# Drying...whats your technique??



## traplin (Feb 22, 2012)

As above really. I've got drying towels and use the open hose but do you guy lay the towel down and just pat or are you wiping the panel with the towel. Tried patting but its not really drying the car


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

I use a rinse aid , and then pat it dry , Sometimes singing pat a cake pat a cake baker man :lol: I really do !!


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

pat the paint, wipe/buff the glass.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

Autoglym water blade, followed by Autoglym chamois.


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## baderlfc (Apr 6, 2010)

I really struggle with drying, I always find aswell that once I've moved onto next stage what ever it may be that water will drip out of shuts and ruin everything.. really winds me up!

But I tested demon shine with water in a watering can and a silicone flexi blade from autobrite and must say it's made things a lot easier.

I also found that no matter what drying towel I used I could pat until I was blue in the face it simply wasn't drying properly!


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## DetailedClean (Jan 31, 2012)

Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


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## lobotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


Yep (I use a waffle weave towel) - Lay it flat on the panel and pull it over and it soaks up as it goes. no actual pressure on the towel.

You also don't need to totally dry it 100%. If you get it to a fine haze of water it evaporates.


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


+ 1 :thumb:


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

I tend to rinse the car with an open hose, then spray the panel lightly with a QD (usually FK#425) and then wipe down with an Uber deep pile MF drying towel.


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## dis (Feb 3, 2012)

used to use a/g aquadry chammy,but now use a drying towel.
as for water comeing out of door shuts,i think we all suffer this.
but what i do is dry the door shuts last with an old m/fibre and also dry underneath the actual door as i tend to find water on the rubber seal.
i then leave doors open whilst i do more work like windows,drying alloys,bump strip blackening etc.
i will actuall dry the door shuts/underneath the doors about 3 times and this seems to work for me.
tend not to get any drips/crying whilst driveing.
door mirrors and alloy bolt holes are a pain for dripping water!
almost craked it though.
keep you posted.


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## AlanElite (Dec 28, 2011)

I still use an AG shammy! As long as its kept spotless it does a brilliant job.

After PWing I hose the car down, then spray on the Demon Shine (just started using! Great stuff!) then either shammy or blast with my leaf blower. Don't care if it looks stupid it stops the water trickles that I can't stand


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

I prefer to run around the garden naked for half an hour & im dry, job done :thumb:


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## thehulk2002 (Mar 16, 2011)

After doing my car I never will use a chammy again swirl maker and people who use them blades I use to not no more all I use to dry in my car is a orange plush dodo juice drying towl. I hold it then drag no pressure on body work


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

spray on qd, dry with microfibre


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

With a 1yr old and a 3yr old I have very little time to detail as I used to.
Used to rinse with open hose then pat dry with either a Costco MF or now Asda's own giant MF.
During the winter I usually washed at night under the security lights. For fear of missing small bits during the wash in poor light I used the garanteed swirl free dry method......LEAVE IT WET:lol:
Luckily Manchester water isn't particularly hard AND it rains a lot up here so normally watermarks rarely bothered me.


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## Scott_VXR (May 22, 2011)

Pat it dry :thumb:


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## jamieblackford (Jan 17, 2012)

Still can't see how chamois cause swirls if you washed the car well enough


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## Keir (Aug 31, 2010)

big open waffle weave towel and a slight drag/pull and then soaks most of it up and pat dry.
Using gentle touches seems to then make the water evaporate instantly, more pressure doesn't seem to do anything.


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## BigAshD (Feb 23, 2012)

I run water just from the hose over it (so it beads big style), then put the towel on (3' x 2' towel from Autobrite Direct) then pull it off. Shouldn't put any scratches in if the car is well cleaned (especially Magifoam then two bucket clean) because those towels are super soft. RR Sport alleged has quite soft paint but mine is fine.


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## traplin (Feb 22, 2012)

thanks..I will try the 'pulling' technique


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## RedCloudMC (Jul 19, 2008)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


Yep, this is what I do too...really effective and no pressure on the paint at all. Works a treat.


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## svended (Oct 7, 2011)

I pinch a corner (long ways on) in each hand and pull the towel over the body of the vehicle starting with the roof down, as I get below the spate line I fold the towel in half and half again and gently wipe the panels trying to get right into the mirrors and underside of the mirrors. If I'm in a hurry I may go 'wax on-wax off' style putting palm of each hand into each corner and wiping left and right.


