Obsessed detailer in a former life - The obsession is back

[Don_M]

As long as we're on the subject of detailing, what do you recommend for drying the vehicle after washing? I used to always use a leather chamois. But now I've gone to terrycloth towels..... Lot's of them. But they are also a royal pain, and I end up with a ton of wet towels.

Leather or synthetic Chamois have no where for any stray dirt particles to go, so they get trapped between the chamois and the paint and can (will) cause marring (swirls). Granted, after a good wash, there SHOULDN'T be any grit, but ... Murphy's Law

I have a Griot's Garage PFM towel (XL) and two similar, but smaller towels from Walmart that acutally do a decent job. They work great with a rinseless wash method, which also uses the rinseless wash solution as a drying aid.

Griot's Garage PFM XL

Platinumm Drying Towel Walmart

 

[shortyb]

As long as we're on the subject of detailing, what do you recommend for drying the vehicle after washing? I used to always use a leather chamois. But now I've gone to terrycloth towels..... Lot's of them. But they are also a royal pain, and I end up with a ton of wet towels.

Use a cheap corded leaf blower. No touch. This is what I use:
https://www.blackanddecker.com/products/lb700?variant=43205392793821
About $35 at the Orange Big Box.

 

[Don_M]

Use a cheap corded leaf blower. No touch. This is what I use:
https://www.blackanddecker.com/products/lb700?variant=43205392793821
About $35 at the Orange Big Box.

Unless you are using nothing but distilled water, or your tap water has 0 TDS (total dissolved solids - minerals), a leaf blower is not a good idea. While a leaf blower, or compressed air is great for getting water out of the hidden areas, they WILL cause the water to evaporate on the paint and cause water spots. Unless, like I said you are using nothing but distilled/0 TDS water. These will be painfully visible on any car that is not white or silver.

How am I so sure? My last Camaro was black, with a really good synthetic wax on it. I had seen the videos and thought: "Hey, that's pretty cool." So I tried it myself. The end result? I had to go over the entire car with water spot remover, because the water evaproated off the surface, instead of being blown off the car ... even with excellent beading of the wax coat.

There are two, really good ways to minimize the amount of water left on the car after a wash and make drying fast & easy. The first one is to 'flood' the surface of the car (works best with a good wax or coating). Start at the top, and with a garden hosae - no nozzle, run water over the entire roof, trying not to splash and 95% of the water will run off, leaving the surface almost completely dry.

Work your way around the car ... roof, hood, trunk - then start at the top of the fenders, doors and quarter panels. After "Flood rinsing" the car, it will only take a small - medium sized drying towel to finish.

The second way is to use a rinseless wash. After the contact wash, since you don't rinse, there is very little water left on the car. And since most rinseless washes are also drying aids, they add lubrication, preventing marring. Once again, itr only takes a small-mediu drying towel to finish.

 

[Dave Hess]

At 16 I got my first car (mid 1980's), and it began. Slowly at first, but rapidly gaining strength. By 1987 the detailing bug bit HARD and I started working at a mid-level detail shop. The bug became an obsession and I was "One Of THOSE Guys." Life got in the way and I followed a different career path for the next 30+ years, but the "need to detail" stayed strong and I poured over everything and anything in print to learn more (no Internet yet).

Despite having very little "real" training, I got really good at detailing and even made a few bucks here and there doing other people's cars. My own cars were often thought to be 5+ years newer than what they were because of my efforts. The internet arrived and my skills increased with the flood of information, techniques, products and equipment I was learning about.

Last year, I discovered Yvan Lecroix and DIY Detail. My skills and confidence skyrocketed at an insane pace - what I learned from him was an absolute game-changer. The amount of actual 'work' I had to put into detailing dropped by about 2/3, while my results improved 1,000 fold. About this time last year, I picked up my current 2017 Camaro, just in time to start implimenting what Yvan teaches.

With the weather starting to be north of 60* F, I was able to give the Camaro a good Spring Cleaning. Went to the touchless wash to get all the big stuff off, and get the chassis bath. Then I took it home and gave it a detailed wash/cleaning. After that, a light paint enhancement with a rotary polisher on speed 1, using DIY's red rotary jeweling pad and DIY Gold Standard sprayable polish. The car was still in good condition from its last detail in October, so the enhancement didn't take long at all.

