The Best Clay Bars to Keep Your Car Shining Like New

Routine washing of your car is great for keeping your paint looking shiny and new, but occasionally, you’ll want to put in some serious elbow grease to ensure your paint remains protected. You’ve likely heard of polishing and waxing your car to restore some of its lost shine, but to really keep your paint finish pristine, you’ll want to use a clay bar.

Essentially, clay bars are an essential tool to remove dirt and contaminants from your car that typically can’t be removed with a standard wash, or even through polishing and waxing. The good news is, the process of clay bar detailing is straightforward enough that anyone can do it, but it does take a bit of time. If you’re looking for ways to preserve that new car finish, or desperately needing to fix your old paint, take a look at clay bars.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of the best clay bars currently on the market. For more information on clay bars and how they work, refer to our table of contents.

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Everyone remembers how their brand new car looks as they take delivery at the dealership. The paint shines brilliantly while feeling nice and smooth, but we all know that finish doesn't last unless you meticulously take care of your car. Despite routine washing and even waxing, you may notice after a while there are some flaws in your car's paint. That's when you might want to turn your attention to using a clay bar.

Properly done, clay bar detailing can help your car maintain that mirror-like finish, especially if you do it on a regular basis. Some detailing enthusiasts say clay bars are the best cleaning method you can do from your own home, getting rid of all the contaminants and dirt that have been embedded into your paint.

Keep in mind that detailing with a clay bar isn't a substitute for regular washing and waxing of your car. Clay bar detailing should be done in combination with the other two in order to keep your car looking brand new.

One easy way to describe a clay bar is to think of it like Play-Doh or Plasticine, a compound you likely played with when you were a kid. In fact, a clay bar resembles those products and has similar attributes, being very elastic and able to gather up dirt from everything it touches. However, it is not a good idea to use Play-Doh on your car.

More accurately, a clay bar is a synthetic resin substance, although in the past natural substances were used. Clay bars are specifically engineered to remove dirt and contaminants from surfaces, such as the paint of your car. You can also use it to clean your car's glass windows, and even fiberglass or carbon fiber surfaces.

Day in day out, your car's paint is getting assaulted by contaminants in the environment, from dirt to even overspray. While routinely washing your car will remove the dirt from the paint's surface, there are times contaminants will get stuck to the paint. In addition, you may have micro scratches or abrasions in your finish that you can't see with your own eyes, and those hold onto contaminants as well.

Left untreated over time, the paint of your vehicle will start losing its luster from all those contaminants being built up. That's when clay bar detailing is your best option, since the product is designed to pick up all those contaminants straight off the surface—something washing and waxing may not do.

Generally, most of the dirt that ends up on your car's surface are particles that are large enough to be removed with a routine car wash. But when you're looking at clay bar detailing, it's not that type of dirt you're concerned about. Instead, you're focusing on getting rid of much smaller particles that have been embedded into the paint's finish.

Some of those stubborn contaminants include brake dust, vehicle exhaust particles, sap, tar, and even natural pollution. If left on your car's surface for a long period of time, they can start ruining your clear coat and paint.

In the most basic sense, think of a clay bar like a magnet, attracting and picking up any dirt it encounters so your paint surface is left smooth and clean. It's a powerful compound that can pick up dirt caught in small imperfections on your vehicle's paint. It's a great supplement to general washing with soap and water, which removes larger particles from the surface of your car. More importantly, properly using a clay bar won't damage your paint's finish unlike brushes and sponges that could leave scratches in your paint.

Determining whether your car needs clay bar detailing isn't as straightforward as knowing when it needs a wash. If you regularly wax your car, its finish may look shiny and feel smooth enough that you don't believe using a clay bar is necessary. But if you carefully run your hand across your car's surface, ideally while wearing rubber gloves, you may notice minor bumps or imperfections on the paint. Those are likely contaminants that have gotten stuck to your car's surface that will require the use of a clay bar.

If you recently detailed your car by giving it a proper wash along with a coat of wax and still notice it's not as smooth as you'd like, it's time to do some clay bar detailing. Once you've gone through your car with a clay bar, you'll feel the difference between smooth clean paint, and a surface that has imperfections. At that point, you'll have a reference as to when your car's surface needs the clay bar treatment.

Many car detailing shops now offer clay bar detailing, but it is something you can do from your own home if you have the time and patience. Clay bars are affordable products and can be used numerous times before needing to purchase a replacement.

If you've taken a look over our list of recommended products, you'll notice that some companies sell clay bars on their own, while others offer an entire package or kit. Typically a kit will include a clay bar or two, a bottle of quick detailer to serve as a lubricant, and a microfiber towel. If you're purchasing a clay bar on its own, it's highly recommended that you purchase a bottle of quick detailer and have access to a couple microfiber towels.

Since a clay bar is rather sticky, you don't want to run it across the surface of your car without any sort of lubricant. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to move around your car's surface, and it can also stick to the paint itself, which could be damaging. Without lubrication, you'll end up using more force and the clay bar could even scratch the surface. While some users will say you can just use soap and water, it's best to use a lubricant like quick detailer which is formulated to safely clean your car's surface. The microfiber towel is there to dry up any leftover quick detailer once you're done using the clay bar on a particular area.

When using a clay bar, it's recommended to cut a portion of it (1/3 or 1/4) and form it to resemble a round hockey puck. This makes it easier to work with and once you're done detailing a certain area of your car, you can simply fold the clay bar in half and form a hockey puck again. This step is extremely important, as any of the contaminants that were removed could scratch your car if you're using the same side all the time. Constantly reforming the clay bar so it has a clean surface to work with is ideal.

