Hi,
I was just wondering what you all did to dry your cars. With previous waxings, I would just let it air dry which would take forever and leave water spots on the windows. Very unsightly. Should I just a large towel? Buy some kind of chamois? Thanks for the help.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I use a 3 step dry process:

1) remove any nozzles from the hose, adjust the flow until the water only comes out the end of the hose about1-2" before falling to the ground (very low pressure), and 'chase' most of the water beads off the car. The sheeting action removes about 70-80% of the water from the car.
2) use a synthetic chamois to pull most of the rest of the water off the car, rinsing the chamois in a clean water bucket each time it gets saturated and needs wringing out.
3) Use 100% cotton terry towels to remove any lingering drops of water.

It sounds time consuming, but actually works out faster than just trying to get all the water off with towels!

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

I use the same method as JCE, works great and takes half the time.

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Mr. BILL

91 300E 120K
90 300SE 275K (sold)
92 BMW 525iM 120K
90 BMW 525iA 175K
85 300D 175K (sold)
84 300SD 245K (sold)

Thanks for the hose idea. I would have never thought of it.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

Hello fellow NE Corridor Diesel enthusiast:

You may know this, but for what its worth here goes:

To avoid 'swirl marks' while drying, move the fluffy 100% cotton towel or chamois in the direction that wind would flow over the vehicle if it were moving, from front to back.

Just a tip. There is a Detailing FAQ about washing and waxing that I found very helpful.

Thanks

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James

85 300SD 285k
Charcoal Gray/Grey MB-Tex

79 300CD 142000mi "Rabenshwarz"
Black / Black MB-Tex, Burlwood Int. TOTALLED - 10/24/02 --

If you really want to get anal,,, between the chamois and the terrycloth I go all over the car with compressed air and blow water out of all the crevices that might trap water,,, emblems, belt mouldings, grille etc.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Well I`m glad to hear that some of you are using my water drying method. I would avoid the chamois, they seem to scratch. If your car is well waxed, you should only have small drops to blot with a cotton towel.


Enjoy,

John

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President Minuteman Section MBCA
www.mbca.org/minuteman

California "Water Blade" then finish with 100% terry cloth towels. A Chamois is such a pain for me.

This tip was from an old chauffer who used to drive Rolls Royces (wash my mouth!) for the nobility in England.
Wash car in your usual way. To dry it, take a well rinsed chamois. Wring it out as dry as you can ( or as dry as your arthiritis will allow). Grab the two adjacent corners. Lay it flat on the paint surface and drag it across. Wring out. Repeat until car is dry, rinsing in clean water often. This action partly squeegees the water off and partly absorbs water into the chamois by presenting the maximum possible area of the chamois to the surface and, best of all, it never leaves streak marks. Always pull in the longditudinal direction of the car, never across. (This applies to ANY contact with the paint whether you are washing, wax polishing, California dustering, etc. unless it's already spent most of its life in car washes, when it'll be beyond redemption!
By the way, the only time I can envisage a chamois scratching the paint is if you drop it in the dirt and fail to rinse it!
PeteS

Oh Yes. Nearly fogot.
A chamois has TWO sides. One is slightly rougher to look at than the other. Always use the rough side; it's more absorbant.
PeteS

I use a Made-In-Germany orange material which claims to absorb lots of water and wring out the wet areas as if it were a wiper blade, and then dry it with a clean pail of water for rinsing. I can't get the name at hand although I've been using the same cloth for the past 10 years!

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... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

First, wash the car with a good car wash and hose off frequently.

When you have completed washing rinse the car all over! While it is wet put your wife or girl friend in the car and take her about a mile away and hook up a hi pressure hose to a neighbors faucet!

Go back home and wet the car down again!

Now get up as much speed as you can before you get to the neighbors as you will have your wife spray your car as you pass by accelerating to at least 100 mph. When you reach about 80 most of the water should be gone! At 100 you will have a dry car!

Return home and clean the windows to avoid streaking!

Its your choice if you want to go back and pick up your wife/girlfriend!

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1988 560SL
Black Pearl/Palamino

how about a leaf blower?

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1992 500E silver
1990 300ce AMG
1993 500e smoke silver-sold
1992 500e sold pearl black-sold
1966 mustang converible 289
1969 camaro x11
1991 ZR-1
1972 corvette roadster
2000 dodge cummins 4x4 sold
1994 e320 sold
1987 560sec Brabus
1987 300E (my first benz)

I HAVE to agree with roas on the California water blade!!

This thing, if you're unfamiliar with it, is like a super nice squeege blade.

It removes so much of the water from the surface that a quick going over with a towel to remove any last bits of tight spots takes all of a minute or two.

I seriously love the thing.

As for the leaf blower, I've actually done this a couple times....it works great but does in fact take a little more time....but the surface sure is 100% dry when you're done

Wash car...hopefully your car is protected with Klasse or Zanio.

Rinse out the Absorber (a synthetic chamois, real chamois will take off your wax/sealant), go over the car lightly pulling the Absorber from front to back.

Pull out the leaf blower and dry out the rest of the car, particularly the areas where water pools, like the side mirrors, trunk lid, etc.

If you have to, go with the Absorber again to get rid of the wet spots.

Quick detail the car with a microfiber towel and quick detailer.

Finished

I've read in other forums that the CA water blade has left scratches on their finish. Although not my personal experience I would avoid it if possible.