What does sheeting water off the car mean?
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Joined: Apr 2008
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06 330i
What does sheeting water off the car mean?
I've read something about taking the nozzle off the hose and running the water down the car in the context of drying the car. I'm not understanding what this means..
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Long Island, NY
2004 E500 Wagon 4Matic
Instead of spraying the water, under pressure, you take off the nozzle and let the water slowly run over the panels. The result is less water drops on your car.
I've got into the habit of using a clean water blade, to get most of the standing water off. After that I go over the car with one of those tech, squeegy cloths that soak up the water. Finally I go over the body work with a clean microfiber.
The idea is not to rub the paintwork if you don't have to. My way I use 3 different across my paintwork. Any little bit of grit in going to be dragged over all your paint. The sheeting way is only water. I did try it once, but I didn't get good results.
Hope this explains enough.
Peace,
jim
I've got into the habit of using a clean water blade, to get most of the standing water off. After that I go over the car with one of those tech, squeegy cloths that soak up the water. Finally I go over the body work with a clean microfiber.
The idea is not to rub the paintwork if you don't have to. My way I use 3 different across my paintwork. Any little bit of grit in going to be dragged over all your paint. The sheeting way is only water. I did try it once, but I didn't get good results.
Hope this explains enough.
Peace,
jim
Banned
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,164
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From: NY
The sheeting method basically is taking off the nozzle and flooding the surface top down. This has two main benefits which help you get the paint more thoroughly clean and dry quicker. Blasting the surface often quickly moves contaminants a short distance. Removing the nozzle and flooding the surface helps suspend contaminants and flood them totally off the vehicle. Like particles tend to cling together, therefore water molecules will cling to water molecules generally speaking. If you flood the surface the water tends to drag itself more uniformly towards the bottom of the vehicle. This leads to far less water on the surface, which decreases drying time. Additionally the less you are drying the less likely you are to add fine scratches while drying.
Let me know if you have any other questions about these products or anything else related to detailing.
Greg @ Detailed Image
Let me know if you have any other questions about these products or anything else related to detailing.
Greg @ Detailed Image
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Joined: Mar 2005
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An additional idea...
I rarely use a microfiber or anything else to dry anymore. I typically use a Metro Dryer which provides filtered, slightly warmed clean air via a soft neoprene nozzle which doesn't scratch the surface. It has the benefits of:
1) Not creating any (even fine) scratches when drying since nothing but filtered air is touching the paint. This is particularly helpful for me when cleaning my motorcycle.
2) Getting water out of cracks and crevices so that if I want to apply wax, the vehicle is ready faster
I don't use the vac n'dry because I only want the "dryer" portion and don't want to risk any contamination from using the item as a vac. I have a separate shop vac for the "vac" work.
I rarely use a microfiber or anything else to dry anymore. I typically use a Metro Dryer which provides filtered, slightly warmed clean air via a soft neoprene nozzle which doesn't scratch the surface. It has the benefits of:
1) Not creating any (even fine) scratches when drying since nothing but filtered air is touching the paint. This is particularly helpful for me when cleaning my motorcycle.
2) Getting water out of cracks and crevices so that if I want to apply wax, the vehicle is ready faster
I don't use the vac n'dry because I only want the "dryer" portion and don't want to risk any contamination from using the item as a vac. I have a separate shop vac for the "vac" work.
