FAST FIX WITH MEGUIAR’S HYBRID CERAMIC QUIK CLAY KIT

In recent times, many of us serious about car care have included the use of a clay bar in our home-detailing processes — if you haven’t, then you’re missing out. Clay bars remove bonded contaminants from the paint surface without hazing.

However, while traditional clay bars work well, they are a pain if you drop them on the ground — yeah, we’ve all been there — as it basically means bin time for the bar. But the future is here thanks to Meguair’s, which has developed a synthetic clay pad that will change the way you go about clay baring your paintwork. If you drop one of these synthetic pads, simply wash it and go right back to work. The other great benefit is that they last use, after use, after use, unlike their traditional counterparts.

The pads are offered as part of Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Quik Clay Kit, which comes with a microfibre cloth, a clay pad, and a bottle of Hybrid Ceramic Detailer. We’d use this as stage two in our cleaning process after a wash to remove non-stubborn contaminants. It pays to break in any new pad first on some glass — a window is fine. This will take the edge off the pad so it will slide more easily on the painted surface. A quick rub will suffice.

Work on a half-metre area of your vehicle at a time: spray with the supplied Hybrid Ceramic Detailer then, using slight pressure while keeping the pad moving, work the lubricated area. Run over an area once, then wipe off excess product with a clean microfibre cloth before moving on to the next area. When you slide your hand over the surface it should feel smooth, which will enhance the gloss of the paint as well as improve the water-beading performance. You can now move onto your cut and polish process, or simply wash the car. The good thing about using the Hybrid Ceramic Detailer as the lubricant is that it leaves behind a protective layer of ceramic.