Blot drying technique

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jyu1210

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So I have been extra careful lately because I purchased a new car and you guessed it... BLACK!

Owning the car for almost a month now, I already feel the pressure on techniques and procedures on washing and cleaning it. My previous car was white and boy was it easy, it hid swirls marks like a champ. Now, I have ultra soft black Acura paint to work with and its so fragile. I'm extra careful now on drying the car and I have a question for those who blot...

Not sure if its a new technique in drying or not, but lately I have been using a light slapping method to dry. A bit like blotting but the way I do it is I fold my Guzzler towel so it is long in length then I hold the towel from the top and lightly swing the towel onto the paint whereas the towel instantaneously sucks up up the water.

Seems like this method is a lot better then actually dragging the towel against the paint..
 
jyu1210 said:
So I have been extra careful lately because I purchased a new car and you guessed it... BLACK!

Owning the car for almost a month now, I already feel the pressure on techniques and procedures on washing and cleaning it. My previous car was white and boy was it easy, it hid swirls marks like a champ. Now, I have ultra soft black Acura paint to work with and its so fragile. I'm extra careful now on drying the car and I have a question for those who blot...

Not sure if its a new technique in drying or not, but lately I have been using a light slapping method to dry. A bit like blotting but the way I do it is I fold my Guzzler towel so it is long in length then I hold the towel from the top and lightly swing the towel onto the paint whereas the towel instantaneously sucks up up the water.

Seems like this method is a lot better then actually dragging the towel against the paint..
Click to expand...

Congrats on your new Acura! If you really want to be careful, may I suggest forced air as a means to touchlessly dry your new car? It also gets the water out of all the little nooks and crannies so you don't end up with water dripping out while your polishing or applying wax or sealant.
 
I am heavily considering the Metro Master Blaster but at the moment I can't justify spending +/- $300 on it.

I understand on panels like the hood and trunk lid, you would need to lay the towel down and pat/blot it dry, but the swinging/slapping technique is used on panels like the rear bumper, doors and quarter panel, seems like it does wonders.. especially on a damp dried Cobra Guzzler! Just holding the towel on the same place and blotting the doors are a hit or miss, sometimes you might drag the towel accidentally, but swinging the towel lightly against the paint is a safer approach, in my opinion, if done carefully and lightly.
 
What I do is let the water flow free from a hose and dry the car followed by electric leaf blower and then a towel to get the rest. I own a black is350. So I know your pain



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I've been using a backpack blower for as long as I can remember. Can't remember the last time I towel dried paint! Lol!
 
I use a combination of blow drying the side panels and 4 waffle weave mf towels on the hood, roof and trunk. I leave the towels on for 1 to 2 minutes while I take care of the windows, etc. Moving around the towels seems to push around a water film so I let the towels do the work and let them blot up the water on their own before laying them over another section of the hood or trunk. This has the added advantage of less chance of the towels causing swirls.
 
Few tricks

- don't use a waffle weave. They might be great for holding water and absorbing, but there is ZERO pile for dirt and grime to get trapped in. A bunch of 600 or 530 towels will be much better.

- use a QD spray while drying. This will really help the water attract into the towel and lubricate the surface.

- master blaster is the best way to dry a car. With that said, you need a 20amp circuit. Even if you don't have a master blaster, a leaf blower or a shop vac will work ok too.

- blot, don't wipe.
 
Andr3wilson said:
Few tricks

- don't use a waffle weave. They might be great for holding water and absorbing, but there is ZERO pile for dirt and grime to get trapped in. A bunch of 600 or 530 towels will be much better.

- use a QD spray while drying. This will really help the water attract into the towel and lubricate the surface.

- master blaster is the best way to dry a car. With that said, you need a 20amp circuit. Even if you don't have a master blaster, a leaf blower or a shop vac will work ok too.

- blot, don't wipe.
Click to expand...

But essentially, I am just using the waffle weave to gently "slap" the paint to gobble the water.. a bit like blotting but without the longer duration of time being on the paint..
 
jyu1210 said:
But essentially, I am just using the waffle weave to gently "slap" the paint to gobble the water.. a bit like blotting but without the longer duration of time being on the paint..
Click to expand...

When I think of you slapping the paint with the towel, I cannot help but wonder how you ensure absolute control over the towel in order to prevent a portion of it from dragging across the paint.

Surely you cannot be so precise as to ensure that there towel only moves perpendicular to the paint, and there is no sideways movement?

It is this sideways movement that in my opinion, will, when combined with the force from your 'slapping motion' that may lead to fine scratches in the paint.

There just seems to be too much 'force' with this method and I would assume that GENTLY blotting the paint, as opposed to (somewhat) vigorously slapping the paint will be SAFER.

Perhaps the question is why wouldn't you want to gently place the towel on the paint and allow it to soak up the water? What is the advantage of the 'slapping' method?
 
Andr3wilson said:
Few tricks

- don't use a waffle weave. They might be great for holding water and absorbing, but there is ZERO pile for dirt and grime to get trapped in. A bunch of 600 or 530 towels will be much better.

- use a QD spray while drying. This will really help the water attract into the towel and lubricate the surface.

- master blaster is the best way to dry a car. With that said, you need a 20amp circuit. Even if you don't have a master blaster, a leaf blower or a shop vac will work ok too.

- blot, don't wipe.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Isn't the idea to use a WW towel after the dirt has been removed just to absorb the water? Also, if only the water remains on the surface, would lubrication still be necessary?

That being said, I do often use a spritz of qd on my dry towel but sometimes I wonder if I'm just adding unnecessary steps.
 
ScienceGuy said:
Isn't the idea to use a WW towel after the dirt has been removed just to absorb the water? Also, if only the water remains on the surface, would lubrication still be necessary?

That being said, I do often use a spritz of qd on my dry towel but sometimes I wonder if I'm just adding unnecessary steps.
Click to expand...

The water remaining on the paint that you want to dry off will not, in my opinion, provide sufficient lubricity to ensure that the ww drying towel does not cause marring of any kind on the paint. After all it is simply water, and as such, is nowhere near as 'slippery' (for want of a better word) than formulated QD's.

The cost of a little QD on each 'drying session' is far outweighed by the removal of any swirls etc inflicted in the paint.

To me, it is a no-brainer....
 
Sure, I get that it makes sense in terms of added lubricity and that a spritz of qd doesn't cost much. But I haven't seen any marring caused by my mf towels by themselves. I am due for a polishing session so maybe ill test out the towels by themselves and see what it takes to get them to swirl up my soft Honda paint, should be fun.
 
ScienceGuy said:
Sure, I get that it makes sense in terms of added lubricity and that a spritz of qd doesn't cost much. But I haven't seen any marring caused by my mf towels by themselves. I am due for a polishing session so maybe ill test out the towels by themselves and see what it takes to get them to swirl up my soft Honda paint, should be fun.
Click to expand...

I would think that on soft honda paint, towel marring would be a real possibility, and as such if it were my car, I would do everything humanly possible to prevent below surface damage that would require precious clear coat removal to fix.

I think back to the first Subaru I detailed where even removing the polish residue with a brand new Chinchilla MF towel caused marring.
 
Thanks for the link. Oh the joys of soft paint.

Great work on that Subaru though! :xyxthumbs:
 
Not sure if your method is a good method or not. I also have the same concerns as others have stated with the "slapping" action. However, only time will tell. New techniques come about from experimentation. You have a great test bed there, if t works for you, I'd say continue with it. If you can get through several washes without any marring, I'd recommend doing a 50/50 split on the car with blotting on one side and slapping on the other. Make a video for YouTube or similar and posting the link so we can all SEE what you are doing.
 
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