NEW Clay Mitt Review

[Mariner]

To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the direction of introducing a couple of these new products lately - This mitt and the sponge-on-a-handle being the most recent examples. "Quick and easy" doesn't justify products that have a high potential for causing increasing damage, IMHO.

 

I may be in the minority on this, but ideally polishing should be a very infrequent activity particularly with proper washing/drying and maintenance. It almost seems like polishing would be required given the damage that the mitt likely causes over the more traditional clay.

While I do agree a little, I'd like to point out that I've used the mitt 3 times now and haven't noticed any marring that normal clay wouldn't cause. Also, it's nice to have the mitt to break out to clay my windows which I do far more frequently than my paint. So while convenience may not be the main line that Adam's talks, it sure is nice sometimes.

[falcaineer]

Maybe I wasn't using detail spray I was dunking the mitt in my wash bucket with car shampoo

That is likely your culprit, then, yes. If you hadn't seen the video, Adam specifically says it's meant to be used with DS (~1:00 mark). He also clays with the car still wet for even more lubrication. Here's that video:

https://youtu.be/D8FbkYmg2qI

 

 

To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the direction of introducing a couple of these new products lately - This mitt and the sponge-on-a-handle being the most recent examples.  "Quick and easy" doesn't justify products that have a high potential for causing increasing damage, IMHO. 

 

I may be in the minority on this, but ideally polishing should be a very infrequent activity particularly with proper washing/drying and maintenance.  It almost seems like polishing would be required given the damage that the mitt likely causes over the more traditional clay.

  

I agree with you. I love when they make new products, but some companies have a bunch of useless stuff that just overwhelms you. Hopefully thats not the case here. I would have loved the idea of the long brush to have a washing wool or sponge on the end instead so its safer to use. Or the clay mitt to have a safer material so its safe to use on polished cars.

Adam states in his video this is not a replacement for the traditional clay bar. And in fact, it's meant more for when you do plan for a full correction. It would also really help people that detail lots of cars, speeding up the process. While to each his or her own, I'd offer these new tools are indeed meant for convenience, and when used as designed, can provide incredible benefit. But as always, if you buy and don't like them, their 110% gurantee is there for a reason. Either way, good discussion.

[DREWBUSH]

I just started using the "other guys" clay block, which is sort of the same synthetic material as the mitt, but smaller. I would have gotten the mitt, but i literally got the block 2 weeks before the release. It saved me a huge amount of time. My daily sits outside 24/7 and gets crapped on everyday, bug guts and other junk. The synthetic material knocked it off with almost no effort. I do find if you press to hard or roll it on its edge, it will grab or leave a scuff mark as others have said. Light pressure and lube. I cant say about leaving marks, since my vehicle needs correcting already( i correct once a year, and LPS twice a year. So I wont know until winter time. Well, actually I intend on cleaning the wifes new golf in the next week or two. And I will report back then.

[FP350S]

I used this mitt yesterday with detail spray and residual water and got two ugly 2in gouges in the clear coat. Look like I will still need to use a regular clay bar to remove remaining contaminants on from cap. Hopefully the gouges will buff out.

[BRC]

Eh, wasn't a huge fan of the clay mitt I used this morning. I have a white car (some one as Adam's), and I was super careful to use a ton of detail spray and pushed lightly. I got marks on edges, and now I'm struggling to get them out. I'll probably stick to the clay bar from now on. 

 

Edit: Just to be clear, I'm doing a full spring / summer detail, so I knew what I was getting into. The post above my Falcaineer is correct - it needs to be used correctly with the understanding of the end goal.

Edited July 9, 2017 by BRC

[imcrazy]

I had same exact thing happen on a white car when I tried it Monday, but then when I lightened my pressure, it wasn't really getting the grime off....I will have to try again

 

I used the clay mitt this weekend. I think it works great. My hand would always cramp up using the clay bars. No hand cramps with the mitt. The only issue I came across is if you push down to hard it could leave a black mark almost like a shoe scuff on a linoleum tile floor. I had to use tar-ex to get the mark off. This only happened twice once of the edge of the door and once on the hood. Hard to see in the photo. Just don't push down real hard and there is no problems with the clay mitt. Definitely easier and faster than the clay bar.

Was the car warm or cool in the sections you had that black transfer? Were you using lots of detail spray? I've had this happen to me with the autoscrub which is very similar, my panel was too hot and I wasn't using enough detail spray. I like to put a hit of detail spray on the clay mit/disc before I get after the panel too.

[frosty350]

The panel was cool I had just washed my truck. I didn't use any detail spray I was dunking my clay mitt in my wash bucket with car shampoo. I was really pushing down hard because the day before a truck in front of me spilled what looked like a bucket of paint. I was trying to get off all the paint splatter. Next time I use the clay mitt I will use detail spray and not apply as much pressure.

[shane@detailedreflections]

To be honest, I'm a little surprised by the direction of introducing a couple of these new products lately - This mitt and the sponge-on-a-handle being the most recent examples.  "Quick and easy" doesn't justify products that have a high potential for causing increasing damage, IMHO. 

 

I may be in the minority on this, but ideally polishing should be a very infrequent activity particularly with proper washing/drying and maintenance.  It almost seems like polishing would be required given the damage that the mitt likely causes over the more traditional clay.

