ktgumbo

I know that this has been brought up quite a bit before
but everyone gives me different answers. What is the best
method hands down to dry a BLACK CL. I have heard the
absorber, chamois, cotton towels..... What so you guys use. I have goin'; to the car wash, and i always think twice when i hear
the horror stories about scratches rims. Thanks

ira

Absolute best is a a humid area or a final rinse with distilled water so no waterspots and a leaf blower. The leafblower gets about 95% of the water gone including the hard stuff like the wheels, lights, mirrors and door handles. Follow it up with a cotton towel and don't rub. Be careful if you have hard water and it's dry or hot out as the tiny drops the leaf blower leaves will spot in a hurry.

Leaf blower is non-contact so no scratches.

Ira

nd9ta

Using a leaf blower is a good idea. Also - I use only 100% USA Cotton (Fieldcrest, Cannon) towels to dry my black car in order to avoid any scratches. I use about 5 towels at each wash. As one gets damp, I use a dry one to followup with. When I am done - I toss them in the wash, with liquid detergent (no powders). Low heat dry when finished in order to reduce static. Hope that helps.
Good luck.

ktgumbo

Ya i have always wanted to try the leaf blower idea
but it seems kinda akward. I went to Acura today
and i bought the "The Absorber" for only $14.
Hopefully this will help my washing woes.

Nugs3

$14 you could of gotten one at walmart or Target for $8.

btw the Cali. water blade/Absorbor combo. works pretty good.

nd9ta

Its a great product - just make sure the surface is clean (free of anything that can scratch). I'd still follow up with a towel too.

Also, don't use it on your wheels - You don't want to get an brake dust on it - It can scratch your paint.

Use a seperate towel for the wheels and undercarriage.

erock

I use the Cali water blade/ towel method... real quick and dries good....

Homer2

ive been using the waterblade and royal velvets for almost two years now . . of course, my car is a tad larger than yours, so i need to get that water off fast - and the blade does that. the towle picks up the leftovers and the Z6 wipes off any water spots that may have formed . . ..

4pumpedCL

I consider myself pretty anal (not as bad as some ) and I use two towels. One I will wipe down the panel and get rid of the majority of the water, then IMMEDIATELY follow up with a dry towel and dry it completely. After I'm done I usually take the car around the block and hit the whole thing again with McGuires (SP?) quick detail spray. Also, make sure you have a ton of wax on the car. It's a lot easier to dry a car that has a fresh coat of wax on it.

-Aaron

tec243

Yep, a good wax and big, soft towels are key. A good finish on the windows helps alot for them too. I've heard some do a 100mph run around the block to get the water out of the mirrors and such. For those with a convenient freeway nearby. For me, a towel to get the mass and another for quick follow up to get the rest. I have plenty of towels !! I use a squeegee for the windows. ...dean

Slimey

I use a California Water Blade and then a cotton towel for the remainder. The water blade removes a good 95% of the water. I use it quickly after I turn off the hose so I don't get spotted (ie, don't that water dry naturally).

Scrib

I just ordered one of these -

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=72993

And supposedly it's hands-down better than the Absorber.

I'm looking to get a Cali. Water Blade as well. They're only 13 bucks at Costco!

nd9ta

Scrib - let me know how you like when you get and use it.

Kappasity

all the above ideaas are well and good. five towels, the absorber, cali waterblade, leaf blower or whatever. but won't any of that stuff work unless you wash and dry your car in the SHADE. i've found that that is the best way to keep my black cl blingin'. also, the blackfire products make for a even deeper, richer shine.

darrinb

I use the califorina water blade, then i use a terry cloth towel

MikeS 18

I use an ABSORBER and a microfibre towel for the remains. I don't have enough confidence for the water blade and the ABSORBER has served me well for years and years.

