chris m1

simple question, which ones better?.. got some halfords vouchers for crimbo so thinking of some new polishing goodies.

Icurus

Clay bar in my humble opinion

Though T-cut is ok for really stubborn marks......

Fil

there not vs products?

get some clay tho. used after a wash to remove all the crap stuck on the body work, then polish and wax

avoid t cut like the plague

Magnum PI

Cay bar every time,

you can also get liquid clay bar from Halfords, its that 'Ice' wax/polish stuff, its pretty good.

Other than that, get Meguirs crystal paint clenser stage 1, 2 & 3, plus the clay. that'll pretty much do it

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

One is a compound for polishing (T-cut) and the other is for removal of surface contaminants (clay bar) so not really comparable mate.

marc_gti

iTrader: (2)

as said above you cant Vs Clay against t-cut they are two completly different things.

Avoid t-cut and instead buy some Clay - then you polish then wax - from there onwards all you need to do for the next 6 months is top the wax up, then after 6 months polish again

CraigoScott

iTrader: (1)

they dont do the same thing so cant be compared? T cut is a non diminishing compound, clay bar is a clay bar for removing contaminants. if you want to remove contaminants get a clay bar, if you want a compound get some auto glym super resin instead of T cut, t cut is rubbish really

BigChuck

as said,

T cut is a polish
clay bar is a bar of clay that you use to remove containments before polishing

they both do different jobs

vroooom ptssssh

As said above, you can't compare the 2.........





Really, did we need to tell the guy that like 5 times???????

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Indeed, its like saying "888 tyres or a T34 turbo which is better?"


What is it you are trying to achieve?
Clearing contaminants = clay bar
Revitalising faded paintwork = t cut

D.K.

Clay bar all the way for smooth paint

xr2john

it all depends what your looking to achieve at the end of the day. but as everyone has already pointed out,t-cut and a clay bar are 2 totally diffrent things.But unless you really know what you are doing stay away from the t-cut as you could end up doing your paintwork more harm than good belive me.if you rub too much you could in theory strip all the laquer of your car

matts1

get the clay bar and give yourself a good day of detailing on the car.

The clay bar will remove git and dirt without removing paint leaving the surface properly cleaned, meaning when you polish it will go on and come off more easily, will give a better result, and the most important, wont be draging grit around as you polish.

t-cut should only be used to remove stuborn marks that wont shift with the clay as it works by cutting through the surface..

Clay is very quick and easy to use and will make future polishing sessions far less graft, do a quick search on youtube for it to see how it is done. It is 100 x easier than t-cuting a car.

jaiscossie

Out of the two its very close as to be honest i think there both as good as each other but i think the t34 just pips it.

gjh

Go easy on the t cut, its quite strong, can do more dammage than good. Clay bars are brilliant.

stevieturbo

Fuck either, pay someone else to do it !

pee vee

very expensive option! that cost me Ł300 last month! LOL

chris m1

Well they say you learn summat new everyday so..As far as I was concerned they both served to clean/freshen paint.

Looks like a claybar then, got plenty of megs stuff so should finish it all off

pee vee

yeah, clay bar and quick detailer as they usually come in a box together,
and it should make your paint all nice and smooth

stevieturbo

I'd imagine that was a bit more than a polish though ?

If doing DIY for the same job, how much time would it take, and how much money on buying crap to do it with ?

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Im not really into all the polishing side of things myself, prefer the mechanical aspects of cars, but my mrs loves detailing and its certainly easy to see how she feels a sense of pride with results like this on my corsa she did, which was pretty ropey when I first got it:


This is it halfway though:

marc_gti

iTrader: (2)

what polish did you use to get that finish? when i bought my mk6 gti that was faded aswell and i used Super resin polish then kept it topped up with wax

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Not sure what make polish it is, she did it with her machine polisher, I can ask her though.



Your escort looks like you have got good results anyway though

pee vee

red cars are prone to fading aint they,.. but when they are done, they look so bright!
that GTi looks wicked!