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

jamieblackford said:


> Still can't see how chamois cause swirls if you washed the car well enough


A flat suface, running over a flat surface. 
You may wash it well to begin with, but fall out/dust/grit/insects etc all begin to settle straight away.

Short of drying your car in a operating theater stuff is going to settle.

depends how OCD you are i guess


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## craig1gk (Mar 23, 2012)

What i tend to do with door shut and panel gaps etc is just to hover a hoover above the area and 99% of the water is sucked out, never get water runs after i do this, need to be careful not to touch the paint work though :s


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

Blade and autoglym chamois never got on with towel i did buy the asda blue towels now use them as wax/QD remover


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## david_h (Sep 19, 2006)

I tend to pat dry. On the horizontal panels I lay the drying towels out and almost smooth them down. On the vertical panels I fold the towel several times and pat.

Had a terrible time with generating swirls whilst drying the car when I had a black car. Taught me you have to be uber careful when drying, more so than washing imho.


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## umi000 (Jan 14, 2011)

Either pat dry using a large waffle-weave towel, or use one plush towel, soaked in ONR then wringed out, to pick up most of the water, followed by QD and a second plush towel.


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## Twitcher (Mar 22, 2012)

Drying towel. Lay it flat and gently drag across the paintwork. Works fine with no damage


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure





DMH-01 said:


> + 1 :thumb:





RedCloudMC said:


> Yep, this is what I do too...really effective and no pressure on the paint at all. Works a treat.





Twitcher said:


> Drying towel. Lay it flat and gently drag across the paintwork. Works fine with no damage


Yip, me too!

:thumb:


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## PWOOD (Apr 30, 2007)

i pat dry.


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

Will technique give better results than speed alone, the bigger drying towels I only use on the top 2/3 of the car, and trying to lift the leading edge off rather than dragging on the roof. I have seen some use of the corner of bigger towels on the lower third of cars when it may be more effective using a smaller one. I have started using the patting technique to good effect, you can see the QD evaporate.

Would re-wetting the glass make the chance of water marks developing less, hard water here.

John


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## B-mah (Oct 4, 2011)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


:thumb: +1


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## Laurie.J.M (Jun 23, 2011)

I sheet the water over the car first, next I use the blower to get rid of the bulk of what's left on the bodywork along with the water in the gaps, then I remove the little that remains with my big yellow drying towel, normally this approach leaves no water marks. After that I add a coat of QD if I feel it's needed.


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## Bailey12856 (May 10, 2011)

Open hose to rinse, then pat the towels down before dragging from one end


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## sirkuk (Mar 5, 2012)

Dixondmn said:


> pat the paint, wipe/buff the glass.


Same. Only panel that takes a bit of effort is the roof. Rest of the car doesn't take long to dry with a decent layer of protection.


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## denzontherocks (Feb 12, 2012)

Dixondmn said:


> pat the paint, wipe/buff the glass.


+ 1 :thumb:


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## dogfox (Apr 5, 2009)

B-mah said:


> :thumb: +1


+ 2

dogfox


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## adf27 (Mar 14, 2012)

Twitcher said:


> Drying towel. Lay it flat and gently drag across the paintwork. Works fine with no damage


But then how do you do vertical panels?


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## m33porsche (Jun 10, 2007)

I got fed up with pat drying, especially in the winter as it's difficult to remove all of the water. I also found it often left a blotchy appearance.

Switched intead to a hot air dryer, best thing I've done to my wash technique since introducing the pressure way back when.

It takes time to sort the technique out but its worth working out. I now have contactless drying, no annoying trickles from crevices doublesho) and no water marks or streaks. Worth noting though that you'll be disappointed if you expect this to save you time. Done properly and carefully it takes me just as long a towel drying.


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## Nath (Jun 20, 2010)

I use an open hose then a drying towel with the dragging method. I dry all the door shuts with an old drying towel, then open and close each door half a dozen times which gets most of the water out then blot up the water thats escaped. Then 10 - 15 minutes later, go around with the qd to remove any remaining water marks from the wing mirrors etc.


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## DavidN (Apr 3, 2012)

Personally pat and buff with this

Check out this item I found on eBay: Extra Large Detailing Microfibre Cloth Valeting Drying Accessory Link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Extra-Lar...Cloth-Valeting-Drying-Accessory-/270955498815 (Sent from eBay Mobile for Android) Sent from Samsung Mobile

love these ive got ten!


