Why did I buy a black car?

R

Redneck Jedi

New member
Ok, I love my car but.....



I never thought of drying a car before I got my Maxima. Now whenever I do try to dry the car after washing, it streaks like nobody's business. I use an absorber and try to follow up with a terry towel to finish. It just seems to never get dry. Today I used the backup plan. Wash and then drive real fast. It got dry, but the side panels are dirty again. Can someone please help me with a good drying routine? Also, Can someone recommend a good QD that doesn't streak? I've used the Meguiars QD and 3M Gloss Enhancer. Both seems to leave streaks. I'm switching to Klasse soon so I guess I should get Sonus. But $15 is a bit pricey for a QD.



Appreciate any help.
 
Check out the Big Blue Drying Towel from CMA (this site's sponsor). Yes, it's pricey, but I liked the first one I bought so much, I picked up another. It sucks water off the car like you wouldn't believe, and it dries a surprising amout before it begins to leave any droplets behind; you can seriously cut down your drying time. I can dry about 75% of my WRX with one towel (no wringing), and finish with the second. I use smaller microfiber towels on the door jambs and to catch any drips I missed with the BB towel.

Huge :up from me . . .

Tort
 
I feel your pain on that one. I did a black Toyota a couple weeks ago and had to spend much more time than I thought I would drying and clearing out the smears and streaks. Black has to be the most unforgiving color on cars.... Anyway, I dug up this thread. Click here Thought it might help you out a little. :xyxthumbs
 
You can get a electrict leaf blower if you want but not necessary IMO. (I haven't use mine for months)



Regarding your problem, my guess is you did not sheet off the water. It's very important and you can find more details in the thread that Jngrbrdman's pointed out for ya.



Follow up with Big Blue Drying Towel as TortoiseAWD suggested and I don't believe you will have any more problems with streaks.



I also have a black 4 door family sedan and have been doing it this way without much problems.
 
Try blot drying it.



Take the towel, press down on the wet spots to allow the water to soak up and then take another towel to give it a gentle swipe to pick up the remaining water.
 
Carguy's drying technique is the best, Jngrbrdman in his post gives you a link. You can use your Absorber to blot and follow up with MF towel. On black car I would use QD after every wash .

Meguiar's Final Inspection and E1 Wipe & Shine never give me any streaking, they work great with Klasse, are cheap and available locally.
 
feel your pain.

my black jetta streaks after every wash.

it does sound like you're not sheeting though.

after a waxed/zainoed/klassed finish, the sheeting will leave very little water behind to blot.

i've got an absorber too, which does the trick.

but i also couldn't live without a FI spray and QT at the end.
 
In your final dry a fresh MF towel along with some QD does wonders on streaks. Also, you must dry in absolute shade and the surface car must be the same temperature or less than the outside temperature.
 
I have a deep wedgewood blue F-150. I sometimes wash it in the sun and yes it is very hard. I wash in the normal order but after each panel I have to run around the truck and spray all the panels down that are wet to keep them from getting hot.



After I finish washing, then I take the sprayer off and go over the whole truck really well with a free flowing nozzle. I hit all the parts in the sun last. I then use two 100% cotton towels to dry. They are cheaper than getting some expensive Microfiber towel and work just as well because you will be blotting. Just fold the towel in half. Lay it against your paint, then pull it away and water is all gone. I can probably dry most of the water up in 3 minutes. I'll then have to come back and hit drips out of mirros, handles, etc but I really don't have a problem with waterspots.



Edit: also, about the quickdetailer. I have found the Meguiar's #34 works very well even in the sun. You just put a light mist on, wipe around, and then buff off with quick motions. When I used it the first time I thought it left swirls but after going over it again with the clean towel I got rid of all the smears.
 
and have tried about every method short of voodoo! The CA Water Blade is OK if you're really carefull. I hate the Absorber! Really good Charisma terry towels work good, but, the best results for me is:



Make sure you have a good coat of wax, wash with a QUALITY car wash soap like Z7, sheet the water off instead of spraying and use a few small micro fiber towels to get rid of 90% of the moisture. I then spray just a little Z6 and finish it off with a miracle towel. I can wash either car in under an hour and have absolutly NO smears or streaks!!! I think the final shot of Z6 is the most important part.



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Hello:

A definite newbie here although I have been lurking for quite some time.

While I am not a detailer, I have owned a lot of cars, many of which were black. Some of the things I thought I would mention are so "old hat" to the really serious detailers that they might be overlooked when adressing the streaking problem.



1. Fabric softener is a no-no for washing or drying your towels.



2. Too much soap when washing your towels can leave soap residue after the machine rinses.



3. Cotton towels, (no synthetic blends), seem to work best for me.



4. Don't use much car wash soap in your wash bucket. The excess will be difficult to rinse off.



5. Rinse often and use lots of water.



6. Don't use a spray nozzle when rinsing. I use a short length of garden hose with a shut-off valve between the regular hose and the short section. You can control the water flow to a trickle.

By using low pressure, you can sheet a great deal of water off the car during the rinse process.



The "Absorber" has worked well for me, but just using the towels is good, too.



As a side note.

Man, what a wealth of detailing information is available on this site. Thanks to all for the suggestions, reviews, and recommendations.



Charles
 
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