What's the correct way to dry your car after washing with the two bucket method?

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AliMusa

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What's the correct method to dry off a car when washing? Whenever I finish rinsing my car and get to drying, by the time I get to most of the panels they are all dried up with water marks because of how long it takes to dry each panel. Am I doing something wrong? And should I rinse the dry panels once they're dried with water marks?
 
I have the Master Blaster love it great product and a lot of people use a leaf blowers.
 
i use a leaf blower as well, nothing special either. Sometimes the sun faces the passenger side of the car so i will dry that side first. Lastly i will touch up with a microfiber cloth (mainly touch, not wipe). Because i will always add a spray detailer or some sort of protection, making sure all spots are removed isn't an issue.
 
This is another reason I LOVE rinseless washing. It pretty much eliminates water spots because you dry each panel as soon as you wash it. If you haven't tried ONR, you should.

If for whatever reason, rinseless is not an option, there are a few things you can do to help prevent water spots.

1. Always give a final rinse just before drying. Take the nozzle off the hose and gently "sheet" the water over the car. This sheeting action reduces the amount of water left on the surface, reducing dry time.

2. Using some form of air drying is a big help to some people. I've never had a problem using just waffle weave towels, though. I use 2 towels. 1 that is damp with clean water, and one that is bone dry. Go over the whole car with the damp towel quickly, which will get the vast majority of the water. The dry one comes back and blots up the remaining moisture.

3. Make sure you're working in the shade. Standing water+sun=nearly instant waterspots.

4. Always keep a good QD handy. And waterspots left on the surface, which shouldn't be many if you follow these suggestions, can be cleaned up with a good QD. I prefer ONR for this as its incredibly cheap and effective.


Good luck my friend!
 
do you use the flooding method as final rinse ? this can help leave as little as possible water on the surface as possible. I always use uww+ or optimum instant detailer as a drying aid . I do have a master blaster but living in apartment I don't do many traditional washes and I also use cr spotless . otherwise I go to washbay just to use water and I dry before I even pull out , others behind me can wait . mostly I use rinseless wash though , depends on how dirty .
 
Have a quick detailer handy to follow up after or during drying it will get the water spots right out. But I dont have this problem as the water from my apartment isnt hard, and also I do rinseless washes with ONR. Also maybe look into cobra guzzler hd, use blot method (can lay flat and run your hand on it), im unsure how long you take to dry, but using this it takes very little time to dry a car.
 
Last edited:
AliMusa said:
The leaf blower would have to be electric, correct?
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Its best that its electric, otherwise, the exhaust could contaminate the paint. You don't want to immediately contaminate the paint just after a nice wash
 
Well master blasters and leaf blowers are without a doubt the safest way to dry. Swirls are inflicted to ways. Washing and drying. I think the chances are 30% washing 70% drying. Blow drying eliminates that 70%.

Now if you are going to use a towel. I have basically found a perfect method. I did this before I could afford a master blaster. PLEASE TRY THIS!

Waffle weaves are awesome, but because of the short nappe, you have a chance of dragging dirt across the hood (say you are outside and a gust of wind blows some dirt onto the car) rather than lifting it into the towel.

I got one of these Big 530 Towels to dry with. This will lift dirt into the deeper nappe.

To start I soak the towel in warm water, and wring it out so it is damp.

Then I take a bottle of ONR/ONRWW/QD and spray the panel first as a drying aid. This will add lubricity, and you will be QDing as you dry!

Then a systematically wipe down the car until it is dry. I try to use the blotting method as much as possible!

Try it out, you will be hooked.
 
A sheeting rinse helps alot! Then blower, then blotting with Cobra Guzzler.
 
I like using a blower to dry my customers cars is the less I touch the paint The better.
 
Andr3wilson said:
Well master blasters and leaf blowers are without a doubt the safest way to dry. Swirls are inflicted to ways. Washing and drying. I think the chances are 30% washing 70% drying. Blow drying eliminates that 70%.

Now if you are going to use a towel. I have basically found a perfect method. I did this before I could afford a master blaster. PLEASE TRY THIS!

Waffle weaves are awesome, but because of the short nappe, you have a chance of dragging dirt across the hood (say you are outside and a gust of wind blows some dirt onto the car) rather than lifting it into the towel.

I got one of these Big 530 Towels to dry with. This will lift dirt into the deeper nappe.

To start I soak the towel in warm water, and wring it out so it is damp.

Then I take a bottle of ONR/ONRWW/QD and spray the panel first as a drying aid. This will add lubricity, and you will be QDing as you dry!

Then a systematically wipe down the car until it is dry. I try to use the blotting method as much as possible!

Try it out, you will be hooked.
Click to expand...

I am going to try this Andrew. I have always used the QD after the drying if I don't use the master blaster.
 
Sheeting method + leaf blower.

Neighbors are going to think you're crazy unless you live next to a car nut, who will realize the brilliance of it and ask to borrow it.
 
I'd certainly agree that improper drying is responsible for an overwhelming majority of scratches and swirls...so:

1) Air dry it; or
2) Make sure the drying media you are wiping the paint with is damp, and there is lubrication between the towel and the paint (such as detail spray or say D156 or any other product that works well on wet surfaces).
 
I try to use the leaf blower as much as possible since I believe, the less you touch the paint, less likely you will have scratches. However during summer days when the weather is warmer and drier, I basically use a wet but wringed MF towel to wipe of the heavier water. Also if a panel has already dried on its own, the wet MF towel will clean it. Then I use a MF WW drying to remove any leftover.

Also would like to mention, inspect the wet towel often and make sure it is clean.
 
I use two guzzler's typically. Sometimes I can get away with one but our CUV has a lot of area to cover. I'm getting a leaf blower for my lawn soon and figure I'll use it to help blow the cars clean.

Has anyone else noticed their Guzzler towels degrading over time? seems they don't pick up as much water as they used to. Maybe I'm just trying to hard to stretch out their use. I only wash with DP's microfiber restorer.
 
Leaf blower, Mequires water magnet drying towel then I almost always follow up with a QD w/ Carnauba, BF Poly Spray or BF Crystal Seal.
 
Alek@DeepClean said:
This is another reason I LOVE rinseless washing. It pretty much eliminates water spots because you dry each panel as soon as you wash it. If you haven't tried ONR, you should.

If for whatever reason, rinseless is not an option, there are a few things you can do to help prevent water spots.

1. Always give a final rinse just before drying. Take the nozzle off the hose and gently "sheet" the water over the car. This sheeting action reduces the amount of water left on the surface, reducing dry time.

2. Using some form of air drying is a big help to some people. I've never had a problem using just waffle weave towels, though. I use 2 towels. 1 that is damp with clean water, and one that is bone dry. Go over the whole car with the damp towel quickly, which will get the vast majority of the water. The dry one comes back and blots up the remaining moisture.

3. Make sure you're working in the shade. Standing water+sun=nearly instant waterspots.

4. Always keep a good QD handy. And waterspots left on the surface, which shouldn't be many if you follow these suggestions, can be cleaned up with a good QD. I prefer ONR for this as its incredibly cheap and effective.


Good luck my friend!
Click to expand...

THIS!:dblthumb2:

PLUS either ONRWW, or spray wax, IE DG951 AW
 
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