Leaf Blower car drying

[Redright9]

Hello, thinking about getting a leaf blower to dry off the car because the weather is starting to get colder and my hands get very hold holding a wet towel. Yes, I'm delicate! LOL! I have seen many people use a leaf blower as a touchless (except the debris it stirs up) car dryer. Most people say get a cordless/battery powered one, but they get pricey, and I can find good performing gas ones cheaper than battery powered.... Any reason a gas leaf blower would not work well for this other than annoying my neighbors?

Thanks.

 

[The Critic]

Leaf blowers can work but they can also kick up dust that is on the ground. Dust on the surface = marring, swirls and/or scratches.
Compressed air (delivered using a blow gun) is a better option.

 

[gregk24]

They work fine. Ive used a gas one before. The only thing I don't like is the weight and the fumes.

 

[CarLuver]

i use one to blow off most of the water off and then finish off with a towel. gets about 80% of the water off. where it shines is getting the water out of crevices and wheel spoke. always hated a clean car and then the second its driven water spills out of cracks .

i use a gas powered one.

 

[MParr]

I use one all of the time. Just start on the horizontal surfaces and work down.

 

[gman2304]

i use one to blow off most of the water off and then finish off with a towel. gets about 80% of the water off. where it shines is getting the water out of crevices and wheel spoke. always hated a clean car and then the second its driven water spills out of cracks .

i use a gas powered one.

^ I rarely use it on my cars and truck but always use it on my motorcycles for the reasons stated above. It blows water out of the tight spots that can’t be reached even with a small microfiber towel.

 

[Malo83]

I use an old TORO electric leaf blower that works great, never had any problems with blowing up dust as the driveway is wet already from the car wash, really gets all the nooks and crannies.

 

[ripcord]

Agreed. Electric all the way for this unless you want to use it for other things... like blowing out the gutters

 

[JHZR2]

I use a leaf blower all the time to dry the car. Just start from the top, and dont go too low so that you pick up dust.

I started with a gas handheld, but then bought a 36v makita just for this. It works great, is smaller/lighter, and then I don’t have fumes by my head. It may be marginally quieter too...

 

[aquariuscsm]

I always use a leaf blower to dry my engine bay after a cleaning and detail. Homelite electric.

 

[Tom NJ]

I take my car for a five mile drive at 60 mph (I live in the country). What little water remains I just towel off. Of course you want a clean paved road for this. Next time I'll try the leaf blower.

 

[rob1715]

Been using electric leaf blower for years. Large microfiber for the bulk of drying, then leaf blower for everything else, all the tight spots a towel can't get. I suppose a gas blower would put out too many fumes.

 

[RTexasF]

I used a gas leaf blower to dry when I detailed. Why? Because that's what I had. My first step before doing anything was to thoroughly blow off the area where the vehicle was to be parked for the ensuing work. It saved me a great deal of time (think Chevy Suburban) and never caused a problem. Electric or battery powered would be easier to handle and deal with without a doubt.

 

[buster]

I've used an electric leaf blower for years. I bought this last year to hit the engine bay and to dry body after wash. It's lighter and easy to hold.

Now that I'm doing Rinseless Wash, I no longer need to use it.

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[dadto2]

I got a corded electric leaf blower last year at Aldi for $40. Works great. You should be able to find one for under $50, I'm sure of it.

 

[OIL_UDDER]

Stihl BR700 works like a champ! Takes 12" of snow off too!

 

[Cujet]

Ha! A thread for me. I use my various blowers to dry off my trucks before they go in the garage. The best and easiest one I have is the little Echo 21cc. It's light and blows hard enough. And maybe more importantly the curved nozzle can be angled to direct the air against the vehicle. Leading to easy use. The straight nozzle of the electric blowers is not as good in my opinion.

I have a EGO 56V electric blower and a Kobalt 80V both blow a lot of air, but not super fast. Good for dry leaves, not good when moving heavier things, like water.

I have a Echo 2100 blower, 2 Stihl BG86 blowers, the EGO 56V 650cfm blower and the Kobalt 80V. Just an FYI, the EGO runs for 15 min max. The Kobalt about 10-12 min. The Echo and Stihl's run for about 45 minutes.

 

[Redright9]

Awesome. Thank you all, I have a lot more options than I originally thought about, but this is all good!

 

[dishdude]

This is BITOG ridiculous. If I saw a neighbor leaf blowing their car, the video would immediately end up on TikTok!

 

[Delta]

This is BITOG ridiculous. If I saw a neighbor leaf blowing their car, the video would immediately end up on TikTok!

My neighbors already think I'm insane, this would not phase them one bit