# Bilt hamber clay any good?



## Bmwjc (Apr 2, 2012)

Title says it all. Only just started detailing, bilt hamber is the first clay ive ever used so I have nothing to compare it to.

I purchased it as it wasn't cheap but not expensive, my paint is now real smooth.

I was just interersted to get people's opinions on it. Or any ideas of another one to try next time!

How often on average to people clay? Monthly? Twice yearly or when the paint feels like someone has thrown sand on it?

Cheers


----------



## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

I LOVE bilt hamber clay.

Its good value, you dont need a dedicated lube and does the job, so why would you want to change it?

And i clay 6 monthly


----------



## Bmwjc (Apr 2, 2012)

Sirmally2 said:


> I LOVE bilt hamber clay.
> 
> Its good value, you dont need a dedicated lube and does the job, so why would you want to change it?
> 
> And i clay 6 monthly


Not after a change necessarily, it's new to me so other than being happy myself with it im after people's opinions or if they hate it think it's ****e what they would recommend.

Thanks for your answer, appreciated.


----------



## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

BH does a good job for the money and no lube needed if you like


----------



## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

Yup love it too. Easy to use and just add water. Simples

Regards Sergei


----------



## clarkey1269 (Dec 27, 2010)

i <3 BH clay, just add water and away you go


----------



## Mattey h (Apr 19, 2011)

Only clayed my car once, but I used bilt hambert medium clay. Was amazed at the results, especially for the price. Wouldn't use any other now. Easy to use, especially as you only need water as a lube. Reminds me, about time I clayed again.


----------



## Bmwjc (Apr 2, 2012)

Forgot to ask, as it's the first one I've used I was expecting it to be more like play doh! Is it meant to be that hard? As I didn't want or need to use all 200g in one hit I cut a 3rd off using the wife's kitchen knife (she went mental, knife cost £80 and my reply was "do you know how much Stanley blades cost")

I almost had to sit on the knife to cut through!


----------



## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Using a 3rd of it is still way too much imo! I cut mine up into 6 pieces!


----------



## Bmwjc (Apr 2, 2012)

dann2707 said:


> Using a 3rd of it is still way too much imo! I cut mine up into 6 pieces!


Yea I realised this when I had done, went to wrap it in cling film but dropped in on the drive! Idiot!


----------



## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

Bmwjc said:


> Forgot to ask, as it's the first one I've used I was expecting it to be more like play doh! Is it meant to be that hard? As I didn't want or need to use all 200g in one hit I cut a 3rd off using the wife's kitchen knife (she went mental, knife cost £80 and my reply was "do you know how much Stanley blades cost")
> 
> I almost had to sit on the knife to cut through!


I cut mine into 4... Also if its a bit tough, leave it to soak in warm water for 10 mins. Makes it nice n plyable


----------



## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Clay... Bilt Hamber....:thumb:

Nuff Said....:thumb:

I Have Over 1.5 Kilo of it....

Great product...:thumb:


----------



## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

as with what every1 else is saying its excellent, esp the soft one

plus only water based lube needed


----------



## Bmwjc (Apr 2, 2012)

DetailedClean said:


> as with what every1 else is saying its excellent, esp the soft one
> 
> plus only water based lube needed


Will try the soft one next. Probably for the summer. Where I have to leave my car I get heavy tree sap all the time!


----------



## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

Bmwjc said:


> Yea I realised this when I had done, went to wrap it in cling film but dropped in on the drive! Idiot!


Haha unlucky! At least it wasnt the full block


----------



## umi000 (Jan 14, 2011)

Bilt Hamber soft was the first clay I used, and having used other clays since (including the vaunted Erazer/Opti-Clay/Riccardo clay), still the one I like best.


----------



## J1ODY A (Nov 28, 2008)

Does a polar bear sh*t on the ice?!

Six monthly


----------



## pgarner528 (Aug 11, 2008)

Don't get BH clay anywhere near Bilberry (claying your rims). It disolves and sticks like chewing gum.


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

BH Clay is now the only one I will bother buying, huge bar for the money no need for any fancy lube.

Fantastic value and does exactly what its meant to


----------



## burtz (Apr 14, 2010)

I find it very very hard to use. Couldnt even fold the thing .


----------



## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

burtz said:


> I find it very very hard to use. Couldnt even fold the thing .


Might be a silly thing to ask, but I guess you did cut it into a smaller piece?