 

I don't know if they're going for "quick and easy" or trying to provide more options.  You may only do a detail or two a year on your own vehicle and the time isn't a huge deal.  When you start working on cars for clients, your perspective changes.  If I can trim time off the process without affecting the final product, I'd be crazy not to do it.  Time is margin.  Margin is money.  I have an obligation to my business and my clients to offer a streamlined, time efficient process and to make smart buying decisions.  If I don't do those things I end up losing money or having to increase prices to keep up and make the work profitable...or worse case scenario, both.

 

To be honest, the need for different tools and sizes of product has lead me away from exclusively using Adam's Polishes.  I still utilize them as much as I can, but if there's a more cost effective alternative that won't change the quality of the final job...I'm all in.  Having only 8 ounce bottles of product such as polishes forced me to seek alternatives.  As such, Adam's isn't my go-to supplier for polish now despite how well the product works. 

 

My point being that I believe Adam's is trying to offer different tools to different clients for their different needs.  It's hard to please everyone, and not every client is a user of every product.  I'm sure they're well aware the clay mitt isn't for all their customers.  I did order one to put it through it's paces and see how it works and if it simplifies a process for us where we anticipate having to polish anyway (removing the negative of any marring that exists since it'll be polished out anyway). 

 

Adam's seems to do a decent job of market analysis to evaluate the viability of their new products.  Overall, they seem to listen to what people want (although gallons of Odor Neutralizer are still on hold for some reason).  I'd still like to see larger quantities come back of some products (polishes being one).  If they started offering polish in 32 ounce sizes, I'd be a user.  Like I'd mentioned, something for everyone and not everyone uses everything.

 

Overall I'd say Adam's is on the ball with listening to the wants and needs of their customers. 

[fortunefavoursthefresh]

Bought the bullet to satisfy my curiosity and need for convenience.

 

Cannot wait to try it out!

[imcrazy]

The panel was cool I had just washed my truck. I didn't use any detail spray I was dunking my clay mitt in my wash bucket with car shampoo. I was really pushing down hard because the day before a truck in front of me spilled what looked like a bucket of paint. I was trying to get off all the paint splatter. Next time I use the clay mitt I will use detail spray and not apply as much pressure.

Yeah man you gotta use detail spay....Lots of detail spray.

[jakerodz7]

I used my mitt this weekend and was pleased with the ease with which it knocked down the majority of the contamination on the car I was detailing. I used detail spray as the lubricant and then rinsed the mitt out every panel or so in a bucket with about a gallon of water and an ounce of rinseless. Turned the water the color of the clay but worked well to remove any contamination on the mitt.

Edited July 12, 2017 by jakerodz7

[pmichael2011]

I know that I am late to the Mitt party but was curious as to how well the mitt works, in comparison to the clay bar, in removing bugs.  Especially the nasty little live bugs.

[Nickfire20]

I used my mitt 2 weekends ago, it didn't work very well with my bugs. Took some scrubbing, and made me nervous because i have black paint. Cant really say if it scratched more or not, that front bumper was already loaded.

[pmichael2011]

I used my mitt 2 weekends ago, it didn't work very well with my bugs. Took some scrubbing, and made me nervous because i have black paint. Cant really say if it scratched more or not, that front bumper was already loaded.

That's what I was thinking. Although my truck isn't black, it's the closest thing to it. being the iridium Metallic.

Thinking I am going to stick with the clay and eliminate the possibility of scratching the paint.

[Mariner]

That's what I was thinking. Although my truck isn't black, it's the closest thing to it. being the iridium Metallic.

Thinking I am going to stick with the clay and eliminate the possibility of scratching the paint.

Clay can still marr your paint, and on metallic black, you'll definitely see it when it does. The mitt from my experience doesn't cause any more marring than actual clay would, but any contact on your paint with anything over time will eventually show.

[Mariner]

I used my mitt 2 weekends ago, it didn't work very well with my bugs. Took some scrubbing, and made me nervous because i have black paint. Cant really say if it scratched more or not, that front bumper was already loaded.

The mitt shouldn't scratch. That's a really strong term, and something I associate to what perhaps a grain of sand or similar will do. I have had the mitt scuff when I wasn't using enough waterless on the surface, but definitely not scratch.

[Nickfire20]

I gotcha makes sense

[TexWalker]

Anyone else notice their hands are dyed red after using? Not a big deal but a little irritating when you want to try to grab a bite of a sandwich before polishing.

[2012srt8]

Latex gloves. Problem solved.

[TexWalker]

Id rather eat a red sammich than wear latex gloves.

[2012srt8]

Lol why what's the big deal?

[Mariner]

I hate gloves of any kind, latex especially. I think I’d rather eat a red sammich too ????

[shmedley]

I call gloves bitch mitts

[mc2hill]

I hate gloves of any kind, latex especially. I think I’d rather eat a red sammich too ????

 

 

I call gloves bitch mitts

 

But remember, if it is on your skin it is in your body.  I usually wear nitrile gloves to protect myself when doing interiors, especially when working with mold.

[2012srt8]

Ya I'll wear gloves any day.dont care. Guess I'm a bitch lol