What do you use to dry your car?

SoFlo1 said:
I was going to get some of the Meguiars Ultimate Quick Detailer from auto zone. Does walmart carry that same product?
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Dear SoFlo1

Yes, sir. That stuff smells great and works well.
 
Nice stuff.

I'm going to head and get some of that detail spray.

For now until I do have enough $$ for the Master Blaster, just dry with MF clothes?
 
You'll be fine with quality MF...look into a Metro Sidekick for the left over water.
 
07RS4 said:
This is my set-up...30 ft hose...works great.

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Great looking setup. Two questions. One, where did you get your flooring? Two, do you think the master blaster works better than the vacumaid garage vac on blowing? I have it and like it to vacuum out the cars, but using it to dry the cars would be time consuming task if I used it for more than the crevices.

Thanks.
 
So after I wash the car, I can try flooding it? Which means take just the hose and let it run right up against the cars surface?

Then wipe clean with MF only? or spray detailer and wipe down? (Until I get a master blaster)
 
Metro sidekick after a sheeting rinse. You can make your own attachment by cutting a small piece of hose and using some quick disconnects.
 
Centexhokie said:
Great looking setup. Two questions. One, where did you get your flooring? Two, do you think the master blaster works better than the vacumaid garage vac on blowing? I have it and like it to vacuum out the cars, but using it to dry the cars would be time consuming task if I used it for more than the crevices.

Thanks.
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Flooring, LockTile USA. They provide free samples just call them. I am not familiar with the vacumaid, sorry. As with any dual use sucker/blower, lol....I would not use the same hose for both.
 
I am not prone to terminology, not sure what others mean by "flooding", but form my personal experience I can tell that:
If you do well bucket wash and hose it off with low to medium pressure water you will have only clear water left on your panels (very little if car has some wax left, which will repel water and moderate amount of water if your paint was really dry).
Drying the car after good bucket wash and hosing off has never been a challenge to me. With good MF towels all you do is wipe it once to get most of residual water soaked up. Go second round (with new, dry MF towel) to completely remove any water drops remaining.

In past I used Costco MF towels ,as well as good, large, fluffy (more expensive) MF towels. The result with better MF towels was also in saving a lot of time and effort. It absorbs a lot more water (you could use two towels for a car vs. several towels that quickly get soaked up and useless to continue drying your vehicle).


This forum is great source of information. You can get plenty of information by browsing the threads too ( I found out about Pack Shack towels browsing this forum, where detailers who work on high end cars recommend it)

Good luck!
 
07RS4 said:
Flooring, LockTile USA. They provide free samples just call them. I am not familiar with the vacumaid, sorry. As with any dual use sucker/blower, lol....I would not use the same hose for both.
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Thanks. I will look into the flooring. I have a 30' hose to vacuum and a 50' hose to dry. It does a good job on the crevices, but I always feel like I am chasing the droplets rather than pushing them off. It has 83% of the power of the master blaster so I have figured that the extra 17% wasn't worth the change out.
 
I got the detail spray at Walmart. I also seen terry soft cotton towels. Are those any good?
 
Jaddie said:
Dear SoFlo1

Now is the best time to watch for sales on the Master Blaster air dryer. When 15+% off becomes available, get one.

There is no doubt that you must get one of these.
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Which Master Blaster? Is the 8HP one necessary?
 
SoFlo1 said:
I got the detail spray at Walmart. I also seen terry soft cotton towels. Are those any good?
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Are they the terry cloth towels or the microfiber ones? If they are the terry cloth, I'd avoid using them on the paint. I've seen an old microfiber mar paint, I can't imagine what terry cloth might do.
 
For drying my car and customers cars. I prefer using the Chemical Guy Woolly Mammoth towel. I also have the Microfiber madness dry me crazy towel. I was somewhat disappointed with how much water it can hold. (Dry me crazy)

It can dry about half a car and then you have to wring it out. The Woolly Mammoth towel can dry 2 or more cars and you'd still have a hard time trying to wring it out. (Give or take)

I am actually going to buy some more Woolly Mammoth Towels.

Until I buy an air blower to help me dry. I use the Chemical Guys woolly mammoth towel to lightly tap dry btw...
 
swanicyouth said:
There is real good stuff and stuff that will "work" to dry. You could dry your car with old oil change rags and paper towels if you like. I have a leaf blower and it sucks compared to the Master/Air Force Blaster and Sidekick.

The leaf blower may help, if thats all you have. But a gas leave blower always has the potential of shooting oil/gas/combustion remnants out with the air flow onto your paint. It's not designed to dry cars (or dry anything), so there is no incentive for the manufacturer to concern themselves overly with this. Byproducts of combustion may make your paint slightly oily and attract more dirt.

It also won't filter or heat air, so you potentially could be shooting whatever particles or bugs that may be floating around in the air at your paint. If you don't believe in airborne particles, wash your car and leave it outside for a day. There will be "stuff" on the horizontal panels. How abrasive or damaging that "stuff" is at 160 mph shot at your paint is anyone's guess.

I use what I think is the "best stuff": Microfiber Madness towels (Dry Me Crazy/Wave Rider Jr)/Cobra Guzzler HD/Sonus Der Wunder Waffle Weave, a Master Blaster, and de-ionized water.

At least get some good towels and a good quick detailer. A single 16"x24" quality waffle weave towel will like last you a thousand washes or so if you care for it right. With numbers like that, I just can't see getting a drying towel at a department store unless you are not worried about scratches.
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The blower assembly and the combustion chamber do not share air, therefor the exhaust and air output come from two different places. No exhaust or oil comes out of the blower output! Also, I would think that any airborn dust or debris would be blown against the paint whether you use a backpack blower or a super duper detailers vac / blower. One plus with a backpack blower is that the output tube only ever blows air so the tube is always clean. With a vac/blower, the hose could very well have sand, dirt, or other debris lodged inside which could cause damage to paint. I've been using a backpack blower for well over 10 years to dry vehicles and have never had a problem.
 
SoFlo1 said:
Oh ok so it really doesn't matter what type of blower you get?

Blowing doesn't cause water spots?

And these WW towels, can you get them in the stores? I bought a pack of 10 MF's from Harbor Freight for $5 but I opened them up and they are small ones lol.

And if I decide to use a blower, do I still have to use detailer spray and wipe after I blow it off? Where is a good place to get the detailer spray?
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After blowing my cars off, I'll use a Mequires Water Magnet to get the last few drops. In some spots afterwards I need to use a QD to clean some white chalky residue off the car that I think comes from my water softener. Just QD the car like normal when done and taaa da....clean shiny car. But if I go over the whole car with the drying towel I don't need the QD.
 
Yeah the terry towels at Walmart. Do those work at all
 
SoFlo1 said:
Yeah the terry towels at Walmart. Do those work at all
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Don't use those. They'll mar and potentially scratch your paint. You need a good, soft microfiber towel (or better yet, air).

You should also be using a good, clean microfiber wash mitt or similar for the wash process. No sponges, rags, terry towels, or dirty brushes. (A clean, quality board hair brush will work though!)
 
I use meguiars water magnet waffle weave

Sent from my SGH-I337M using AG Online
 
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