Using clay bar

[Smokestacklightnin]

Will be putting my car in its first judged car show at a local festival in two weeks. Have all ready completed detailing on interior, trunk, and engine. Plan on using a clay bar and then waxing. Need an estimate on how long it would take to do the entire car. Will be using Meguiars Gold Class Carnuba plus wax. Do I have to wax immediatly or can I wait a few days?

[EaOutlaw1969]

I use a clay bar after I wash the car good, but I use the clay bar with car wash soap with wax in it.
They normally want you to use their spray detailer with the clay bar but this can get costly, time consuming and shorten the life of the clay bar.
I just make sure to use plenty of soap with wax and water as the lubricant and wash off the clay bar frequently with the soap and water solution then make sure to kneed the clay bar often to make sure I am not rubbing any dirt or debris into the paint.
once done with the clay bar and you can feel the paint has nothing left stuck to it is the time to use the spray detailer or wax.
I roll the clay bar into a ball then coat it with straight soap with wax then wrap it in aluminum foil when I am done using it.
the last clay bar kit we purchased was in 2016 it came with two bars we still have not needed to use the second bar yet.

Using the spray detailer and their provided instructions I used to toss out the clay bar each time I used it.

And I would never wax a vehicle days after a wash job because it would be too much of a risk of rubbing dirt, dust etc into the paint.

[P72Ford]

What color is the car?

In my experience, white takes the longest, because you can see everything. My white quad cab short bed Ram 1500 took me 8 hours; it was a 25K mile used truck in good shape, but I am anal retentive.

Commercial clays are much easier to use and effective than the stuff you can buy in the auto parts stores. Check Autogeek for the good stuff. I used to like the Meguiar's clay, but the last kit I bought the clay felt a lot less dense, and had a tendency to smear even in a cool dry garage with plenty of lubrication.

I have to do my wife's pearl white Elantra this spring, and I am dreading it. Sometimes you can skip claying if you are going to follow it with a rotary polisher and a medium cut polish, but her car has never had any paint maintenance, so it will need that step.

[Brown_Muscle]

If the paints in decent condition it takes me less than an hour to clay a car. If it's inside you can wait a few days before waxing if you have to, outside it's likely to get crap in the paint again. Also I highly recommend using a sealant, AKA a synthetic wax. It will last longer and do a better job. You can put other things on top of it right before the car show if you wish. Regular waxes last 3-6 weeks, sealers last 4-6 months depending on conditions. just my 2 cents.