[Junkman2008]

This is the mindset that I have subscribed to for years...

The less you touch your paint, the less likely you are to DAMAGE your paint!

So how do I dry my paint? WATCH.

Something to note: This thing uses heated air. But most importantly, you are going to need a 20-amp breaker to run this thing. It will not run on anything less without constantly tripping the breaker.

[BWBike]

I have had the Air Force Master Blaster for years for my car/bike drying. Works great and no towel swirls.

[Junkman2008]

EXACTLY. Smart man.

[c1pher]

I have my ego blower with an aftermarket stubby nozzle. Works great for me.

[2heeldrive]

Well, OK. I guess I've been doing it wrong for decades. Good to know!

... I'm old and set in my ways though and I'm used to being wrong, so why change now?

I have several 100% cotton towels just for drying. I have yet to get a "swirl". The secret is an absolutely clean and grit free towel. If a towel ever touches the ground, it gets thrown away. I also use a light touch and drape the towel over flat surfaces.

And I'm lazy and use a pressure washer (I know, horrors!). The only way to get the film off is to wipe it off.

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by 2heeldrive

Well, OK. I guess I've been doing it wrong for decades. Good to know!

... I'm old and set in my ways though and I'm used to being wrong, so why change now?

I have several 100% cotton towels just for drying. I have yet to get a "swirl". The secret is an absolutely clean and grit free towel. If a towel ever touches the ground, it gets thrown away. I also use a light touch and drape the towel over flat surfaces.

And I'm lazy and use a pressure washer (I know, horrors!). The only way to get the film off is to wipe it off.

I knew a guy like you who claimed that his paint was swirl free. I asked him to bring me his car. With the naked eye, his paint did look presentable to anyone who didn't know how to look at paint. This is what he saw, and what most people would claim was swirl free paint, no matter what evil that he was doing to his paint:



However, this is what I SAW.





That's the thing about hookers. They all look different and no matter what they look like, there's always someone out there who will find them attractive. No matter what. But I learned from all the time I spent cruising Hollywood Blvd that there is a reason that some hookers only hang out on the dark corners. There's no telling what a little light might reveal.

By the way, I was nice enough to show him what his paint could look like if he took the time to treat it right. His daughter was all for that since she was going to inherit his car, and made him buy everything he needed to correct the error of his ways. I love working on black cars because they are the benchmark that show just how good you are at correcting paint.





Until I see a guy's paint in the "right light", I'm just going to assume that he parks his car on some dark corners.

[afadeev]

[QUOTE=Junkman2008;31987281
So how do I dry my paint? WATCH.[/QUOTE]

Using air to blow water off the paint works well. About 95% well, unless you have inifinite amount of time and patience.
Any leafblower can do the trick, though ones with shorter nossles make it easier to maneuver.

Originally Posted by 2heeldrive

I have several 100% cotton towels just for drying. I have yet to get a "swirl". The secret is an absolutely clean and grit free towel.

Quality microfiber drying towel can definitely help.
Most effective after you've already blown most surface water off the paint with iar. In some cases, towel is the best and the quickest way to go.

Originally Posted by Junkman2008

I knew a guy like you who claimed that his paint was swirl free. I asked him to bring me his car.

You seam to be implying that using a clean microfiber drying towel leads to swirls. That is not accurate.

Both approaches can dry the car well, though one of the two is much quicker than the other.

YMMV,
a

[tracer bullet]

I don't disagree with the premise of it either. But a good towel, that's actually clean, with light pressure is OK. I mean - how does one remove any kind of polish or coating? Similar.

The message however is certainly a good one. Towels very much CAN cause a lot of scratches.

[BlkGS]

I just use my ego 765 blower. Combined that with clean DI water, and you're gonna have a spotless finish without touching the car.

Frankly, with clean DI water you barely need to dry the car at all anyways.

[Tano4ever]

Never thought doing it this way making a difference. Smart

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Using air to blow water off the paint works well. About 95% well, unless you have inifinite amount of time and patience.

Again, this is where a complete understand of detailing cars is paramount. I can dry the majority of a car with WATER, BEFORE I even get to the drying process. That's right, you heard me correctly. Dry the majority of a car with water. Don't believe me? WATCH.

By using what I call "the pooling rinse", the car is pretty much dry before I actually get to the drying process. The catch is, your paint must be in immaculate condition for this to work. That means swirl free and a coat of wax. Once you get your paint in the condition that I have mine, the amount of water remaining takes just a few minutes to remove. As that TV show we use to watch as kids use to say, "The more you know."

Quality microfiber drying towel can definitely help.
Most effective after you've already blown most surface water off the paint with iar. In some cases, towel is the best and the quickest way to go.

All microfiber towels are NOT created equal. There's the REAL microfiber that is manufactured in South Korea (because the manufacturing process is EXPENSIVE, so most manufacturers cut corners because they don't have access to cheap labor), and then there's the trash that you get from China, that does more damage to paint than sandpaper. So saying that using a microfiber towel is better, totally depends on the quality of the microfiber. If your towels are coming from AutoZone, Western Auto, Pep Boys, Costco or Sam's Club, you are using some of the worst Chinese made trash out there.