In a couple of months, I plan on getting DIY's Hydro-Lite, 6-year coating - I just have to do a few details for other people to get the money for the coating. So until then, I used Turtle Wax Ceramic/Graphene Paste Wax (not bad stuff actually), and applied it with my Porter Cable dual-action polisher at speed 3.5.

It was getting late in the day by the time I was finished and I still have to take care of the 'details,' (glass - wheels/tires - door and trunk jambs), then the interior. But they shouldn't take me too long this morning.

What do you think? Remember this is an 8 y/o car with 86K.

View attachment 267490

View attachment 267491

View attachment 267492

Great job. I would pay you to detail my vehicles.

 

[BTLew81]

Is that color ultra blue metallic?

 

[wemay]

Looks great!

 

[shortyb]

Unless you are using nothing but distilled water, or your tap water has 0 TDS (total dissolved solids - minerals), a leaf blower is not a good idea. While a leaf blower, or compressed air is great for getting water out of the hidden areas, they WILL cause the water to evaporate on the paint and cause water spots. Unless, like I said you are using nothing but distilled/0 TDS water. These will be painfully visible on any car that is not white or silver.

How am I so sure? My last Camaro was black, with a really good synthetic wax on it. I had seen the videos and thought: "Hey, that's pretty cool." So I tried it myself. The end result? I had to go over the entire car with water spot remover, because the water evaproated off the surface, instead of being blown off the car ... even with excellent beading of the wax coat.

There are two, really good ways to minimize the amount of water left on the car after a wash and make drying fast & easy. The first one is to 'flood' the surface of the car (works best with a good wax or coating). Start at the top, and with a garden hosae - no nozzle, run water over the entire roof, trying not to splash and 95% of the water will run off, leaving the surface almost completely dry.

Work your way around the car ... roof, hood, trunk - then start at the top of the fenders, doors and quarter panels. After "Flood rinsing" the car, it will only take a small - medium sized drying towel to finish.

The second way is to use a rinseless wash. After the contact wash, since you don't rinse, there is very little water left on the car. And since most rinseless washes are also drying aids, they add lubrication, preventing marring. Once again, itr only takes a small-mediu drying towel to finish.

Different strokes, but I have used a leaf blower for over 10 years now and never had water evaporate into spots. The water gets blown off of the finish before it has a chance to dry, especially if you have a good coat of sealant/wax. 4 year old dark gray finish on the Tiguan is free of any marring from drying. Even a plush drying towel can trap any dirt against the finish, causing the marring. Blowing the surface dry prevents all that. What DOES create spotting is trying to dry in direct sunlight or if it's super hot outside. FWIW, I do the "flooding rinse" too and a good portion of the water sheets off. However, there is some surface tension that will hold water droplets that need to be removed before spotting does occur. My city water is very low TDS so that helps with the rinse. Anyway, I'm happy with my method and get great results.

 

[Turbo Actual]

DIY Detail is one of my favorites. All their products are simple and easy to use. Ceramic Gloss, Interior clean and protect, and All clean are my go-to's. Yvan is a great mentor imo. I've picked up a lot from him. Have you tried their Rinse-less wash? If not give it a try!

 

[Don_M]

Is that color ultra blue metallic?

LOL. I originally called it "Royal Blue," but was immediately chastized by the Camaro Community, who informed me it's "Hyper-Blue Metallic."

 

[Don_M]

DIY Detail is one of my favorites. All their products are simple and easy to use. Ceramic Gloss, Interior clean and protect, and All clean are my go-to's. Yvan is a great mentor imo. I've picked up a lot from him. Have you tried their Rinse-less wash? If not give it a try!

Yes. I haven't used SOAP on any car I've washed since.

 

[Don_M]

Great job. I would pay you to detail my vehicles.

I'm available LOL. But I don't do mobile detailing anymore ... I have too much 'stuff' to fit in my trunk now.

 

[Turbo Actual]

Yes. I haven't used SOAP on any car I've washed since.

Rinse-less is all I use as well. ONR and Absolute being my favorites.