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## traplin (Feb 22, 2012)

For the non believers like me who never thought that laying a drying towel down, pinching the ends and pulling along a panel would dry the car...BELIEVE!!! After detailing the misses car and putting on a coat of wax, I tried this. Its amazing how well this technique works. For the vertical panels its somewhat of a cross between this dragging technique and then patting but all in all it works and there is no pressure being applied. Only the glass gets wiped now.

cheers for the heads up guys!


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## Titanium Htail (Mar 24, 2012)

A combination of patting and pulling works for me, I try to put a folded MF on each wing mirror, the drips normally come from the face side at the lowest point and with the wind, tends to drip on the car rather than the floor. The bonnet shuts always seem to hold more water than was sprayed on the car overall, where does it all come from. 

John.


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## Subc (May 30, 2008)

The Sun,TDS of my Tap Water 045 so hardly any crap in it so dries without spotting.


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## Kobeone (Dec 14, 2011)

Im a puller :lol::lol: 

Have a waffle weae towel, an AB fluffy MF towel and 2 ASDA drying towels (these are so underrated)


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## DavidN (Apr 3, 2012)

Subc said:


> The Sun,TDS of my Tap Water 045 so hardly any crap in it so dries without spotting.


Lucky swine. im looking at 450 on a good day and 650 on others.

well the joys of pure water production means i have 1000s of litres of 0ppm on hand! Spoooooootless

still like drying the glass and door shuts. just my fussyness tho


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## Subc (May 30, 2008)

DavidN said:


> Lucky swine. im looking at 450 on a good day and 650 on others.
> 
> well the joys of pure water production means i have 1000s of litres of 0ppm on hand! Spoooooootless
> 
> still like drying the glass and door shuts. just my fussyness tho


Quite amazing I keep Marine fish and when testing TDS of Tap water was amazed at such a low reading, tried some bottled mineral water and that was reading 150.Makes living in the frozen North wortwhile. LOL:lol: Started using spare RO water and professional window glass cleaner in my washers in warmer weather working amazingly well.


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## Manxman302 (Jul 25, 2011)

DetailedClean said:


> Personally I lay to towel down and then drag it across from one end, letting the towel do the work and soaking up of water... therefore no pressure


Yep, me too


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

Black baron, couldn't get any easier


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## Grommit (May 3, 2011)

Watering can, sheet the water off and then towel dry innit


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## BandyQuill (Jun 21, 2010)

ive started using a blade to take off the excess water that seems to pool all over the roof and bonet, then pat/drag the rest fo the car till dry, the blade is only staying till i can afford a wolly mammoth towel


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## sebjonesy (Dec 15, 2011)

firstly, just gently blade of excess water
followed by my aunties dog hair blaster ( this is fantastic for getting water out of awkward places)
then followed by big plush towel


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## DesertDog (May 15, 2011)

Air Force Blaster

Essential for drying those hard-to-reach places like grilles, door shuts, engine bay and wheels.


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## JayLC (Oct 9, 2008)

Same as others. Use a laid out waffle towel and pull it over the panel with no pressure. I use an airline for the mirrors, door shuts and any other hidey hole as the drips annoy the hell out of me.


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## Hardsworth (Apr 12, 2012)

baderlfc said:


> I really struggle with drying, I always find aswell that once I've moved onto next stage what ever it may be that water will drip out of shuts and ruin everything.. really winds me up!
> 
> But I tested demon shine with water in a watering can and a silicone flexi blade from autobrite and must say it's made things a lot easier.
> 
> I also found that no matter what drying towel I used I could pat until I was blue in the face it simply wasn't drying properly!


Have you tried running along the shuts with a vacuum, works a treat for me :newbie:


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

I use CG wooly mamooth


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## DavidN (Apr 3, 2012)

Subc said:


> Quite amazing I keep Marine fish and when testing TDS of Tap water was amazed at such a low reading, tried some bottled mineral water and that was reading 150.Makes living in the frozen North wortwhile. LOL:lol: Started using spare RO water and professional window glass cleaner in my washers in warmer weather working amazingly well.


Fish tank RO water? what tds is that?

Pure water is just the ultimate! makes everything better. diluting concentrates, washing, SFing, rinsing. oh the uses lol!


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