Waterblade Poll. . .

[fdizzle]

Ill admit it . . . I use one . . . have yet to see a swiril or defect come from it either. Granted I inspet it prior to every pass, and use dilluted ONR sprayed onto the blade.

I searched and have read posts that make one feel firing a 50 cal SAW at your wet vehicle will dry it in a safer fashion than this little fella.



Thoughts . . . Oppinions.



Ill keep it all secret on the poll side, so fellas . . . if you use one, just be honest . . .



Or feel free to praise or dog this thing all you want . . .

 

[David703]

Used it a few times.. but now i use the two towel method.

 

[Rfulmer]

I use one on the windows but generally use a blower to get most of the water off.



The blower does great at getting water out of those places the WB or a towel can't get.

 

[Horseman2475]

Only on windows.

 

[Guy]

I used to use one but now I use the flood method.

 

[Bob G]

I have been using the California blade for my paint clay service with no problem. No accidents or marks on the paint. I generally use a two stage blower to get the water out of the crevices, but when I get the cars that live out side , well no water is going to run off their paint jobs so the California blade helps me release clay lube from the top surfaces with ease and the sides so fewer towels are need after the clay service and you are ready to begin the machine compound or polishing steps.

If you use your tools this tool with respect you will fine if does work and will not harm the car's paint, infact the the longer they are used the softer they get and the better they work.

 

[Mobilejay]

i use one on fleet vehicles and regular clients also. before every pass i wipe the blade with my thumb on one side and index finger on the other side of the lip of the blade to insure there is nothing that could cause swirls or scratches and have been just fine.

 

[imported_Gears]

I think you should have put an additional question on the poll. Something like this:

Used it and scratched my paint



I did use one and was always careful. I checked the edge before every wipe, but once ,and it only took once, I put a nice scratch in my hood.

You'll know when you see it , its perfectly straight and deep.



Yeah, a CWB works great until it gets you, and sooner or later it will.

 

[tom p.]

I use it on glass. I won't use it on the paint of any car I am fond of. I've scratched glass with it, that really surprised me.

 

[Junebug]

I don't understand how a soft piece of rubber can scratch paint - unless there was dirt or a grain of sand on the paint to start with, and in that case, anything - MF, WW towel etc would scratch it. I use the blade to get 90% of the water off and a MF towel to get where the blade can't reach. Let me back up and state that I do the 3 bucket method and rinse thoroughly.

 

[cwcad]

Been there, done that, gave my water blade away. Will not go there again. The water blade work very well until you scratch your paint. Then you are very sorry and will not use it again.

 

[BobD]

I sometimes use one. When I use one I usually only use it on the flat surfaces of the hood, roof, and trunk. Some of the other panels are just too round or sharp to use it on I feel. However I do use it on windows a lot.

 

[White95Max]

I used to use one but now I use the flood method.

Same here. Safer and more effective IMO.

 

[trl2112]

I have one, but rarely use it. Mostly on visiting cars.

 

[Sergei]

I used it, but very cautiously... But I do have a hard time understanding how a scratch can be introduced. Using a two bucket method... You wash the car with heavy suds, you mitt it, you get rid of the grit from the mit in the 2nd rinse bucket, reapply suds to the mitt from the 1st bucket , then you rinse the car off. How does a scratch happen when using the blade? There shouldn't be anything on the paint. Of course I am talking about a car that didn't go through a mud field, just a normal dirty car.

 

[Wetwerks]

on a reg wash up we use it just for windows. On a full detail we'll use it on the whole car. We did notice it introduced some minor micro scratching regardless of pressure, and how clean the blade was.



Walter

Co-owner

 

[gpowerdog]

I used to, but now use it just on windows, and in the shower. Works great there.

 

[Accumulator]

I have one, but rarely use it. Mostly on visiting cars.

Yeah, a CWB works great until it gets you, and sooner or later it will.

Same here; I voted "used it a few times...". Actually, I used it for quite a while, especially back when I had the Volvo wagon. Finally quit when a) I got marring from it despite my efforts to avoid it and b) I got rid of the Volvo, all our current vehicles are too nice to risk marring like that.



I was a pretty staunch defender of the CWB for quite a while, and some of the posts on this thread reminded me of things that *I* used to say. So, just for the sake of discussion:

How does a scratch happen when using the blade? There shouldn't be anything on the paint. Of course I am talking about a car that didn't go through a mud field, just a normal dirty car.

Regulars here will confirm that I'm about as meticulous as people get when it comes to washing a vehicle. I can honestly say that I get things as clean as I can imagine *anybody* could do. I always assumed that I could wash well enough that the CWB wouldn't cause problems... but nope- a tiny speck of something abrasive somehow got between it blade and the paint and caused marring. This happened maybe three-five times out of many dozens of washes, but it was enough for me (and more than I get now that I've retired the blade).

I don't understand how a soft piece of rubber can scratch paint - unless there was dirt or a grain of sand on the paint to start with, and in that case, anything - MF, WW towel etc would scratch it.

Yeah, any marring will come from abrasive [stuff] getting caught between the CWB and the paint and then getting moved. Though I wouldn't bet my life that the blade itself couldn't (at least under some weird usage but hey [stuff] happens) mar very soft paint like black lacquer.



Some drying media (namely *plush* towels) will have enough nap that some contamination will get caught up and thus won't mar the paint (at least if you're lucky). And the "pockets" of a WW can provide a little of this type of insurance too, at least more than the CWB- if something's caught between the blade and the paint it'll scratch, there's simply no margin for error. It's direct pressure between the blade and the paint.



People with infinite patience will sometimes dry a vehicle by blotting. That's gonna be less risky than wiping with *anything*, but wiping with something soft and plush will always be safer than wiping with something firm with nowhere for the dirt to migrate away from the paint. And with a towel you can easily adjust the amount of pressure being applied to where you're barely touching the paint at all, whereas the CWB requires a certain amount of pressure to stay in proper/effective contact with the paint.



Note that the instinctive thing to do with a CWB is to make a long pass with it; if something gets caught between the CWB and the paint you'll thus get a pretty long scratch. I never move my WWs/other drying media in such long strokes, so even if I do get that contamination between the paint and the drying media, it won't result in a *long* scratch. Wiping it between swipes only prevents contamination from scratching more than once- from the second the blade picks something up, you'll get marring until you lift it off the paint or quit moving it.



BTW, this is why I never make long passes with my *wash* media either, I jiggle the BHB/mitt across the surface so that the length of any marring is minimized (a 1/4" scratch isn't nearly as obvious as a 4" one).

 

[PINITI]

Speaking about Drying, This is what I use in '06 ... meet CWB's newest cousin ... C J B With the Original California Jelly Blade you can wipe away 90% of standing water with this ultra-flexible blade

Sleek, curvaceous vehicles are no problem. The blade glides over curved and concave surfaces, taking 90% of water with it!

Have any others also tried this yet?

 

[Sergei]

Good points accumulator.... it did bother me that CWB does have that potential. Since it never happened to me, now I have enough doubt that it could. I will just stick to windows. Also blotting I have tried. It's worth it in the long run vs. spending a few hours with the PC getting rid of it.



It the same thing with me and products like ONR/QEW. You know it's going to happen sooner or later.