dolebludger

If your experience is like mine, the most difficult part of car washing is drying the car after washing. My discovery in this regard is use of what is called a PVA mop. This is a sold as a floor mop, and has a blue foam mop head that is very hard until it becomes soaked in water. The mop assembly has a wringer handle. These things really soak up a lot of water.

While we use these things on the tile and wood floors in the house, I bought one to use only on the cars, to avoid the possibility of scratching from imbedded sand or dirt. Running one of these over a wet, just-washed car removes almost all of the water quickly, so the car can be towel dried in just a minute or two. You have to wring it out several times, and can see that it is still removing dirt that the wash left on. I find that these also renew the shine of the wax and polish that is on the car. They also do well on the plastic rear windows on the '00's and '01's too.

So far, the PVA mop is the best car wash tool I've found.

Hope this helps,
Richard

xviper

I use one of these:

It'll work better if you have a good shine on the car. No more drippies from the mirrors, emblems, gas door, door handles, etc.

mikes2k

If I have the time I use Daves method as well...I dont have a garage so I often cant plug in the leaf blower.....if not I use the Ca. Water blade to get the bulk of the water off then follow up with an Absorber cloth

xviper

Actually, I should have mentioned that I begin with a quick swish with the water blade, finishing with the blower. Some say you should NOT use a water blade on a dark car. Luckily, as with Mike, mine is Silverstone.

matrix

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
I use one of these:
http://gallery.s2ki.com/imagecatalog/image...geview/11411/6/

wanabe

dolebluger- you gatta check what the mop is made of... you could be swirling the heck outta your car...
do you know what the material is?

i use whatever i feel like at the time (blower, blade, big blue or a combo of those- usually always end up with big blue to finish).

dolebludger

Yes, the material is called "PVA" which is a plastic foam-like material that is very hard when dry, and very soft and gentile when wet. Use only when wet and wrung out. Actually, the ABSENCE of any little swirls and scratches are one of it good points. Another good point is the fact that it holds a lot of water, so you don't have to wring as often. I've even used it on a black sedan we used to own with no such problems. You can find these mops at chain drugstores and discount stores. The only warning I have about their use on cars is to buy one to use ONLY on cars, and never use it on floors. That could possibly imbed grit in the PVA and cause finish problems big time. Of course, the mop surface is straight and many surfaces on the car are not, so some water is left. But nothing a couple of minutes and an old towel won't fix.

Thanks,
Richard

redlineracing

I like to use oversize MF towels to dry my rides and to apply an after bath detail spray.

Detail King has some goos stuff for about $25bux for a doz oversize towels.

rlr

dolebludger

red:

I totally agree that the final step to any first class wash is rubbing the car down with a terry towel, which I always do. But I find that if I don't do something to dry it a bit before toweling, I'm using up a towel per pannel! That's where the PVA mop comes in. It gets most of the water before I towel. It also gets bugs off the windshield, etc. better than anything I've seen.

Thanks,
Richard

Vrm Vrm

I'm tellin' you guys, if you haven't tried the Big Blue drying towel, you're missing out. I do my WHOLE S2K without having to wring it once. WHY take 2 or 3 steps to do what you can accomplish with one pass?

You can get from SportsCarCare.com , PakShak, and Detailers Paradise