mar on the paint. 

Marrings on the paint won’t happen if the car paint is maintained well, polished and if you used the least abrasive clay on the car. 

If the marring still appears, you can quickly fix it by polishing your vehicle. Even though it’s not necessary to polish your car after claying it, I highly suggest it.

By polishing the paint, you’ll get the maximum shine and gloss from your clear coat. 

Related: How To Polish Your Car Using a Machine Polisher: COMPLETE GUIDE

However, if you have touched up some damages on your paint, be careful when claying over that area. Clay bar may remove that touched-up paint.

Clay Bar Impact on Waxes and Sealants

Even though the clay bar is gentle enough not to damage the car’s clear coat, it’s still an abrasive product. 

If you clay bar the car with waxes or sealants applied, the clay bar will remove them. Actually, many people use clay bars in order to remove sealants, which are a bit harder to remove than natural car waxes. 

When claying the car with paint protection on it, you’ll need to re-apply it to keep the paint protected after the clay bar treatment.

So, if you want to keep car waxes and sealants on your car, you shouldn’t use a clay bar on the vehicle. 

Using Clay Bar on Ceramic-Coated Vehicles

Even though ceramic coatings are much more resistant than waxes and sealants, clay barring your vehicle will still remove them. 

Sometimes, claying your vehicle won’t be enough to remove ceramic coatings from the car’s paint altogether, but it will undoubtedly take off most of it. 

Honestly, I don’t see a point in claying your car if it has a ceramic coating applied. Ceramic coating is highly hydrophobic, which prevents contaminants from bonding to the paint. 

The same situation is with waxes and sealants. They’re made to protect the paint from contaminants and other external factors that may damage the paint. If you regularly wash and protect your vehicle, there’s little chance that the contaminants will bond to the paint. 

However, if you still get some contaminants on the car with ceramic coating, wax, or sealant applied, you should remove them by using iron remover and a tar remover. 

That way, you’ll successfully remove contaminants without physically touching the paint. 

Tips To Prevent Paint Damage When Claying Your Car

As always, I have some fantastic tips for you. I don’t want you to make any damage when claying your vehicle. So, to prevent paint damage when claying your car, follow the tips below. 

1.Don’t Clay Your Car Unless It’s Necessary

First things first, never use a clay bar if your car doesn’t really need it. If the paint is not contaminated, there’s no point in claying your vehicle. Remember that clay bars are abrasive, and they may mar the paint if used when not needed or improperly. 

To check if your car needs claying, do this:

• Wrap your fingers in a plastic bag
• Run with fingers on the paint
• If the paint feels rough, it needs claying
• If the paint feels smooth, you shouldn’t clay the vehicle.

That’s the most uncomplicated advice I can give to you.

Also, if you want, you can try chemical decontamination first. There are some fantastic products, such as IronX (check the price on Amazon now), that’ll chemically remove contamination from your car.

2.Use The Least Abrasive Type of Clay Bar

If you’re a complete beginner, you’ll probably have problems choosing the right clay bar for your vehicle.

I suggest you clay bar your car with the finest clay bar. Most cars aren’t heavily contaminated, and the fine clay bar will do the job.

However, if you have a neglected car, you should go with a medium clay bar with moderately contaminated paint. 

A heavy-duty clay bar is used only for highly contaminated vehicles, and you probably won’t need it.

Also, many companies have fantastic all-in-one clay bars that are both abrasive and gentle enough to remove contaminants without damaging paint (clear coat). 

3.Use Lots of Clay Bar Lubricant

One way to ruing your car’s paint when claying is not to use any or enough lubricant.

Whenever you’re claying your vehicle, you should use plenty of clay bar lubricants. That way, the clay bar will smoothly remove contaminants, and the chances of damaging the paint are highly reduced.

If you’re afraid of using too much lubricant, don’t worry. It’s not possible. Using more lubricant may only have some benefits.

4.Keep Your Clay Bar Clean

The most common mistake people make is using a dirty clay bar. A dirty clay bar will surely damage the paint on your vehicle. 

If you accidentally drop the clay bar on the ground, throw it away immediately. It’ll probably pick up some debris, and if you continue working with it, you’ll scratch the paint.

Also, when you clay one panel of your car, make sure to fold over the clay bar and knead it. That way, you’ll always have a clean clay bar to work with.

Conclusion

As you could see above, the clay bar is safe for your car’s paint and clear coat. Of course, if you use it properly, and only if necessary. 

If you’re serious about detailing your car, you’ll always polish it after claying, even if there’s no marring left after the clay bar treatment. And that’s my suggestion.

Clay bar treatment is a fantastic way of bringing your car shine and paint smoothness back. Just make sure to use it properly.

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