SiGGy

IMO The water blade sucks compared to the absorber. Especially on any contours in the car, the Waterblade really doesn't work well. My friend bought one for his vette, but he ended up getting an absorber instead to use. After trying the water blade a few times we decided the absorber works much better.

bdheilig

Listening to some of this stuff is ridiculous. A damn leafblower? Who are you kidding? Just wash your car with a wash mitt from any local retailer than is made from a soft synthetic fabric and then dry the car with a chamois. All of this other stuff is crazy and ludicrous. When you want to wax the car use cloth baby diapers, that is about the softest fabric known to man and works great without ruining the car. Please for the love of god if you have anymore detailing questions direct them to me cause personally all you other people scare me with these comments as of lately. Now jackass here below me lists a microfiber towel, well i used to use that and didn't really like it and his beef that he has with the
anything else i say is just bs. Chamois works great and anybody who claims that it scratches is full of crap, hands down. Just wet the chamois in water from a hose and ring it out so that it is damp before you use it, dont use it dry.

Thanks,
bryant

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Oh here we go again. Why not stick to what you know, washing cars with dirty polyester mitts. Wash mitts made of synthetic fabric? I sure hope you're not using those wonderful polyester wash mitts from the local Auto Parts Stores. Oh god, please just go away quietly so no one gets hurt.

So these cloth diapers you use, have you noticed the polyster thread used to serge them? Polyester can cause some serious scratching my friend, but you would know that being an ACURA PROFESSIONAL DETAILER Ever heard of microfiber dumbass?

nate'sCLS

I know that you are the self proclaimed "Acura Professional Detailer," but baby diapers have polyester in them (if you don't believe it just burn a thread of one and see it shrivel up in a hard ball-- polyester test). Polyester is harmful to paint.

limuas22

Do you get some kind of pleasure :wackit: giving people bad advise?? The leafblower idea is one of the best ways to dry your car...hell nothing is touching your paint except air!

nate'sCLS

bdheilig:

What in the hell do you think those air blowers at the end of drive through car washes (not that I use those ) were designed for. I know a "professional" car detailer that does some show cars and he uses an air compressor. Where is the harm in any of this

jucee187

After washing.. I drive around my block a couple of times..there are nice straight aways...hehe. just run it at about 100-120kmh and by the time u pull up on the drive way again..it will be dry... then i just use meguiars quick detailer to finish off the car...takes approx 30-45min to finish the whole car...
just realized that 4pumped uses this similar technique.. haha.

02cl_blk

Someone at the top of this thread mentioned being reall anal and using two towels to dry the car.. Having a black CL myself, I've found it to be very difficult to keep clean and even when clean, to keep free of water spots, etc... I have also found it literally impossible to apply the Z6 to my black car... It *always* leaves streaks, no matter how lightly I spray it on and how quickly I remove it...
So here are a few things I've kind of picked up along the way which help a bit but are not a complete solution... I usually start by drying it with a pre-dampened and wrung-out chamois or a bath-sized fieldcrest to get the majority of beaded water... I then use a second smaller fieldcrest towel which I have misted with water very lightly with a plant-misting bottle. The trick I've found which works is after misting the towel (we're talking a very very light misting) I follow up by misting the towel a little more heavily than I did with the water, with Z6. Basically, 3-4 quick mists across the surface of the folded up towel, followed by 2-3 quick mists of Z6.. I then do a small area with this *barely* damp towel and immediately follow up with a second bath-sized fieldcrest to dry any excess moisture.. I do a 1' square at a time like this, and usually do it in an outdoor spot that is not in direct sunlight, but not totally shaded either... After that 1' square, I remist the towel with Z6, not water... After about 5 times, I will remist with a little water before the Z6...

I've found that for a black car, it makes it *very* easy to apply the Z6 without any streaking. The Z6 gets slightly diluted on the towel first, and it becomes a cinch to apply it very evenly, hence no streaking...

Anyone see anything wrong with this method? I know I'm not an Acura Professional Detailer but I've found this system works like a charm for me, and I don't see it causing any swirls or anything because the towel is dampened and softened by the combo of Z6 and water...

'02

nabster

this sounds perfect to me, the only problem i see with this is that by the time i went through the hood like this (using your technique above), the rest of the car would be ugly patchy dry. does this happen to you? does reworking the "dry" areas with the moist towel take care of that problem?