My Advice for Drying a Car

[Harry Da Hamster]

1. Always begin the drying process with a wet waffle weave towel. By wet I mean completely soak the towel with clean water and then wring out as much as possible. Using a dry towel Can cause towel wipe scratches. Yes, clear coats these days are that sensitive.

2. Wipe down the car from top to bottom and work in straight lines. When the towel is unable to absorb more water, wring it out and keep going.

3. The car won't get 100% dry this way but rather about 90%. For the remaining little bit of water, use a detail spray or spray wax/sealant with a dry PLUSH microfiber. Preferrably 400gsm and up.

I do the exact same thing. EXCEPT for step one i use a damp plush microfiber towel. It'll soak up just as well (if not better) as a damp waffle weave but the longer nap may lower the chances of marring from missed spots by trapping dirt in it's longer nap.

 

[artofdetailing]

I use guzzler's to dry my car and often times wonder "what the heck, this thing isn't picking up any water" then I slow my hand movement and that helps some but I'll give this soaking method a try as I typically hit the car with spray wax and QD afterwards anyways.

Blowers are nice for crevices.

Water helps soak up other water because of a process called hydrogen bonding. Try the damp towel. I think you will be pleased

 

[Kappy]

With the Garry Dean No Rinse Method, a damp microfiber towel is used to wipe off the washing solution, and then a dry towel is used to dry/buff the surface. Is the buffing step necessary, or better eliminated, and will something like ONRWW streak if not completely dried?

 

[Gsrjake]

My steps on drying

Use hose to bead off most water( whether the car is treated or not it still helps)

I always dry the windows first with a drying blade then waffle weave towel.

Then any excess water on the car I'll use a leaf blower, cracks, crevices, etc ( thinking of getting the metro vac)

After that I'll use my large 24x36 waffle weave drying towel and either blot down the water or gently slide in straight lines

What I've learned from this thread is ill prolly get my big waffle weave drying towel damp and or either spray it with a QD or Spray Wax

 

[lawrenceSA]

There isn't science behind it. How or whether a tiny piece of grit gets temporarily lodged somewhere in the fibers of the towel is a random statistical event. Whether that grit in turn scratches is also dependant on several random variables of grit size, shape, pressure, direction, lubricity, piled onto the previous random variables.

In fact, if you had a small exposed grit in the fibers of the towel and you drag the towel a couple feet in a straight line, and all the random variables are working against you, you'll have a couple foot straight-line scratch.

If on the other hand you changed wiping directions, that piece of grit will move relative to the nap and could very easily be moved deeper into the nap and/or not be at the same angle and pressure so it would no longer scratch.

It's also possible that changing directions could uncover a grit that was previously not scratching. There's no perfect solution to this.


So there's really no right answer and you'd never be able to prove that one is always better than the other. You can't go back in time with that offending piece of grit oriented precisely the same way in the nap and all the other variables precisely the same and try something else.

I'd stick with what you prefer for convenience or whatever reason. Presumably, by the time you are drying (and unless you are drying in a dusty wind storm) there are no offending grits on the paint and it's more a matter of how clean your towels are. Forced air is the best though.

It has to do with the law of reflection.

Smooth surfaces reflect light rays in one direction, while rough surfaces diffuse the light rays in a bunch of different directions.

If you are going to scratch the car by touching it, it's best to have scratches all going in one direction than swirls from circular motions in all directions. The linear scratches are harder to see at most angles. Where circular scratches are seen at every angle because of how the light reflects off of the surface.

Think about a lake. When it's calm you can see reflections perfectly (flat surface) when wind is blowing and rippling the water reflections are more distorted, when wind is blowing and the wake from another boat is going by the distortion is worse (more angles).

I hope that helps. Only had a few minutes to write this before I head out.

Thank you both for your replies - this is exactly the time of 'scientific' explanation I was looking for and really does help me understand the logic behind this.

Really do appreciate it:dblthumb2:

 

[Real Riders]

This is great advice. I have always used a Water Sprite Plus Chamois to dry cars for years. This seems like a much safer way to dry the car.