blue tack

[feldmeir]

Hi All,
has anybody experimented with blue tack when claying a car. I had a try the other day and It was
the same as the claying bars you get with most kits and a lot less expensive! Did exactly the same thing with removing contaminates etc.

Feldmeir

 

[John @ PB]

You won't have actually removed much, if anything, using Blu Tack.

Detailing clay contains abrasives, generally aluminium oxide particles, suspended within their texture: when you move these abrasives over the surface, they abrade the bonded contaminants away from the paint surface.

From our site: The clay used in detailing clay isn't really clay at all, but a mixture of a soft plastic resin (polybutene) and various grades of abrasive particles.

Think of it in this way; the soft plastic resin is effectively an applicator pad, which enables you to move abrasive particles over your paint using consistent force and pressure.

Because bonded surface contaminants sit above the surface of the paint, they are subject to greater abrasive forces than the surrounding surfaces when a clay bar is rubbed over them. As a result, they are abraded away and removed by the clay bar.

You may be questioning at this point why the abrasives in the clay don't affect the surrounding paint? The answer is they would, if they were allowed to. You have to stop them from doing so, by using a suitable lubricant.

The barrier of clay lubricant stops these abrasives coming into contact with the paint and scratching it. (Which is why clay lube and not pressing too hard when you clay are crucial).

Blu Tack is just tacky putty with no abrasives which won't remove anything bonded to a surface.

What Blu Tack will have done is picked up anything ever so slightly sticky which has not been removed with general washing.

If you were to go over your car now with clay, you'd almost definitely pick up a lot of contaminants.

Decontamination guide: Decontaminating Paint | Car Care Advice | Polished Bliss