Ive read a post about drying your car after you wash with a leaf blower. A reply to the suggestion yelilded something along the lines of a no, for the reason that it has no airfiltert and will injgest particles and chip/dent/scratch the car. I am afraid to say this is false. On almost all leaf blowers there ARE gaurds to protect against debris entering the airstream. They are pretty fine also. Also, how would big enough things get hig enough off of the ground into mid air to be sucked into the air stream inlet? Oh thats right... they dont. I have found that by using a backpack-style leaf blower dries the car much quicker than chamois, doesnt need to be rung, and eliminates ALL waterspots after it is fully dry. Thats why I would say it is safe and possibly t he best way to dry the car after washing for the maximum amount of shine/beauty. What does everyone else think? And does anyone have any other awkward/unconventional ways of drying?
-dm pdx

well if i could find one cheap to buy i would dry my car that way but right now i use towels and then i have a big air compressor that for like around the mirrors/door jams/gas tank/grill/wheels etc. i use the air comprssor. works the same but not in as large of an area.

I actually tried this today, and it worked like a charm!!!!!!!!!! It looks like I just brought it through one of those touchless cleaners with the super - mega blowers at the end. It took a while but it worked. There were a few water spots I had to wipe out but mainly it worked great!!!!

Great Tip!!

The nifty part about using a gas blower is that the exhaust is ducted into the blown air, heating it a little bit. Heat = good for drying. Word.

I use the California Waterblade and then go over once with a big blue waffle drying towel. No wringing required since most of the water is removed with the waterblade. But i would like to get a leave blower sometime so I can get rid of all the water in the crevices.

a gas blower can also leave a gas resin on the paint, use a electic blower, you can usally get them cheeper, and it is usually only used to get the water out of cracks. ie door jams

Haha, I do this, but I would also recommend electric only (I also do the inside, im a smoker, great for stray ashes), my neighbors must think im a lunatic

I'm with you d2mini, those Calif. Waterbladesare awesome! Almostno water left afteryou quickly master it.Fast, easy, won't scratch and...QUIET ;)

Got a two-pack at CostCo.

Yeah, waterblades are good (just be careful of any leftover debris left behind), but like the others said the blower is mainly for the areas you can't reach, one must blow to avoid drips, then shammy for finishing touches. Sorry, I am just a little (ok a lot) obsessive with cleaning, especially my cars[&:]

Hi

Calif waterblades can cause more harm then good. They can pick up a piece of debris and cause surface scratches. This also can go for the calif duster also but at least the duster you can wash out with woolite.

Alan

If you dont have a leaf blower, you can use a wet dry VAC. I use my wet dry vac, put it on blow instead of suck (whoa that sh** came out wrong). You got the gist of what i was saying.

Yea the leaf blower works great for the door jams. i use it all the time in the jams.

I like using the wet/dry vacuum since it has a filter on it, most leaf blowers i've seen dont have a fine mesh at all, just guards designed solely to prevent personal injury.
There is plenty of stuff in the air that could be thrown at your car through a leaf blower that could damage the paint.
Just because you can't see it doesnt mean it's not wearing through your clearcoat.

nice d

I usually use a waterblade and then a shammy for the missed spots and door jams.

gee i must be the only retard here that dries his vehicles by hand with a drying shammy.

Squeegie is the best every time i have tried to hand dry it it leaves marks and little pieces of fiber from the towels.

Turtle Wax wax as you dry and about 4 micro fiber cloths gets the whole car done with no water spots and a nice slick finish, windows and all. Not a replacement for paste wax but good preventative maintinence.

o.k. thank god i'm not the only freak out there that uses an electric leafblower to dry my car, my neighbors shake their heads and laugh, but i have the cleanest ride in my hood, OH,YEA!

wow i should try that next time...but i thought that there would be alot of waterspots if you used something like that or if the water dried to fast thats why I wash my car when its cloudy out of in the shade...

I use an electric leaf blower to dry my motorcycle......tried it on my car..works great!!! wouldnt do it any other way!!!!

I use the leaf blower all the time. If any of you also own motorcycles then you will really love this method of drying. Just make sure the extension cord is not frayed. (inspec it everytime) Also, make sure that your electrical recepticle has a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interupptor) so that you don't electrocute yourself in the process.

Drying Paint Surface Techniques:
If you’re using softened water I see nothing wrong with using an electrical leaf blower dry off your car (just be careful not to bump the hard plastic nozzle against the paint) but if you live in an area that has hard water, it seems that you’d only be accelerating the evaporation process and that those harmful and often damaging alkaline minerals that cause ‘water spot’ damage, would be precipitated out as the water evaporates and must therefore be collecting somewhere, in the seams or crevices perhaps?

My other concern is that these high speed electric (I would be wary of gas powered as it may spew oil) leaf blowers typically have an outlet velocity of 250+ mph. Now if a grain of sand or other small dirt particle were to get ingested in the inlet, it would exit and strike the paint surface at a very high velocity, the same would be true for any internal fragments or components such as a screw that might come loose from vibration. Just my opinion but I’d prefer not to take this or any other shortcuts either when it comes to drying.

This is my preferred method of drying a vehicle paint surface;
On the final rinse of the washing process remove the nozzle from the hose and ‘sheet’ the water, this greatly helps in the drying process. I have tried many products over the years for drying but I finally found what really works the best, a micro fibre waffle weave drying towel. When they are wet they’re very soft and super absorbent, and glide easily over the surface, the ‘pockets’ in the weave ‘hold’ any dirt or surface debris unlike some other super absorbing products that trap dirt between the towel and paint surface with the potential to cause so serious scratches (never use it when it’s dry and stiff – it can potentially scratch) That goes for whatever you use for drying, including cotton towels. Ensure that the towel is really wet and then wring it out thoroughly before using.

Mop up as much water as you can, wringing out often to keep the absorption efficiency up and wringing out also those harmful minerals in the process. When the only thing left on the surface are tiny micro beads of water (really noticeable on a black car), which I easily wipe off with a pass or two of the highly absorbent waffle towel and leave the surface bone dry. This drying technique is excellent for black cars (the ones with ‘soft’ single stage paint that show every surface mark) but look so good when they are properly detailed.

This process never includes scrubbing, rubbing or applying any pressure whatsoever. The only time that pressure needs to be applied to a paint surface is when you are polishing.

the highway is a great tool

i just picked up a $29 leaf blower (electric) from Home Depot. thing works. Im sold.