Bilt-Hamber clay - normal or soft?

[Freeza]

I've owned my Clio for almost 2 years and it's never been clayed (as far as I know), so i've decided to give this detailing lark a go.

Reading up on Bilt-Hamber clay usage I've seen conflicting advice;

1) Use "normal" on a car that has never been clayed (to properly remove contaminants)

and

) Use "soft" if you're new to claying (to avoid paintwork marring)

As I seem to fall into both categories which would you recommend I go for?

 

[magh]

Ive gone for the soft buddy better to be safe from what ive read soft more than does the job anyhow

 

[adam172]

What ever clay i buy I normally go for the fine version, just go over a couple of times if it needs it.

 

[craigp172cup]

i got the normal stuff. Was the first time i had used it. As long as you soak it in warm water regularly to keep it soft its fine.

 

[182 bob]

I'd use the soft if you don't have a machine polisher? I have just clayed mine with the nomal as it had a lot of contamination on the roof and it has marred the paintwork quite a lot! Not a problem as i will machine polish it when the weather gets better.

 

[RS200Lew]

Stick with the soft mate. Make sure your area is always wet where your claying and remember to wash it afterwards

 

[Freeza]

Soft it is then. When I bought the car the paintwork looked amazing - I never understood why I could never get it looking anything like as good using bog standard Turtlewax products. I now realise the dealer must have had it detailed before I picked it up.

So this spring I'm on a mission, having seen some of the car pics on this forum and reading up on cleaning techniques (2 bucket method, microfire cloths etc.) I'm determined to get that swirl-free deep black shine again.

Slowly making my list of products/items to buy, this could get expensive.....

 

[Cliotoby]

This will get expensive.

Machine poloishers next on the list then.

 

[Jimbo_M]

Ive used both and i would definatly recommend the soft grade unless you have very contaminated paint!

 

[leeds2592]

I was in the exact same boat as you a couple of weeks ago but I also decided on the soft clay. With the weather still being quite cold, it will be much easier to work with than the normal stuff.

Although, on DW, BH themselves said in a post that the only difference in the two clays is the texture and not aggressiveness.

 

[RS200Lew]

There can be subtle differences between clays that will perform differently on certain finishes.