[FireBreathingDragon]

Washed the Challenger today and after soaking 2 towels and ringing them out last time, my mind wandered to the last time I took my truck to the car wash and how those big blowers dryed it off in about 30 seconds. AH HA! I went in to my shop and came out with my Stihl leaf blower and in about 3 minutes I dried the car off without a smudge or streak! My wife thought I was crazy but oddly enough it worked great! Especially on the rims. Wham, about 15 seconds each and not a smudge or streak of water. I kept the dry towel around my neck! Looks like I gonna blow it from now on!

 

[72CUDA]

I have been doing this for several years now with my challenger. I took an old electric blower from the basement and cut the tube down and wrapped duct tape around the end to create a good funnel and make it soft in case of an accident. They sell a blower called a Master Blaster that is filtered and has a hose with soft rubber tip and from what I heard works very well...........I thought about getting one a couple of years ago, but my old leaf blower works great and is a hell of lot cheaper then the $300 bucks they wanted.

 

[LETSJET]

I use a "California wiper blade" "squeezee" type device and can dry the car in 5 minutes with a small hand size towel to get the few drops it leaves. It's made of hospital grade silicone and won't scratch or leave a mark. It removes all the water. I've used it for years with zero issues, highly recommend it! The one I have is different from the picture but is clear coat safe. Plus it use no electricity

 

[6point4]

I'm going to give this a try next time. I think I spend more time drying my
car than I do washing it.

 

[aarcuda]

I'm going to give this a try next time. I think I spend more time drying my
car than I do washing it.

yup, me too. I use a chamois and it works great to get rid of any waterstains but if the blower works, ill give it a try.

 

[Kean]

....this is what I have been using as well (a blower). I use it in conjunction with DI (deionized) water filtration during my final rinse to help prevent spotting. The forced air helps chase water from the crevices as well. Using the "flood rinse" method prior to drying will also help save time.

 

[Cuda340]

Blow-drying is a great way to dry your car, but for more convenience, I use The Absorber. It soaks up 50% more water than a chamois and does not leave streaks. A fantastic product.

The Absorber Synthetic Drying Chamois 27" x 17"

 

[13MPG]

I use an electric leaf blower as well the wife thinks im nuts and gives me a hard time about it but it definitley saves time.

 

[RT'sRT]

Blow-drying is a great way to dry your car, but for more convenience, I use The Absorber. It soaks up 50% more water than a chamois and does not leave streaks. A fantastic product.

The Absorber Synthetic Drying Chamois 27" x 17"

That's what I use also, works great...

 

[GreatAmerican]

I alos use a Stihl backpack blower to dry my car.

 

[Kean]

….convenience is really dependent on the individual scenario. The way I dry conventionally (i.e. with a drying medium like waffle-weave micro fiber towels), using forced air is much more convenient for me. With traditional methods I will still use compressed air to coax water from crevices so the forced air actually saves me some time. I also save product since I will typically use a quick wax (like Duragloss Aquawax) or quick detailer in conjunction with a WW MF towel (I don’t really like chamois’ or synthetic equivalents). ….not to mention the fact that the less I touch my finish the less often I need to spend time correcting it. I know I mentioned it earlier but simply doing a “flood rinse” (letting a steady, slow stream of water flow over the panels) before you dry will save a tremendous amount of time regardless of the method you choose to dispatch the rest.

 

[=Route 66=]

Blow drying your car is more common than people think. Blow drying also gets rid of standing water in cracks and other areas around the trunk and front end. That way you won't dry it off and then drive away in a few hours only to get out and find a dried stream of water spots somewhere.

 

[Cuda340]

I posted this clip last year. It is the best one that I have found to instruct you on the professional way to wash and dry your car. Everyone should see it.

How to Wash Your Car (ShowCar style!)

 

[R/TCLASSIC]

yep ive been using a leaf blower for a long time,it works great and especially on those classic wheels,our water here is very bad about spotting.wife got me a toilet bowl brush to try on the inner part of the classic wheels next time,anyone got any good tricks for scrubbing the brake dust off those?

 

[Kean]

I posted this clip last year. It is the best one that I have found to instruct you on the professional way to wash and dry your car. Everyone should see it.

How to Wash Your Car (ShowCar style!)

That's one of my favorites as well but mostly because of the respect I have for the guy who made the video (Mike Phillips). He used to work as an instructor with Meguiars and later became the Director of Training at Autogeek (where he's been for about the past year or so). He's a great teacher and IMO has been an influence on quite a few folks in the industry/community. His old articles can still be found on MOL - Meguiars Online and his new ones (including other videos) can be found on Autogeek's forums.!

 

[NewMuscle]

i also use my leaf blower!!!!!!!!

 

[guyver002]

I posted this clip last year. It is the best one that I have found to instruct you on the professional way to wash and dry your car. Everyone should see it.