----------



## *Das* (Aug 9, 2010)

Only stuff I have and will ever use. Dont see the point in paying £20+ for a "kit" then to find you run out of lube half way through.



burtz said:


> I find it very very hard to use. Couldnt even fold the thing .


Use warm water in a sprayer whilst using it, makes it more pliable.


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

burtz said:


> I find it very very hard to use. Couldnt even fold the thing .


Try the soft clay.


----------



## dubstyle (Jun 13, 2007)

I used Bilt hamber clay at weekend and it certainly did the job well. It was a little hard to mould but worked a treat. I cut it in to 5 sections so it going to last me a while


----------



## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

It's the cheapest per weight and the best providing you keep it warm/soft. I always have a cup of hot water in which I dunk it after every re-bead or after every panel.

Soft is perfect no need for the other one.


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

Hot water in the spray bottle helps as well


----------



## Zetec-al (Feb 28, 2011)

I used BH medium earlier in the week to clay my missus car which was heavily contaminated and it worked a treat!


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

Zetec-al said:


> I used BH medium earlier in the week to clay my missus car which was heavily contaminated and it worked a treat!


I have medium and soft, both work well, seem to be the same cleaning ability just find the soft one easier to work on colder days.


----------



## Fuzzy Logic (May 6, 2011)

Just bought some BH soft clay the other week. Cant wait to try it over the summer. Was amazed at how soft it already is without putting it near warm water.

Hoping cleaning ability is as good as DJ Supernatural (medium variety i think), been using that clay quite happily for the last couple years. Although much lube and warm water required on colder days.


----------



## Jochen (May 21, 2007)

Get the soft version. I have the regular and it's a PITA to use. I've ordered some DJSN clay now and I'm gonna try it tomorrow. If it's ok I'm gonna bin the BH. The DJ is also pretty cheap. Around £15 for 3x 80g = 240g!


----------



## Galfat (Apr 9, 2012)

BH clay is awesome, i bought some for the first time from Detailed and gave it a go. Easy to use and when polished after with Auto glym super resin polish by paintwork was like glass and super smooth. Of course it rained straight after but im glad i did it to just see the results :thumbup:

Stevo.


----------



## spursfan (Aug 4, 2009)

What colour is the BH soft clay?

Kev


----------



## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

spursfan said:


> What colour is the BH soft clay?
> 
> Kev


White


----------



## AaronMc (Dec 31, 2011)

I recently got some of this in the 'Regular' form. Hoping it works well on my new car, paintwork feels a bit rough in places and will definately benefit from this and a iron x going over!


----------



## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

When you use the regular I would advise you to cut it into 4 and drop the bit you're using into a mug of very hot water, this will soften it and make it easier to fold and reshape !

Good luck, it is a cracking product


----------



## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

uruk hai said:


> When you use the regular I would advise you to cut it into 4 and drop the bit you're using into a mug of very hot water, this will soften it and make it easier to fold and reshape !
> 
> Good luck, it is a cracking product


Totally agree... makes it far more malleable


----------



## robtech (Jan 17, 2011)

just used this to clay my fiat had previously used meguiars stuff,its not as easy to fold up as the meguiars and its a bit hard to cut up..for the money its superb usually around 12 quid ish .and yep this time i just used water in a fine spray bottle .

on the whole its decent stuff theres prolly better stuff out there but for the money its gonna be hard to beat


----------



## Jord (Apr 3, 2012)

Probably going to invest on some BH clay after i'm done with my megs (bought the kit a while back from halfords) 

Where's the best place to buy it from, probably looking for the soft version after listening to what people have said on here.. Assuming some of the vendors sell it, i'll go have a look :buffer:


----------



## VenomUK (Oct 13, 2011)

Ive just recived mine today, do you just play after you rinse or still have a small spray bottle with water?


----------



## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

No def use the clay with a bottle of water and sprayer

spray as you go


----------



## Adamk69 (Jun 13, 2011)

Got all three compounds and would be happy to not use anything else again. Also carry Zymol and have tried a few others bu for value (200g bar for 10-11 quid) and the fact you only need water, can't fault it. :thumb:


----------



## Tips (Mar 27, 2011)

Great stuff :thumb:

Use medium clay in the spring summer, and soft clay in the autumn winter.


----------



## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

VenomUK said:


> Ive just recived mine today, do you just play after you rinse or still have a small spray bottle with water?


Create as fine a mist as you can and the panel will hold more water, I found when I squirted the water or worse still used a hose it offered very little lubrication simply because it never stayed on the panel for very long !


