Correct way to dry a car ??
29 June 2012, 07:54 AM
#32
The scratching is done either via a abrasive tool (owner or product 
) used to dry the car or contamints still on the paint.
The blades get a bad rep becuase most of crap and people don't use them properly: There are good ones and there is a very strict method in using them:
I use a blade on all my cars with zero issue...That includea a Metallic Black (swirl tastic - not this one) Seat Altea which we've had since new that still has no scratches from using the blade, no swirls nothing, the same with my Jag which had a full repspray about tens years ago. The only scrtches on teh Seat are from the single time when Firpo decided to wash it with a f***ing tea towel - he only did it once, but that was enough to put in some fairly deep micro scratches
(polished out with some medium cutting compound though).
The ONLY blade I reccomend to dry your car is the "Hrydrablade" or "Hydra Flexi-blade". This blade does not scratch providing you do these very important things:
1) the car is clean after washing (refer to two buckets, grit guards etc)
2) the blade is kept clean, wash before use, wash during use and wash after use, wiping the drying edge with your (clean) hands between your thumb and finger to remove anything that it may have picked up - do this after completing each panel/section
3)keep the plastic handle clear of the bodywork (obviously, but that maybe lost on some ).
4) Don't use it on a dry panel (well...durr) - the water acts as a lubricant.
Other brands of blades made by the likes of Megs, Halfrauds, car plan et are all rubbish and DO scratch. Their desgin is very different to the hydrablade and they don't work anywhere near as well; The drying edge is harder and less flexible (and therefore can force any trapped grit to drag into the paint surface. So if its not a Hyrda flexi blade....bin it! But don't condemn all blades becuase the majority use a inferior design. Hydra flexi blades are also rebranded for other makers, but there are some copies of it about too, but I can't state if they use the same soft type silicone as the original one does.
There are importnat differences and its these that make the difference note the following:
Hydraflexi blade "T"-style edge made from a very soft silicone to prevent excessive force):
Typical DIY-er drying blade with a flat drying edge (halfords, turtlewax, amongst many others), if it looks like this - bin it (or just use it for the windows):
Remember every part of the cleaning/polishing/waxing process can cause mirco scratches: Inferior wash leathers scratch and cause marring of paint as does a gritty spomnge...even the nylon stitchng around the edges of a microfibre cloth can do this: I actualy trim the edging off cloths to avoid this happening....how many people bother doing that or even considered the stitched edges of cloths cause scratches....eh?
) used to dry the car or contamints still on the paint.The blades get a bad rep becuase most of crap and people don't use them properly: There are good ones and there is a very strict method in using them:
I use a blade on all my cars with zero issue...That includea a Metallic Black (swirl tastic - not this one) Seat Altea which we've had since new that still has no scratches from using the blade, no swirls nothing, the same with my Jag which had a full repspray about tens years ago. The only scrtches on teh Seat are from the single time when Firpo decided to wash it with a f***ing tea towel - he only did it once, but that was enough to put in some fairly deep micro scratches
(polished out with some medium cutting compound though).The ONLY blade I reccomend to dry your car is the "Hrydrablade" or "Hydra Flexi-blade". This blade does not scratch providing you do these very important things:
1) the car is clean after washing (refer to two buckets, grit guards etc)
2) the blade is kept clean, wash before use, wash during use and wash after use, wiping the drying edge with your (clean) hands between your thumb and finger to remove anything that it may have picked up - do this after completing each panel/section
3)keep the plastic handle clear of the bodywork (obviously, but that maybe lost on some
).4) Don't use it on a dry panel (well...durr) - the water acts as a lubricant.
Other brands of blades made by the likes of Megs, Halfrauds, car plan et are all rubbish and DO scratch. Their desgin is very different to the hydrablade and they don't work anywhere near as well; The drying edge is harder and less flexible (and therefore can force any trapped grit to drag into the paint surface. So if its not a Hyrda flexi blade....bin it! But don't condemn all blades becuase the majority use a inferior design. Hydra flexi blades are also rebranded for other makers, but there are some copies of it about too, but I can't state if they use the same soft type silicone as the original one does.
There are importnat differences and its these that make the difference note the following:
Hydraflexi blade "T"-style edge made from a very soft silicone to prevent excessive force):
Typical DIY-er drying blade with a flat drying edge (halfords, turtlewax, amongst many others), if it looks like this - bin it (or just use it for the windows):
Remember every part of the cleaning/polishing/waxing process can cause mirco scratches: Inferior wash leathers scratch and cause marring of paint as does a gritty spomnge...even the nylon stitchng around the edges of a microfibre cloth can do this: I actualy trim the edging off cloths to avoid this happening....how many people bother doing that or even considered the stitched edges of cloths cause scratches....eh?
Last edited by ALi-B; 29 June 2012 at 08:00 AM.
29 June 2012, 08:13 AM
#33
PS finish off with a syntehtic chamoise...again wof which many are crap....too grippy, or not absorbant enough, or not soft enough, or too hard to squeeze the water out.
However can't remember the brand of mine as it came via our bodyshop material supplier.
However can't remember the brand of mine as it came via our bodyshop material supplier.
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