Car Washing

I have one of those water blades, too. It's in my shower.

I much prefer not having to use anything to dry my car... thus the Mr. Clean Autodry. I have had some spotting since I bought a house last year. The water out here is hard as hell, so I bought a water softener... but that still leaves a residue in the water which leaves spots. I'm considering putting in a whole house filter after the softener, which will be before the outside faucet I use for washing the car. Hopefully that will help!

 

Ditto Mr. Clean Autodry!

 

By its very nature its hard to get debris stuck on a cal water blade edge. Its pushing alot of water in front of it and has a H channel on its edge. And not sure where debris is coming from anyway since you just soaped and then rinsed off the car. And every pass a water blade makes is perfectly dry so you see if your scratching or not which you cannot say about using microfiber. With a towel its multiple passes to dry. More paint rubbing. And wouldn't you have the same problem with microfiber if debris gets in it? Maybe worse since you'll never know if there's debris in it till it scratches the hell out of the paint.
My water is very hard here so for me its all about getting the water off the car asap before it spots and the cal water blade does a really good job of that. In about 60 seconds I can pull most of the water off the car. Of course you need to dry around the edges & emblems but its alot less towels that you then have to launder. More waste of water.
There's such a bad drought here I'm very conscious of water waste and in fact I have quite a large roof rainwater recovery system on my house. Presently you are not allowed to wash your car here anyway but I try to save laundry water. You can use alot of towels drying your car off.

Todays local water headlines. Getting very bad:
Florida drought 2009: What you need to know | Tampabay.com • St. Petersburg Times

 

I'm also a big fan of Optimum No Rinse. I started using it primarily out of necessity, as I live in Manhattan and don't have easy access to a hose or a car wash. So I lug one bucket of water mixed with one capful of Optimum No Rinse down from my apartment and it's enough to clean my car.

That water blade to dry the car also sounds good.

 

Hi- a mechanic told me once that washing a car when the brake drums are warm can warp the brake drums. I don't know if this is true or not. Anyone have any info on this? Thanks

 

If this is true, you should not use your brakes in the rain?

 

In fact, washing doesn't remove much of the particles that become embedded in the paint. Have to use a clay bar to remove those, but sometimes they become dislodged on their own.

I had used a cali water blade in the past, until one day it left a 7" scratch from a piece of debris that didn't come off with the wash but did when drying. I had to remove a lot of clear coat to polish out that scratch. No more water blades for me.

What I do now is to use a large microfiber towel and *blot* dry after a traditional wash, or with ONR, just wipe with a clean part of the towel per panel. I always do a traditional wash in the shade, so I don't have to rush to prevent droplets from drying and leaving water spots. I tried a leaf blower, but it generated too much noise pollution. I just deal with the residual drips from the mirrors and seams.

 

Good one Dave- I guess that mechanic was full of it

 

I'm not saying the Cali Water Blade is a bad product, it just doesn't work for me. Like liverbomb I got one long scratch once and that was enough. Debris is everythwere, things fall on the paint, etc. I just don't care for the property.

And drying the car uses one waffle weave towel...the whole car. I use the leaf blower to get rid of most of the water first which for me does a better and safer job than the CWB.

Good quality towels won't scratch, and even if they did it will be an easier to remove scratch than the CWB, experience has shown me that.

If you are concerned about water, you really should try Optimum No Rinse. You can't use the CWB with it, but it will wash an entire Prius with a gallon of water and no hose, and do so safely and properly...

 

I don't think hosing down a hot rotor is comparable to driving in the rain. I would imagine there is little water on the rotors when driving, and what's there gets zapped by the heat when braking.

For cars with rotors that have a tendency to warp, like Hondas, I would never spray down a hot brake disc. For the Prius, I'm not sure if the brakes ever get that hot, but I still don't hose it down right after driving. Just habit, I guess.

 

I agree with that, don't spray water directly on a hot rotor.

 

Washing cars is art!! I mostly wash cars top to bottom, with 2 buckets of water and cleaning cloth. I wash them with car wash soap and then dry them completely !!