Underhood Pad.....

J

janderson

New member
Ok, what is the best way to get all of the water off the car. I have read about the California Water Blade, and hear that it works great. I used to use towels, but now I know much better than that.



Some thoughts on this would be great.
 
I personally use the waterblade. Its a double edge sword. I wipe off the blade with my fingers after every pass. Makes drying a car a heck of a lot easier and faster. Don't clean the blade or keep it wet, your welcoming long scratches.



The safer approach would be a synthetic shammy, the water bandit, basorber, and P21S come to mind.



Follow up either the blade or shammy with a cotton towel or MF to pick up the water they could not get to.



Jason
 
I have had a bad experience with this drying 'tool'. I used it for a while and then noticed these long scratches. I determined it could have only been from the water blade.



It's hard to use on a car with a lot of curves like my Mustang. But works great on trucks and vans. Your best bet would be to get the absorber or a good quality chamois.



Not saying these things will not scratch your car but its not as likely to scratch as the water blade is.
 
Depending on my mood and the chosen car, I use various combinations of the Water Blade (not bad), Absorber (good) Water Bandit (better), and soft cotton towels. I prefer old beach towels over bathroom towels. Microfiber towels also absorb quickly.



One trick is to let the hose flow freely and "sheet" the water off your car after you are done washing. This will leave FAR less water on the car (less beading) and will make drying much faster.
 
The water blade will cause scratches. You have to be very careful with it or you will be sorry. The absorber, water bandit or the P21S drying towel are better options.
 
I use the blade along with a water bandit on all the flat surfaces. I agree in that you have to be careful, but I don't think it poses any more of a risk for scratches than anything else you can put on your paint. Just keep the blade clean, store it in its orginial packing and wipe it off between swipes and you should be just fine.
 
I have one, and what I do is use the blade to get the majority of water off the flatter parts, and follow it up with a very soft beach towel, works good for me. I wasnt too impressed at first, but now that I have a method, it works good.
 
So I run a risk no matter what I use. I have been using old beach towels for years. They have always done the job nicely, but I was concerned that I might be putting scratches all over the car.



It seems that there is a 50/50 view on the Cali Water Blade. I saw some different car dryers for sale with CMA. I was thinking about trying the Der Wunder towel. Should I be using a chamois (sp?)? Let me know what you think.
 
..but I even have scratches in the glass (perfectly straight parellel lines) that were caused by a squeegee (not the CWB).



Make up your own mind and decide if the risk is worthwhile. I personally think it is an extremely efficient way to dry a car...I just can't deal with the potential scratches.
 
I have a blade, but after getting a water bandit - I don't use it any more. The bandit works so well. It probably helps that my cars are both pretty small. If I had an huge SUV, I would probably think differently.
 
Well I've got a CWB and a P21s Drying Towel.



I've had pretty good luck with the CWB, the P21s Towel scares me when I place it on my car and start dragging, it screeches like a banshee .. sometimes it seems really tough to use too.. maybe I'm using it wrong.
 
I used the water blade for a while and thought it was great, it cut the drying time way down. But I am convinced that it has scratched my Cruiser. It is probably more noticable since it is black paint.

So I only use it for the windows now. I use an Absorber followed by miracle towels.
 
but after noticing fine bumper to bumper straight fine line scratches I stopped using the blade. I thought I was being very careful, cleaning after each swipe and storing properly but I still found the fine scratches. For me the Water Bandit was a great find. I read posts about the Absorber and others that were good but most people seemed to think the Water Bandit was the best so I went with it. What I do is use it followed by a good MF towel and it works great. Now I have a Indigo Blue car which is a dark color (My ride pics in sig.) so fine scratches and little bits of water show up very easily. With the above combo drying is a breeze! The absorber comes with a nice case that you throw it into after you are done. I just wash it out real well and squeeze the heck out of it and fold and put away damp. I haven't had any mold problems or deadly smells so this works for me. Also I second the comment above about taking the sprayer off of the house and just letting a flow of water run over the entire car before drying. This sheeting action cuts the amount of water that has to be dryed of in half maybe. Just guessing but works great! Have fun!
 
its a two part process really, part 1: use whatever you want to get the majority of the water beads off (I prefer an MT, some use the absorber, water bandit, cali water blade, or just a big bath towel), and part 2: most everyone agrees to finish with an MT cause it works well dry at getting those last drops and finishing to a shine.



As far as the California Water Blade is concerned, if I used it and it scratched my car, I know who's fault it was and I'd be really pissed, so I would rather not. -HTH
 
My buddy has nice, long scratches on his car now because of that thing. Unfortunately, even after you wash your car there is STILL dirt on the surface and slightly below the surface that won't come off unless you clay. Also, dirt is always flying around and landing on the paint surface, (wash a blk car then dry it, 5 min later look at the surface, DIRT is on it!!) so your constantly rubbing dirt against the surface with that product. It's probably the worst offender, then comes the Cali duster. You can still get scratches with a towel, but are far less likely to due to the thick nap and recesses that can trap dirt in the inner fibers, and away from your paint surface! I don't hear of many true detailers or concourse guys using this CB, so I would not.
 
OK, here comes an opinion from a growing minority. You asked: "what is the best way to get all of the water off the car?" IMHO, the best way to get ALL the water off a car is to use a leaf blower.



I own and have used a CWB. I use it when I must (the law in LA prohibites using leaf blowers at certain hours). However, I use it with great caution. It scares me. I suspect that sooner or later, with regular use, there is going to be a problem. So, I use it rarely.



Of course, we have all dried our cars with towels. This takes lots of towels or lots of wringing or one of the special drying towels.



With both of these approaches, you are rubbing the paint, which is something we try to minimize. With the blower, most of the water is removed with no contact.



The other thing, if you use a CWB/towels or just towels, the car really does not get completely dry. Water remains trapped behind molding, chrome, liscence plates, grills, etc. Then, you get water spots, sometimes hours after you though you had "finished" the car.



Another benefit is that the blower is FAST. I mean, really fast.



Last, but not least, it is FUN to blow dry your car ;)
 
I have a Water Blade and have not had any scratches develope because of it, but like Brad said, I prefer to let the water flow when rinsing and the sheeting action does most of the work for you. One terry cloth towel and 2 MF is all I need to completly dry.



I still think the WB is a good product and if used properly will not scrach the finish.
 
Great looking car! Those BBS rims look incredible. Job well done. Where can I get a Water Bandit? Can it be found at local stores, or would I need to special order it? Thanks for the info.
 
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