If you happen to drop the clay bar on the ground, you'll want to stop using it immediately. It can pick up a lot of dirt on the ground which would just damage your paint if you're to reuse it.

Polishing your car isn't the same as clay bar detailing. Essentially, the process of polishing is removing paint from your car, making it shiny again since the paint underneath is fresh. In fact, aggressive polishing can remove too much paint from your vehicle and expose the primer or undercoat.

Clay bars on the other hand, will only remove the contaminants from the paint, rather than the paint itself. In fact, polishing your vehicle can risk embedding the contaminants further deeper into your paint. If your car's surface does need polishing because it has a lot of minor scratches, it's recommended to use a clay bar first before polishing. This way, no contaminants are on the surface and the polishing will result in a clean finish.

Not all clay bars are created equally, varying in aggressiveness or how much dirt they're capable of removing. For the average user, we recommend consumer grade or medium grade clay bars as they're easier to work with than professional grade clay bars, or fine grade clay bars. Although consumer grade clay bars aren't as powerful as professional ones and won't remove as many contaminants, you have a much lesser chance of damaging your paint if you don't know what you're doing.

If you're experienced with clay bar detailing however, it's better to purchase a professional grade product so you get a better result.

There are several other components on your vehicle that can benefit from clay bar detailing. A general rule to follow is if it's a smooth surface, it likely can be detailed using a clay bar. For example, the exhaust tips on your car have a lot of contaminants and might not look as shiny as it did new. Using a clay bar on your exhaust will make it look new again by picking up all those contaminants, especially if it's a chrome exhaust. Keep in mind however, you don't want to use that same clay bar on the surface of your paint as you're likely picking up a lot of dirt.

Clay bars will also work on your wheels, glass, and even plastic components on your vehicles such as the headlights and tail lights. If you have carbon fiber pieces with a clear coat, it can clean that as well.

Always avoid using a clay bar if your vehicle has a wrap or matte paintwork. It's also not recommended on textured plastic trim pieces or rubber, such as tires or any seals found on your car.

In recent years, companies have begun developing alternatives to clay bars. In the marketplace you'll now find products like clay bar towels, which feature microfiber on one side and a rubber-like substance on the other. These can be used with soapy water or car wash solution each time you're washing your car. Some even come in a glove design that makes it easier to wash and clean.

Most of these products won't have the same exact detailing and cleaning properties you'll find with a clay bar, but they can be used more often and tend to be easier to use. Some of these can also be reused even if they're dropped on the floor—given that you give them a thorough cleaning.

One alternative that is also worth looking at is the Autoscrub Pad, which attaches to a polisher. This product is made from synthetic rubber and can be reused even if it's dropped on the ground. A major benefit to using the Autoscrub Pad is that it's much faster than traditional clay bar detailing, since you're able to use a machine to help. It's great for larger surfaces, but when it comes to fine detailing, you'll like still want to use a standard clay bar.

There is no defined rule as to how often you should clay bar your car's paint, since your environment plays a major role. Is your car stored in a garage every evening? Do you often drive in an area that kicks up a lot of dirt onto your car's surface? Generally, you should find the time to do a clay bar detail twice a year on your car's surface to keep it clean and free of contaminants. Doing it more often won't hurt your car's surface, assuming you're doing it properly.

Most importantly, just feel your car's surface to determine whether or not it needs clay bar detailing. Like we mentioned before, you should be able to tell if there are contaminants embedded into your car's surface that a wash and wax won't remove.

When you take delivery of your car, it may look shiny and brand new, but it has actually gone through quite an ordeal to get to you. All vehicles need to be transported to a dealership before delivery, and often times, contaminants will end up on the car's surface on the way there. Some dealers may clay bar a vehicle prior to delivery, but most won't spend the time or effort.

If you feel like the paint on your brand new car has a few flaws on it, you can definitely give it a nice detail using a clay bar. This way, you know your surface is nice and clean on your brand new car and maintaining it is even easier.

• Make sure the car is completely dry Thoroughly dry your car from bumper to bumper after giving it a wash. You don't have to worry too much about water spots, as most clay bars will take care of those.
• Cut the clay bar into smaller, more manageable pieces Depending on your preference, you may want to cut the clay bar into two or three pieces. This may require a bit of trial and error, as some users find smaller pieces easier to work with, while others prefer larger cuts.

• Do the rest of your vehicle Once you get a good idea of the process and have finished your first area, you'll want to just move onto the rest of your vehicle, working on small areas at a time. Repeat steps 5-10 for each area and you can also use the same process on your wheels and glass windows.
• Properly store the clay bar when finished Once you're done, your clay bar can likely be reused so you'll want to properly store it. Spray it down with some lubricant and keep it in a tightly sealed container.

As we mentioned before, there are some additional steps you can take once you're done detailing with the clay bar. This will help ensure your paint looks shiny and new for the coming months.

December 8, 2023: Replaced one recommendation and added another to the list.

May 9, 2023: Removed several of the recommendations on the list, including the promoted product. Having too many options isn't always better!

July 26, 2022: Removed unavailable Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit and TriNova Clay Bar Kit

May 3, 2022: Updated product links.

June 7, 2021: Removed the promoted product recommendation.

March 17, 2021: Updated with a promoted product recommendation.

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