Drying tool advice

[Mikebsu]

Having installed many swirls over the years drying the cars, I thought I'd try to resolve the issue. First stop was picking up a variety of GOOD MF drying towels and that's helped quite a bit. Now there is a black car in the garage and I feel I need to up the game even more.

Am I better off buying a blower like the Turbo Car Dryer or a DI water maker? My guess is the best answer is both, but I've got other hobbies to finance too!

[Marc08EX]

If you have extra cash to swing it, DI water is the best because you don't even have to touch your paint to dry after rinsing. So no chance to swirl it from the drying process.

If you're considering getting a dryer, please consider the Metro sidekick. It's an awesome tool.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/product-reviews/96138-review-metro-blaster-sidekick-professional.html

[Paul A.]

With my black car in the garage i have found a good thorough blow dry with my blower works best for me. Considering it always has a good LSP on it at all times, blowing it dry is relatively quick and i finish it up with a good quality WWMF towel to get any remaining water. Very very light pressure with the towel wipes to finish and i don't get any scratches or marring.

I also like the blow dry method for getting all the hidden water out of side view mirror housings, wheels, trim channels etc.

[FrankS]

The less you touch your car the better for not instilling swirls and scratches.

The McKee's Turbo Dryer is a good choice or if your budget allows you can go with Metro Master Blaster 8HP.

[Mikebsu]

Super thanks for the advice! I'll research the blowers a bit more!

[VISITOR]

the mckee's turbo car dryer is a great choice and doesn't require anymore power than a leaf blower to operate. pick one up!

[roguegeek]

Everyone is right. The less you touch your car, the better chance you have to not introduce swirls. That being said, IF you are applying a spray wax afterwards to boost your existing LSP, just do it during the drying phase and you'll have touched your vehicle one less time.

[LaFawnduh]

Everyone is right. The less you touch your car, the better chance you have to not introduce swirls. That being said, IF you are applying a spray wax afterwards to boost your existing LSP, just do it during the drying phase and you'll have touched your vehicle one less time.

^this. I blow off the heavy water and finish with a spray wax. It's a good routine and my car is nearly swirl free after two years

[Whitewater25]

Leaf blower woks good as well if you don't have the budget and already have it. I have a cordless Makita and it dries my truck in one battery with juice left. One day I will upgrade but it does a good job for now.

[briarpatch]

I bought a new Craftsman wet/dry vac last year...the top comes off and doubles as a blower...not cordless....but lightweight and does a nice job

[04accord]

I picked up the cheapest leaf blower that home depot had, was like $30, works really well, finish up with a soft mf for any water thats left after that.

[Paul A.]

The trick i found out the hard way a few years ago was to dedicate a blower to this job. Don't use the garden or yard blower for double duty drying the car. The ONLY time i did that i found yard dust, dirt, crap coming out of the blower and onto the clean (and wet!) car.

[Mikebsu]

Update all-

So, I started to research a blower, and that's when I remembered my GIANT craftsman shopvac has a detachable motor with a cone shaped attachment to make the insane blowing even more intense. I tried it last night and it really blew the water out of the cracks well! The "bad" thing is that by the time I got around with a MF to clean up the small stuff, many of them dried and left small spots. I don't think I could blow the car 100% dry in a reasonable way. While the blower I have seems to really, well, blow, I'm not sure another product would do much better.

I also happen to have one of those super old school Mr Clean carwash hose things that has the DI filter in it. I must say, it seems to work the "best" with one exception. The mist of DI it puts out is very fine and it's SOOOO hard to trust that it will be spot free. There are a couple of pesky areas that water just hangs out in and with the DI water I don't have spots the next day. With the hose water and even with a super good blow dry I have spots the next day.

I'm leaning towards DI being the right answer. Especially since I already have a blower that seems to work sorta well. My guess is with DI and the blower, I'd be better off. Yes, I put a nice coat of sealant down, and yes use the right wash methods. I do like the idea of using a liquid wax at dry time, so I'll look into that too.

Thanks again!

[VISITOR]

i wouldn't use a shop-vac as a blower (to dry a car for that matter) that had previously been used as a vacuum. i wouldn't want to take the risk of any debris/contamination that was in there flying/hitting into the paint and causing damage. if you do not want to fork out the money for dedicated blower, then a leaf blower would be the cheapest alternative...

[expdetailing]

Dry your car with a damp towel (many of them work better damp), and spray the towel with a drying aid. Then, blow out the crevices. You shouldn't have to worry about marring with a damp towel.