How to Wash Your Car (ShowCar style!)

Wow I never knew that about using a real wool mitt thank you for posting this. I have one of the cheapies which I bought and thought was good one, but when he talked about the leather being inside I thought how mine didn't have that. Then he talked about the way the fibers will clump and scratch and I was like crap! He just described mine to a tee so thats what has been going on with my finish!

On another note one other thing that has bothered me is I do not know where to find a good filter that I can screw inline on my hose and would help take some of those minerals and genral nasties out so they can not dry onto the paint. Anyone happen to know any that they would recommend?

 

[sniper226]

On another note one other thing that has bothered me is I do not know where to find a good filter that I can screw inline on my hose and would help take some of those minerals and genral nasties out so they can not dry onto the paint. Anyone happen to know any that they would recommend?

Mr Clean sells (or use to sell) car wash systems that had a water filter built in the unit that was good for about 3 uses. It filters out minerals to leave a (almost) spot free finish. I saw them at Big Lots for $4. I bought 4.

You can get them on Ebay too. A real filter to go on your hose is some $$$ I believe.

 

[sniper226]

I posted this clip last year. It is the best one that I have found to instruct you on the professional way to wash and dry your car. Everyone should see it.

How to Wash Your Car (ShowCar style!)

The one thing this video leaves out is a 'flood rinse' that someone referred to. You simply remove the sprayer from the hose and allow the free flowing water collect and do a final rinse. This method allows all the little beads of water to collect and roll off the car, therefore leaving less for you to remove when drying.

I am a new found believer using a leaf blower. I need to upgrade mine for more power as I still have to go back and do some hand drying with a waffle weave cloth. To me, this is the most important stage of washing the car. And you better not interrupt me from the time I shut off the hose till the car is completely dry as as you will regret that! lol

 

[Kean]

Wow I never knew that about using a real wool mitt thank you for posting this. I have one of the cheapies which I bought and thought was good one, but when he talked about the leather being inside I thought how mine didn't have that. Then he talked about the way the fibers will clump and scratch and I was like crap! He just described mine to a tee so thats what has been going on with my finish!

....wool mitts are great but they do begin to deteriorate over time and can be relatively expensive (for a good one). Usually, you will begin to notice shedding and/or a change in the characteristic of the wool itself. Being a natural product, quality/consistency can also vary.

On another note one other thing that has bothered me is I do not know where to find a good filter that I can screw inline on my hose and would help take some of those minerals and genral nasties out so they can not dry onto the paint. Anyone happen to know any that they would recommend?

….there are several “inline” options available. It really depends on your situation including (most importantly) the characteristics of your water.

There are water softeners and deionizers of all shapes, sizes and capacities you can buy or even make on your own. The Mr Clean system sniper mentioned is a retail option that some folks seem satisfied with. I tried the first version just for kicks and giggles and thought the output rendered the tool useless (the “spot free” rinse). Apparently they improved that with the later model.

Personally, I use a 10” sediment and a 10” soft water filter set up shown below:

I have quick connects on my hoses and filters to make “tapping in” much faster. The beauty of the soft water filter is that the resin contained within the cartridge (shown inside the clear housing on the right) can be rejuvenated using sodium tablets. ….simply line the bottom of a bucket with these tablets, fill with water, submerge the canister and leave for a day or so. However, this type of filtration will only help “soften” the water and will not produce “spotless” water. If your water if very hard (like mine), this kind of filter helps but is far from a cure. I bought this particular setup years ago online (from Autogeek) for a little over $100 IIRC. You can source the components yourself but I didn’t want to go through the hassle.

For a truly spot free result you are talking about a significant increase in $$$$ as sniper pointed out. On the higher side you’ve got systems like this:

That’s the DIC-20 from CRSpotless I bought about 3 years ago. Initial cost will be over $300 for something like this but it will flow up to 4 gallons per minute and you can get quite a few rinses with it provided you use the water wisely. I use my CRS only for rinsing and will get about 12 uses before the resin needs to be replaced. ….remember, this is with very hard water. The downside is that even if you can get past the initial cost of the unit, the replacement resin is not what some would consider cheap. Buying by the cubic foot is the way to go but that can run you $215 from most places. ….1 cu ft will provide a little more that 3 full replacements of the 2 cartridges contained within the blue housings. However, I have found a source from a window washing supply that sells cu ft bags for much less (shipped, it costs me about $145). Griots has a cheaper, smaller solution but I don't know how effective it would be:

In-Line Water Softener With Fittings - Cleaning Tools - Car Washing - Car Care - Griot's Garage

The problem is that the filter(s) need to be big enough to allow the media to properly filter the water. Too much pressure/flow through a smaller filter and the water won’t come out spotless and/or the resin will be compromised (shortening its life). Even with my CRS I need to regulate the water going into the unit so it does not exceed 4 gpm.

Anyhow, I hope this info can help at least a bit.