Clay bars are great for removing small areas of decontamination, but it can be cumbersome to use it over larger parts of the car. An alternative that has really taken off in the last few years is clay mitts. In this review, I’ll be taking a look at the G3 Clay Mitt. G3 are well known for producing high quality products at modest prices, so I was interested to see how well their mitt worked.
As mentioned elsewhere on the site, regardless if a clay bar or clay mitt is used, there needs to be plenty of lubrication to minimise marring and scratching the paintwork. This isn’t a huge issue if the paint is going to be corrected afterwards, but if not, it’s best to use these items as a last resort. You can buy dedicated clay lube. One trick I picked up from Larry at AmmoNYC though was to use the shampoo that was used on the car as a lubricant for the claying process. I always opt for a shampoo that is extremely slick, such as Autoglym UHD Shampoo, or Garage Therapy Zero Decon Shampoo.
How to use G3 Deep Clean Clay Mitt
The panel should be soaked first, and preferably with a new layer of shampoo. This might seem overkill, but the panel needs to be as lubricated as possible to prevent swirls or marring. After this, you’ll want to dunk your clay mitt in the bucket of shampoo and rest the mitt on the panel. You should not apply a hard or medium pressure onto the panel with the clay mitt. To use it properly, move the mitt slowly up and down to effectively remove as many of the contaminants as possible. It is not recommended to move the mitt left and right as this can cause marring to the paintwork.
After one pass, I recommend that the clay side of the mitt is rinsed off using a hose, and then if needed to be used on another part of the car, the same procedure is used to clay it again.
The important factor that I cannot re-iterate enough is that the panel and the mitt both have to be highly lubricated.
Quality of the item
This is an important topic to address since it is expected to last longer than a clay bar would. The clay mitt is extremely well made, and I was able to hold onto it without any issue. I was curious how it would hold up against using Garage Therapy Zero Decon Shampoo as a clay lube as this shampoo is strong enough to strip wax from the paint. I could not see any visible damage to the clay mitt, nor did I notice any issues with it removing contaminants after repeated usage cycles. This however is in part due to it being rinsed off thoroughly after each use, and then put back into the packet after it has dried.
It’s also important to note that if you do drop this clay mitt on the ground, you can rinse it off and re-use it. The same isn’t true with normal clay bars. As soon as they’re dropped on the ground, they have to be thrown out.
G3 Deep Clean Clay Mitt Results
I was extremely happy with the G3 Deep Clean Clay Mitt. It was able to remove the really heavily bonded tar deposits from the lower portions of the car. This was after one, small pass without applying any pressure to the mitt. My car is white, although inspecting the paintwork with an inspection light did not show any marring, scratches or swirls on the area which I was going to use the clay mitt on. I’m glad to say that using the clay mitt as directed above did not install any defects in the paint work.
Clay bars and mitts should only be used as a last resort to decontaminate the paint. They should not be used after each wash. There really is not any need for this. Before using it, you have to really consider if you need to use it, or if using chemical decontamination would be a better approach.
If there’s one downfall with it though, you cannot see how soiled it is, whereas this is readily visible with a clay bar.
- Revolutionary, re-usable G3 body Prep clay mitt uses an advanced rubber polymer technology that easily removes ingrained dirt, bugs, tar spots and dulling pollutants from paintwork, windscreens and even HEADLIGHTS
Last update on 2023-05-29 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Ease of Use
- Value for Money
- Results
Summary
G3 Deep Clean Clay Mitt is a cost effective and easy to use alternative to the conventional clay bar.
Overall
4.8Pros
Cost effective
Easy to use
Safe when use correctly
Cons
Can be difficult to see if there is any contaminants on the clay mitt