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what do y'all use to dry your car?

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by priustexasbob, Apr 9, 2016.

  1. priustexasbob

    priustexasbob Member

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    just curious what y'all use to dry your car? leather shammy, microfiber towel or . . . .

    I still use a leather shammy but I've read a microfiber towel works too.
     
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    I'm a bit of a nut and avoid swirls at all costs, from washing to drying etc, but I use a blower. This one to be exact: McKee's 37 Turbo Car Dryer

    I just bought it a year ago for my newest vehicle which is an Onyx Black Volvo XC90 First Edition.

    Before that, I used these for MANY years and recommend them as far as drying towels go: The Ultimate Guzzler Waffle Weave Microfiber Drying Towel by Cobra is a large drying towel for big SUVs, trucks and vans! Towel-dry your vehicle with

    I suggest a 3 pack of the above though. For the Prius one can be enough, but for the price for three, it's a better 'deal' and you will have a second if you need it and the third for when your primary one begins to get too old: 3 Pack The Ultimate Guzzler Waffle Weave Towels By Cobra, 28 x 44 inches
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    I use an electric leaf blower for most of it, then go over with a terry towel rag.
     
  4. DKTVAV

    DKTVAV Active Member

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    I use the work of an employee at a hand car wash station. Cost about $20 each time.
     
  5. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    I tried numerous methods over the years and settled on using a large, super soft squeegee aka "California Jelly" and a large micro-fiber towel. The jelly removes tons of water quickly which makes one towel easily last the entire car. Any missed dirty spots or specks can rubbed away with the moist towel. Start at the roof and work your way down; all glass next, then hood, and then each vertical panel one at a time. Squeegee in one hand, towel in the other. It's quick and efficient.

    california_jelly_blade.jpg
     
  6. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Leafblower is the answer followed by microfiber towel.

    No blower, then a chamois is the standard of the industry.
    (I personally like the synthetic chamois over real leather.)

    With a black car the last thing one wants to do is touch the paint.....hence the leafblower solution.

    For no-black cars, utilizing a blower keeps the car paint "awesome".

    Have fun.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  7. wlee

    wlee Junior Member

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    A leaf blower to remove bulk of water, followed by a microfiber towel with a drying agent (I use Griot's Speed Shine). The drying agent adds a bit more shine, but also adds a bit more protection from scratches. Make sure if you re-use the microfiber towel, to wash separately and WITHOUT any fabric softener
     
  8. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    I use other products now but I used to use speed shine and then switched to their spray wax, I found it left more slickness, added deeper gloss to darker colors, wiped away easier (less chance of hazing but still not good to use in direct sunlight on hot paint) and had longer lasting protection. Just some input from a long long time griots garage fan.
     
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  9. wlee

    wlee Junior Member

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    Yes, Griot's spray-on wax is awesome, but I haven't had much luck finding good deals on it. At times, I've been able to find a gallon of speedshine in the low $20 area. What product do you use now?
     
  10. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    I buy my products from autogeek.net now. If you time it right, they have 25% off sales usually spring sometime and on Black Friday. You can catch deals other times if you wait like 15% and 20% off, they have a 15% off right now. Free shipping $150 and over. But, if you keep watching they also around Christmas and one other time during the year offer $100 gift certificates for $80. So I usually grab two and then combine them with a 25% off sale and get them for 45% off plus free shipping since I wait and make a huge order all at once, lol. They seek tons of stuff including griots garage items.

    As for quick detailers, after griots I began using chemical guys hybrid v7. You can get it by the gallon as well as small bottles, really great stuff. But amazingly, what I like the best now and it shocks me because it is a meguiars product and I usually like products from non big name places, is meguiars ultimate quik detailer, quik without the c, weird I know. Only thing with it is you cannot get it in gallon sizes so coupons are great when getting it. I got lucky last time, it was on sale and I still got 45% off so I bought 6 bottles. Here is a link: Meguiars Ultimate Quik Detailer, Meguiars quick detailer, Meguiars Ultimate Detailer

    Here is the hybrid v7 for the heck of it, gallon size: Chemical Guys V7 Optical Select High Gloss Spray Sealant Detailer 128 oz. Refill

    All that said, even with coupons as you can see, you'll still come close or a bit more than speed shine at around $20 a gallon but IMO they offer longer protection in between washing than speed shine, BUT, I'll say speed shine was the first quick detailer I began using around 2000 and griots products are still highly regarded. It's just since its introduction so many new things have come out that offer deeper gloss and last longer.
     
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  11. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    @wlee , I just saw this and figured I'd pass it along to you. On autogeek right now they have a speed shine kit on special. You get a gallon of speed shine, a 35 oz bottle of speed shine with sprayer and 2 of their new PFM (pure freaking magic) microfiber towels for $46.99. Then with code manic15, it gets knocked down to $39.94. Just happened to see it and wanted to pass it along: Griots Garage Speed Shine PFM Towel Refill Kit not enough for free shipping but when I saw speed shine I thought of this recent post, lol
     
  12. wlee

    wlee Junior Member

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    Thanks Paradox...looks like a good deal! Curious about the PFM towels...but I already have 5 gallons of speed shine in stock for three cars lol. Once I get through this stock, will try out the Chemical Guys products.
     
  13. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Haha, I hear you, when I make my one big bulk buy it is often enough to carry me for 2 years.

    I've not bought Griot's microfibers in many years but I've been using these Cobra Super Plush ones for about 3 years now and really really like them the best: Cobra Super Plush Deluxe 600 Microfiber Towels 6 Pack, Cobra microfiber buffing towels, cobra micro fiber detail towels
     
    wlee likes this.