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Yeah the vauxhall "flame red" colour for example is often referred to as "flame pink" on the vauxhall forums because of how much it fades!

Not the only colour that does so though, my mrs showed me a blue one recently that was even more dramatic, it was practically white on the before pics!

Derby_Gav

I don't trust my mrs with a car, let alone taking a polisher to one! Lucky bloke!!

A full day on the car starting with a good wash, clay bar, maybe a t cut, polish then wax should see it looking loads better.

Gav.

TheRooster&TheScorpio

Not quite Gav. What is not disclosed by Chris, is whether the paint is a Solid Colour or a Metallic/Two Pack. T-Cut is/was a compound for the removal of Oxidised Paint on the surface of Solid Colours.It will destroy the lacquered finish on Metallic Paints/Two-pack. If there is now one for Metallic/Two Pack then I will hold my hands up on that!!.The surface has in all cases to be thoroughly cleaned & dry before applying T-Cut. Liquid Ice & Ice Paste are both products from Turtle Wax,they are a polish (two one many). The beading quality of the paste is quite exceptional. I was recommended to the paste by the Customer Service Technical Desk at Turtle Wax. The best product that I have used for the cleaning and removal of fine scratches on a Lacquered Finish is Q3 . Solid Red has got to be the most notoriously affected of all of the Solid Colour Paints. The variants of red do not seem to be troubled quite the same and Metallic/Two-Pack reds seem to withstand the colour loss. Even after hours of work to restore the colour/finish they will often revert back to faded. I have just collected a Scorpio Estate that had a Diamond Bright treatment some years ago and it is still looking good, even after a 200 mile drive back home after collecting it from Reading with all of the Winter Crap on the roads.

stevieturbo

The detailers certainly can produce fantastic results.

But fuck that. Washing is enough cleaning for me !!

I think Ive polished my Granada about 5 times since I bought it....and that was 2002 lol

chris m1

cheers Rooster.

The car is a solid colour (certainly doesnt shine like like mettalic paint anyway),its an old peugot blue..poss admiral blue.

The brightworks doesnt seem to have seen any polish/ tlc for a fair while hence the reason for wanting to get some of the luster back into it

TheRooster&TheScorpio

Hi Chris,I will dig out the Q3 and a few other detailing & polishing/goodies & put them on the forum in a day or so.

chris m1

cool..carnt do anything outside as its to wet and foggy so no rush

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

Not sure if you have quoted the right person bud but T-cut is a polishing compound, colour or type of paint is irrelivent really as the product is what it is.

Yellow and blue are and can also be as sevier (spelling?) in some cases

To restore a faded colour to its original gloss you have to polish (ie, you are removing a certain amount of the top layer of paint) it is best to then apply a quality glaze..this is basically like moisturising skin to stop it drying out, the same goes for paint.

HTH

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

Done a really faded red myself..

Bonnet 50/50



Bonnet finished

big mac

iTrader: (7)

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...ing-paint.html

have a read fella tells you all about claying and if you look here

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acata...re-advice.html

lots of very good advise and tips

john at pb will also help you with choice of product to get that show car look if you are unsure

hth

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Hell of an improvement Gav!

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

Cheers bud, I learnt a big lesson on that car....do not tape up a 50/50 like that on faded cars as getting rid of the sharp line is a nightmare, lol

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

As said clay bars are really good.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

LOL

TMC225Y

Normal T cut, the stuff in the red bottle, is only suitable for solid unlacqured colours, cellulose paint basically. It contains ammonia which creates a cloudy effect on clearcoats. Metallic t cut has no ammonia, but I don't use it, so can't really comment on how good or bad it is. If the paint is quite good, go for the clay bar, then a good wax, if it's really bad, I would normally machine mop it with fine cutting compound, G10?, then polish and wax. I'm no expert, so i'm not saying it's the right way, but it's the way I do it

Garfiun

I love using the clay bar it really brings the hard crap off the paint work and once polished leaves a lovely finish.