5 Star Shine & Clay Bar

[Peacefulone]

Originally posted by breiman
My bug and tar is minor routine stuff. I was trying to determine if I needed to get the remover out and get it off prior to the claying process. I'll go ahead and get it removed prior to the clay. thanks for the info.

I think that's a good choice breiman. The clay works on a lot of unnoticeable contaminents, but I've seen that even a really thick bug or tar spot needs a liitle more work. IMO and experience, I think it would be wise to remove as much of the big/major spots first before claying. Not totally necessary, but it helps.

[BruceRTL]

Thanks guys, your posts have been a great help. My plan is to make a trip to AutoZone on Saturday and pick up the clay. I saw on line where they keep that in stock. Not sure which brand to buy, but will read them all and then make a decision. While I'm anxious to give it a go, I may not be able to tackle it this weekend. (I'm on a business trip this week to the great city of Sacramento) Once I get home, I may need to spend some quality time with the wife. We'll see how that works out! I figured I would take my ridge to the corner car wash where they do an awesome job for 12 bucks. Then I would come home and clay it, then apply the 5 Star Shine. I'll probably sit the wifes truck on the street and do the job inside my garage. It's supposed to be sunny and only 92 Saturday so it should be an awesome day to play with my truck. I'm guessing it will take 4 to 6 hour start to finish, but I really have no clue. Dang, that's a lot of beer...

Thanks again, I plan to take before and after pictures but not sure how well that will show the shine.

[steveberger]

Walmart carries a Mothers California Gold kit. 80 gram Clay bar and detailer for $15. I bought one yesterday.

[BruceRTL]

Well I did it on Saturday! Washed the truck, Clayed the truck, and then applied the 5 star shine.

The truck looks awesome!

Now keep in mind that some of the people on this forum (as well as various friends I have) wax there truck a lot. I applaud you people but the fact is, I'm just to lazy to do that. Having said that, I know that since my truck is new, and the AZ sun is hot, I need to wax. Or apply some kind of protection. I mention this because I really wasn't sure what to expect in the shine. I had never waxed my Ridgeline. So I can't really say if the shine is better then normal waxing. I do know that it's awesome and I'm starting to like the feeling of having a really really shiny clean truck.

The Clay I used was Meguiar's, I felt the paint before and after I did each section and all I can say is smooooooooth. Baby's butt smooth. Unbelievable! I took some pictures but you really can't see or feel the shine very well in the pics. Now I'm curious to see how long the smooth clean shine will last. The 5 star shine is supposed to repel dust. So far it seems like it's doing that. I haven't needed to dust my truck yet and that's usually a daily task.

[RustyH]

I found this on eBay and would like the "professionals" to chime in whether or not this is a good deal. eBay Motors: Detailing Clay & Spray Lubricant Package (item 230202950945 end time Jun-09-08 12:21:45 PDT) From what I've seen at my local checker, it's about twice the cost of the two kits available there, but with four times the product. I've got my Ridgeline, my wife's 05 SI and my daughters 08 Fit to take care of and this looks like it would handle all three rides with some left over. Also, they say they have four "medium" and one "fine" clay bars. outside of the descriptions, whats the difference and how would I use them. One medium per vehilce, splitting the fine for a final once over? Any help would be appreciated.

[VoicesInMyHead]

Originally Posted by BruceRTL

Well I did it on Saturday! Washed the truck, Clayed the truck, and then applied the 5 star shine.

Well, glad you specified what it was you did on Saturday!

Very cool! Can't wait to see it and check it out!

[scottIN]

Originally Posted by RustyH

I found this on eBay and would like the "professionals" to chime in whether or not this is a good deal. eBay Motors: Detailing Clay & Spray Lubricant Package (item 230202950945 end time Jun-09-08 12:21:45 PDT) From what I've seen at my local checker, it's about twice the cost of the two kits available there, but with four times the product. I've got my Ridgeline, my wife's 05 SI and my daughters 08 Fit to take care of and this looks like it would handle all three rides with some left over. Also, they say they have four "medium" and one "fine" clay bars. outside of the descriptions, whats the difference and how would I use them. One medium per vehilce, splitting the fine for a final once over? Any help would be appreciated.

Way too much unless you're a professional. I clay probably 4 times a year (2 cars twice) and may go through 1/2 - 3/4 bar of clay magic in that time. Maybe. It just takes a small little piece-you're going to drop it anyway and have to toss it, so no use in wasting a whole bar.

Medium vs. fine - most people wouldn't notice, but in theory you use the medium for the tough stuff and the fine for light contamination. You don't need to follow a medium with a fine.

Go to Autozone and get some clay magic for $9.99, toss the lube, and mix up some soapy water in a spray bottle. That will do all three vehicles at least twice.

[CUinaRidge]

Originally Posted by scottIN

It just takes a small little piece-you're going to drop it anyway and have to toss it, so no use in wasting a whole bar.

I have the old, used and dropped clay saved.... for the rims that I still need to do !!!

[Hooha12]

Being a lazy sort of person, who spent a couple of hours today washing and waxing the RL, I thought "sounds great to me"! After a Google search and a lot of reading on various sites (in particular detailing sites) my conclusion is that it works well for a short time, is not worth the money, and certainly does not last 5 years (more like 6-12 months on average). It seems like one of their selling techniques is to spam owner and detailing sites with posts of how wonderful the stuff is, often by posters with only a few posts. I am always skeptical of wonderful claims by rather new members. I am only speaking from reading and not experience. There certainly are posts by users who were impressed, but I found more by users who were not. I'll stick with a little more effort, but proven results.