I have heard from numerous people that using a towel is bad for drying off your car and they recommend the chamois cloth...well today i was reading this Car Care Bible thing and this dude said quote:

"If you don’t have a leaf blower, dry with 100% USA cotton towels. Not a chamois, not a Water Blade, not an Absorber. Those things have no nap to them, any remaining dirt is just dragged across the paint."

So that just left me with more questions...i have been using a towel as long as i've had a car...it's just before my car was white and i couldnt see any leftover watermarks...but with the red car...ugh..i see them all the time and that's when i began questioning the effectiveness of a towel. I would have to dry it w/ one towel, then go get another one just to get the leftover marks.

So basically i dont know which one to use...looking for advice as to what product would be best for the job.

thanks!

 

Leaf blower!

 

When I'm drying, I flop a cotton towel over the car and drag it over the car getting most of the water off, then I chamois off the rest. If I have time, I'll use mothers showtime to get the water marks off with a microfibre cloth (I don't know where to find them,I swiped a couple from work) If you've never used "showtime", you should only use about 10-15 spritzes for the whole car-glass too. btw I have a black car

 

I use an all cotton towel (Fieldcrest Charisma brand that is recommended by Zaino). I find that it really does the job in drying or getting off water spots.

What I do usually is that after washing, I've got this blue absorber type of synthetic towel (very soft and does not scratch, as far as I can tell). After I use that to soak up most of the water, I will run my cotton towel over that surface to get away all the dampness that the blue towel left behind. It takes care of it most of the time. Usually, I use some detail spray when the car is all dried to help take off all the water spots that I may have left behind. Since I use Zaino products, the Z6 works wonders! Before, I used Meguiar's detail spray (on my older car) and it worked great as well! Since I ran out of both and haven't put in my new order yet, I just use a spray bottle to mist on some water on the water spots and wipe off with the cotton towel.

 

Just use a few big-ass 100% cotton towels. Make sure they aren't POS cheap one's though.

Those Absorbers do help if you use them first...blot them, don't wipe...works good.

 

200+ MPH LEAF BLOWER IS THE SHIT.

 

215 mph toro blower

they only work good if your car is waxed the water will just fly right off, all of my customers cars have no wax on em after i wash em so the blower is onlt good for the cracks...

 

Leaf blower is great for getting the water out of the tiny nooks and crannies? My wheels were a b!tch to clean before I used the blower.

 

 

hehe..you guys are leaf blower freaks...

wow, thanks for the laugh...but i dont have a leaf blower, i'd rather spend the money ON my car

although....RR32CLS has one...he lives in town, maybe i'll just go steal his

 

Wait, so how good is a leaf blower on cars w/o Wax (like Zaino-prep stage after Dawn wash)?

I remember I have this cheap Black and Decker electric blower I tried once and it was so bad at getting water off. I had to hold it like an inch from the paint and even then it was so SLOW to move to water..very ineffective.

 

Nope, it won’t work too well.
You need a good slick surface under the water for it to be most effective.
I can usually tell when it’s time for another coat of Z based on how quickly the water is blasted off.

Shawn S

 

currently use a chammy from viking...but really looking at getting a leaf blower.

 

i use a mop, some paper towels, and all of my dirty socks........if i need high pressure air to get the water out of cracks, i get a straw and puff really, really hard

 

leaf blow first, followed by a 100% cotton bath towel to get the little drops left behind. I ofteb wonder what people think as they drive by... Ohh, who cares... the car looks mint after I'm done!

 

lmao!!

eric you are such a nerd sometimes...hahahaha

 

the absorber

 

actually, checker auto parts has a cheap one on sale for like $30. electric of course. I might go check it out tomorrow.

 

i use a shammy and its been great
if u ever use the water blade be carefull... my friend just got a 2003 acccord and when he used the water blade it left the biggest scratches

 

im sleeping with my leaf blower under my bed from now on. no one is stealing that shit from me.

 

I use a 2 x 3 foot waffle textured microfiber towel I got at www.microfiber.com. It sucks up 98% or so. Once around with a 1 foot square MF towel for drips and fog and I'm ready to roll. The guy at mf.com was good to me. I had a problem with my first attempt to use paypal and he sent me a $16 pack of towels gratis.

 

Oops. Just tried the website that I recommended above and something has changed. Ohwell, search for microfiber. There are lots of places. The Autopia website has loads of fans of these things and much car care info. Highly recommemded.

 

www.microfibertech.com

 

BC im ordering about 70 bucks worth of microfiber towels from autofiber.com waffle weave drying towel, 4 detailing towels, 4 wax applicators and dash duster thing for the hell of it. they were giving a free sample on autopia.org and I loved it.

 

Yea I got the autofiber sample too, very good shit.

pakshak.com has very good service & prices
designed for cars (no tags/rough bordering, so less chance of scratching)

 

AgentDSS should I go ahead w/autofiber towles or the pakshak. if you have used both let me know thanks

 

I'd do pakshak because it's been around longer and more accepted by the detailing community. I just got my order of 6 (16"x16") MF towels & 1 25"x36" waffleweave towel shipped to me for about $32!

Great deal...you need to email them ahead of time and ask about the "Autopia Discount" to get these cheap prices.

 

I will do that, what do you use for applicators Agent

 

I have used the cotton applicator from Zaino, and more recently cotton (supposedly ) applicators from Turtle Wax (usually round w/ a hand pocket found at PepBoys). I'm still not sure what the best to use is. My guess is either 100% cotton (hard to tell if it is 100%), foam (which I am going to try out), or maybe even the MF pad that autofiber sells. I need to do more research @ Autopia cuz my car is a mess.

 

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit....under your bed...that shouldnt be too hard to get to, now if you were going to sleep w/ it IN your bed, i would have to deploy some special distraction tactics

lol!!!

 

well i'm still using a towel...i've been using one since forever and havent had too many problems...until i upgrade to a leaf blower (watch out ross) :P
but thanks for all the suggestions!!

 

haha. damn katie. i had no idea you kept this thread going this long just to see how to dry your car. funny though....

 

i didnt keep it going...i just happened to see that there were recent posts on it...haha...

i couldnt believe it was still "active" either....i checked on it last back in july...

 

i heard the absorber is ok and also pakshak.com

 

California Water Blade followed by The Absorber...Towels leave lint particles behind and catch on trim pieces . Wash with Zymol car wash first .

 

If you use a leaf blower - especially a powerful one - make sure you are drying (the car) on a clear and clean spot. You otherwise run the risk of blowing dirt and other small particles across the body of the car. While the car faces this everyday when being driven, the car's paint might not like junk blowing at 150+ MPH across it!

Otherwise I recommend a leaf blower for drying as well. Nothing more annoying the waxing the car and picking up hidden water from the cracks! The leaf blower takes care of this like nothing can.

 

OK I thought i'd add into the conversation here,

I hear that diapers (no kidding, and yes the baby type) are good to use on the car. I haven't tried it but would love to hear from someone that has.

Now all I haveto do is save up for that damned electric blower :o :o

 

i use my landscaping blower