Mothers California Gold Clay Bar

In the past 10 years, the detailing clay bar has become an indispensable tool for all professional detailers and most car enthusiasts. Unfortunately, competition has not made clay bar prices go down much, even though every major brand has an auto detailing clay bar product in their lineup. Part of the reason for this is that Auto Magic, the makers of the Clay Magic brand of detailing clay, wrote a patent on the use of clay (not the invention itself), and used it as a stick to beat the competing detailing clay manufacturers out of business. As a result, all automotive detailing clay sold here in the USA is manufactured by the same company under license by Auto Magic. That's what causes the price of detailing clay to remain high. So, when I find a great deal on detailing clay I like to share it because they don't come along all that often.

This week I found the Mother California Gold Clay Bar Kit on sale at Amazon for under $13. That's a fantastic deal, because it's normally $20 or more in the store.

The Mothers California Gold Clay Bar Kit comes with 2 clay bars, Mothers Showtime Instant Detailer, and a microfiber towel for wiping your paint. From my experience, the two clay bars are enough product to clean your car's paint 4-5 times (unless your car is excessively dirty, in which case you may fully consume one bar on the first use).

Here's what Mothers says about their clay bar product:

• Removes embedded grains of metal, tree sap, airborne environmental deposits and paint overspray for "new" look
• Safe to use on paint
• Includes 2 clay bars, Showtime Instant Detailer, Microfiber towel
• Regular use provides a long lasting benefit to your vehicle

The Mother detailing clay kit is comparable to the Meguiar's Smooth Surface Detail Clay Kit, which retails for about the same amount. The difference between the two is that Meguiar's includes a small bottle of Meguiar's Cleaner Wax in their kit, which is not worth the $2-4 difference in price. You're much better off saving the money and applying it towards a higher quality polish or wax product. . If you're going to go the Meguiar's route, I think you're much better off buying the Meguiar's G1001 Smooth Surface Clay Bar product to use with your choice of clay lubricants. If you're not familiar with clay bar lubrication, see my page Using Detailing Clay to learn all about it.

Just an FYI... There are a handful of companies that illegally import clay from Canada and Australia. I have tested a few of these products and find that they are inferior (some don't work at all) to the licensed product. Buyer beware! Don't purchase a "no name" brand that could damage your car's paint. The national brands stand behind their product.