----------



## mk6golf (Feb 22, 2012)

It is brilliant clay. First time using it was a couple of weeks ago and it made the car smooth as a babies bottom. A few layers of polish and wax and the beading is great now!


----------



## mnight (Apr 19, 2012)

I used BH clay and its really good. I used a spray bottle with warm water and a bit of car shampoo and it worked very well. Someone bought me megs clay, and I found half way around the car it got brittle and started falling apart. So back with the BH for me!


----------



## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

What would be the reason/example for use of medium or soft clay? Want to try some of it.


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

The soft clay is exactly that, softer. still works the same, but its easier to fold and work with on colder days.


----------



## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

Thanks mate. 

In comparison with the megs clay bar (the only one I have used before) for texture hardness which one is the closest?


----------



## TubbyTwo (Apr 14, 2011)

Probably the regular, tbh Its been such a long time since I have used any other clay!


----------



## VenomUK (Oct 13, 2011)

On general how often should you need to clay your car? I done mine a about 2 months ago or so and when I went to clay it the other weekend found there was very little on the front end so aborted as I didnt see the need to do it.

Just want to know how long you wait untill the car needs claying again or how often you should look to be doing it?


----------



## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

VenomUK said:


> On general how often should you need to clay your car? I done mine a about 2 months ago or so and when I went to clay it the other weekend found there was very little on the front end so aborted as I didnt see the need to do it.
> 
> Just want to know how long you wait untill the car needs claying again or how often you should look to be doing it?


I heard some do it twice a year, but seen some others do it three times, I think it's dependant on where you live, if there is a lot of heavy industry in vicinity then clay three times. Myself, living near Heathrow I do it twice a year, if there is a lot of traffic in the sky I might be tempted to do it three times, but want to get some of that fallout removal: Iron-X or AD Direct Purple Rain to help. But i think everyone has their own clay bar program.:thumb:


----------



## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

VenomUK said:


> On general how often should you need to clay your car? I done mine a about 2 months ago or so and when I went to clay it the other weekend found there was very little on the front end so aborted as I didnt see the need to do it.
> 
> Just want to know how long you wait untill the car needs claying again or how often you should look to be doing it?


I clayed mine back in February and again last month. Was hardly worth doing in my opinion last month. Wasn't much on the paint at all even after 10,000 miles.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


----------



## cyberstretch (Apr 29, 2012)

*regular or medium for cars first time ?*

Cant make up my mind on which BH clay to purchase .

The car is 5 years old and more than likely never seen a clay bar so was thinking "regular" but hear its difficult to use. Would "medium" perform just as well ?

thanks peeps


----------



## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

medium or soft

all the bars are the same level of aggressiveness the soft is more pliable for cold weather hard would be ok if it was tropical medium is ok most of the time :thumb:


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

Bmwjc said:


> Will try the soft one next. Probably for the summer. Where I have to leave my car I get heavy tree sap all the time!


The medium and regular are "summer" clays, the soft was designed for "winter" use.
I've used inverted quotation marks since seasons are rarely the arbitrator of when a specific clay is useable, but as summer time is generally warm, the soft clay becomes a bit sticky in hand, so the firmer medium or original are more suitable.
Come the cold days, the soft saves having to faff around with mugs of hot water, and switching between two bits to maintain malleability.

Forget about 1/3s, 1/4s, etc - use as much as you prefer, whilst maintaining a 4-5mm thickness when flattened.
Any thinner and the embedded metal may protrude from the clay, and you wind up inducing fine scratches.

Tree sap would be best dealt with by Surfex HD and very hot water, using the clay as a last resort.


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

andy monty said:


> all the bars are the same level of aggressiveness


Not quite true - the difference is not as pronounced as some brands' soft/firm offerings, but the original is the more aggressive of the three.


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

VenomUK said:


> On general how often should you need to clay your car? I done mine a about 2 months ago or so and when I went to clay it the other weekend found there was very little on the front end so aborted as I didnt see the need to do it.
> 
> Just want to know how long you wait untill the car needs claying again or how often you should look to be doing it?


Timescale is irrelevant - could be once a year or 3 times a fortnight depending on where the car is parked and the amount of "stuff" it receives.
Only way to tell when and which parts need doing, is the clingfilm test after rinsing the car of shampoo.
Place a bit over fingertips to height sensation, and feel the panels. Any roughness, take the clay to it.
You'll want to reapply your LSP on those areas afterwards.


----------