I ONLY buy my towels from a business that states WHERE their towels come from, or are manufactured. All I have to do is touch one and I will instantly be able to tell. If the business won't disclose that information, they are probably selling Chinese trash. I won't touch my paint with that garbage.

You seam to be implying that using a clean microfiber drying towel leads to swirls. That is not accurate.

That's not what I said at all. Exactly what I said was, "The less you touch your paint, the less chance you have to create paint damage." Now I think that anyone reading that statement would 100% agree in the common sense behind that statement. If you don't touch it, you can't damage it. That's just common sense. Thus, if you DO touch it because you will have to touch it, then you want to use products and methods that negate the possibility of any damage happening.

It's comparable to someone who is trying to lose weight. You can't hit the gym 7-days a week, and run 20-miles daily , only to knock down 5-baconator pizzas every night. One negates the other. So throughout your entire process, you have to look at every aspect of what you are doing and identify any part of your process that can be improved. If you have to break out a buffer and fix your paint more than ONCE in the life of your car, something is either wrong (or needs improvement), with your process or the swirl fairies are visiting you at night.

FYI... there are no swirl fairies.

Both approaches can dry the car well, though one of the two is much quicker than the other.

YMMV,
a

So now you know which one is actually faster, because you don't have to remove as much water as you thought you did. The pooling rinse is real. The more you know.

[Redd]

I've been using water to dry my car for years now. Removes 99.5% of the water off the body. Then I just lay a microfiber on the leftover droplets to soak it up. No rubbing needed.

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by Redd

I've been using water to dry my car for years now. Removes 99.5% of the water off the body. Then I just lay a microfiber on the leftover droplets to soak it up. No rubbing needed.

Doesn't take much time or towels, would you agree?

[silvermanor]

Thanks junkman. Been watching you for years.

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by silvermanor

Thanks junkman. Been watching you for years.

Thank you, sir. It's been quite a journey.

[ipayincash]

Originally Posted by Junkman2008

So now you know which one is actually faster, because you don't have to remove as much water as you thought you did. The pooling rinse is real. The more you know.

I have been using horrendous made in China towels, I can tell by the quality amd swirls, so everything you said makes sense. I don’t mind paying the piper for the best quality available I need to upgrade ASAP! In your opinion, what are the best microfiber towels money can buy ?

[DocL]

I've been using one of those "Absorber" synthetic towels to dry my cars for 43 years. It helps that I no longer own dark cars, so any swirl marks are difficult to see.

[stbm5]

Originally Posted by c1pher

I have my ego blower with an aftermarket stubby nozzle. Works great for me.

is the stubby nozzle made by ego? how heavy is the blower.

[Junkman2008]

Originally Posted by ipayincash

... In your opinion, what are the best microfiber towels money can buy ?

Any brand towel that is being manufactured in South Korea is the brand of towel that you want to use ON YOUR PAINT. If the distributor doesn't have listed where their towels are being manufactured, then you KNOW that they are Chinese made garbage. Those towels are EXCELLENT for two things: cleaning glass and catching all the garbage that floats around in your washing machine wash water. Other than that, I wouldn't pay 2-cents for that trash.

The manufacturing process of quality microfiber is expensive. The cost to profit margin is negative, which is why you cannot find quality microfiber being made in America. You will find a TON of towels that claim to be "ASSEMBLED in America", but that is the play on words being used by shady companies that are trying to trick you into buying their subpar towels. "Assembled in America" is just another phrase for Chinese garbage.

So when you shop for towels, look for the "made or manufactured in South Korea" designation. If you can't find that designation, they are garbage towels. When you get the crappy towels, they will most likely have a tag sewn into the edge of the towel that says, "Made in China." You don't want ANY TOWEL that has a tag sewn into the seam or stitching around the edges. That tage, along with the stitching that borders those towels is what can scratch the hell out of your paint.

On the other hand, the way the fibers are made and how they grab at your paint, is the other horrendous thing about cheap, Chinese made towels. On the flip side, all of the things that make Chinese microfiber so hideous for paint, are the same qualities that make them great for cleaning GLASS. Because of the way that they scrub any surface you use them on, they do a excellent job at cleaning glass. That is the ONLY thing that I use those towel for, along with wiping off my hands after an oil change. For me, those are throw away towels.

One company that I know of that sells the TRUE microfiber towel that you want to use on your paint, is The Rag Company. The towel that I use on my paint to remove compounds, polishes and waxes is called the Eagle Edgeless 600. On every towel sold by this company, they tell you EXACTLY where their towels come from. They have the cheap crap, but they also have the top of the line towels being manufactured in South Korea. The cheap labor in South Korea is the MAIN reason they are manufactured there. If it wasn't for that, we would all be stuck using crappy China made towels.

The first time you touch a real, quality made microfiber towel, you will TOTALLY understand just how bad the Chinese made towels are. They feel night and day different. Buy one and see if I am lying. It will open your eyes.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by stbm5

is the stubby nozzle made by ego? how heavy is the blower.

Not heavy. The battery is most of the weight. I bought my stubby nozzle on Amazon or Etsy, lots of people 3D print them. They work great.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by stbm5

is the stubby nozzle made by ego? how heavy is the blower.

No, I believe it’s 3D printed and fit perfectly. I can look for it in my amazon history.

[c1pher]

Here it is:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQMR622L...d_asin_title_1