Good drying products

[skizot]

I don't know that what you use is as important as how you dry the car. For the last rinse remove the nozzle and starting at the top flood the car with water on all surfaces working your way down. You'll see that the water flows off of the paint unlike when you use the nozzle. Give it a few minutes for the water to run off. If you have a leaf blower that's a great way to get the water out of seams, mirrors, etc. Then DAB at the remaining drops instead of rubbing them dry. If you are using an absorber, microfiber towel, waffle weave, or chamois the procedure should be the same. I have some WW towels that I thought were high quality and they scratched the shit out of the paint. Rather than light the fuckers on fire I decided to use them exclusively on windows.......works like a charm. Now I use a regular MF towel to dry but DAB the areas as opposed to "rubbing the car down".  Try it.

+1 on the advice of using the hose without a nozzle to let the weight of the water pull the drops off the car, leaving very little to actually dry. +1 on the leaf blower to get the rest of the water out of all the hard to reach places, exactly what I do. You want to avoid rubbing or touching the paint unless absolutely necessary. Hence why when you wash the car you should pressure wash, soap, pressure wash again, before ever taking a mitt to the car. The only thing I would add to RTexasF's advice, is that as a drying agent, you can use your favorite quick detailer to help where you dab your MF. This way you are still having some sort of lubricant between the MF and the paint, but ultimately dry to a clear and debris free shine.

Damn... Our conversation really absorbed didn't it!!! Good deal!

Actually, I have done three cars for other people, charging a newbie rate of $20/hour and I have received amazing amount of compliments and praise for the difference the car has from before and after. I am certainly no expert, but for most, the work I do they are more then impressed with. Granted, most of the cars I have done are have not been BMW, Mercedes, etc, nevertheless learning and working my way up to them. With the confidence of doing my own Porsche, I believe I am streamlining my technique.

As far as getting back on track to the thread (sorry for the thread jack) one thing I would AVOID at all costs for drying is those stupid California Blade or rubber squeegee type devices. UGH. Stay far away IMO.

[clapton924]

I don't see how folks are scratching their cars with the water blade. I've been using one for a couple years with zero problems.  Its made out of very soft and flexible silicone rubber....if you scratched your paint with it you must have gotten in contaminated with dirt/grit.

I used to use the absorber.....but I have since moved to waffle-weave towels. I find the WW towels are much better.

[Mike]

Look at your car under intense light. It's not scratches like someone keyed your car.

[07CoupeBlue]

I just washed my car yesterday and used the leaf blower technique and pretty much got the whole car dry in like 10 minutes or so. Then I just dabbed the remaining water droplets. I guess I'll stop using the squeegy type thing for now even though my car already has a ton of scratches. I think I probably just didn't notice any scratches it made when I had my SBP Accord because it always hid scratches very well.