Drying Question - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 06-27-2002, 11:42 PM

Sorry for all the dumb questions, when drying my car, I am using the "Absorber" then someone suggested a terry cloth towel, when using the terry cloth towel do I need to wet it at all or use it dry

Mr. BILL · #2 06-28-2002, 10:07 PM

I use the absorber first, then buff with a clean terry towel. Lately, I've tried one of the micro fiber towels to use after the absorber, seems to work great.

royaiii · #3 06-29-2002, 02:53 AM

i reccomend you use a blade. Towels are things of the past that usually scratch the paint. I take off 90% of the water w/ the blade. Get one that is flexible so you can contour it to the body. Whenever I take my car to get detailed, I ask them to use the blade and not towels.

The Godfather · #4 06-29-2002, 03:41 AM

Mr Bill, I have one of those micro fiber towels that I use to dust off the car. Works great. I never thought about using it to dry the car.

To dry mine, I use Chamois skin. It's awesome

COlumbus Mick, I saw that blade at Costco, is it really good? I have a black car, won't that leave a mark?

SSharma · #5 06-29-2002, 09:36 AM

I've used the Water Blade and it scratched my car. I use it strictly for the windows.
I dry with 100% cotton towels, made in America (standards for 100% are higher here). I bought a 100% Egyptian cotton bath towel made in America for $8 at Target. Cut it in 3 pieces. I use them dry. Generally I use two towels for the car, one to go over it to get the bulk of the water, and the second to get the rest.

Benzima · #6 07-01-2002, 01:22 PM

I use a water blade too. The S-420 has lots of large flat areas. Perfect for a water blade.

I don't doubt the people that say they do but I don't see how it could possibly scratch someone's paint.

JPL · #7 07-01-2002, 01:58 PM

Go for the chamis (sp), then the towels. I pull off most water with one of those chamis, then follow up with towels. Towels leave lint though. The towels should be 100% cotton.

Its been my experience, the blades will scratch.

There's a great FAQ here about washing and drying.

JCE · #8 07-01-2002, 03:46 PM

Try the 'low flow' rinsing technique - it will remove 90% of the water from the car before you ever use the chamois or toweld! After you are done washing the car, give it a final rinse with no nozzle on the hose, and the water pressure turned down to where the stream only comes out about an inch or so before curving over to the ground. Starting with the roof, chase the water beads off with this low flow. The water will sheet off the car without leaving beads or pools. After doing the whole car this way, I use a synthetic chamois and folow with 100% cotton towels. Later, I finish the car with Final Inspection spray, which removes any towel lint or streak marks. Works great.

royaiii · #9 07-02-2002, 03:16 AM

Sure a cheap blade will scratch. I cant think of the brand of mine (maybe Clio). I use it on all my Mercedes on the flat s420 to the curvey e320. The towel might not scratch but all you need is something lodging onto the cloth and you scratch the entire the car and then you sit and polish. I called this place in beverly hills that does thousand dollar details and the water blade option is a $50 premium. My friend took his CL 55 it to them and they spent like two days detailing the car. They even detailed his undercarriage and applied I think the same thing MB uses for their engines during sea transport. Supposedly the price is sp high because they use paint brushes to work around MB perforations on the seats.

Low flow is a viable option but those of us w/ multiple layers of wax can't use this method because the h20 will simply bead up.

SSharma · #10 07-19-2002, 04:39 PM

I use the towels because they trap dust particles. Even though I pull my car into the garage when I dry it, dust is in the air and sometimes lands on the car. Since the towel has a nap, it traps whatever dust there is in the towel. I use two or three towels to reduce the chance the dust particles will work their way out of the nap and scratch the car. The water blade I used dragged a particle across my trunk since it couldn't absorb it. I used to work at a marble and granite countertop place so I took my water blade there (all the polishing pretty much is wet polishing). I managed to scratch a black marble table top with the water blade. Granted black marble is a rather soft stone, but it's still harder than my car's paint.
That's just my 2 cents.