EdS320

For over 10 years, after washing my car I use a leaf blower to blow all the water off my car. Electric {or Gas} hand held leaf blower is what I use after washing to "blow dry" my car. I've never seen anyone else do it. It works GREAT and dries the car spotless in just a few minutes. All water is blown out of every nook, cranny,seam and trim piece. Window's blow dry spotless.

I start on the top blowing the water to the front or back and do window's next then the hood and trunk then the body sides, front and back. Nothing but air touches the car. No rubbing, wiping scratches etc. If you want to use a Baja Squeegee first it goes even quicker. I have never bumped the car with the blower nozzle but if your are afraid you might, cut the toe end off an old sock and roll up and put on the end of your blower to protect.

Anyone else ever done this? Below is picture of what I use, Toro $49 or Weed-eater.

Quick reply to below: {Glad to hear others do it. I've never blown dirt onto my car, I do have a cement driveway and the blower is always about 3 feet above the ground. I guess it would be about the same as driving down the road as far as blowing dirt. But nothing like getting a sand grain in your chamois }

500AMG

Actually, leaf blowing is *fairly* popular over at autopia.org. I've done it a few times, but I prefer sheeting most of the water off without a nozzle on the hose then blot drying with a couple of waffle-weave MF towels.

About the only danger I can see with a leaf blow is blowing dust/dirt and having it blow onto the paint at a fairly high speed. That could cause scratches. Oh yeah, and all your neighbors will probably laugh at you with a leaf blow drying the car :p

bmms8

500amg is right, a lot of people blow the air off, i do too, but after i take over an hour to wash it, im tired, so i really dont like to hear the loudness of it. but sometimes i do sheet off the water, dry it with my waffle weave, then blow dry the outside mirrors, and the tight spots where the panels meet. after they run down, i dry again with my waffle weave

JamE55

I've seen that process done. I heard it works pretty good too!

oggle

I've tried it and ended up not liking the results so I returned the blower. Here were my gripes:

1) Blew lots of dust onto the car. Maybe the floor was dirty and I needed to wet it first.

2) Water would just dry on the car as I'm blowing and leave water marks.

How do you guys get around the above?

500AMG

Oggle, I pretty much experienced the same results (on black, so you could see everything). I got a few scratches as well (this was before I polished out the car). Soooo, I just switched to waffle MFs and the sheeting action. Life is good now.

C230K

On the C230 coupe there a lot of little places for water to sit. I dry the car and then use the blower to get the rest and dry off the rest, works great and keeps the water from running later and leaving marks.

WyattEarp

How do you guy's have time to wash your own car? I always have to pay someone to do it, I simply don't have enough time to devote to that quadrant 3 activity.

500AMG

LOL I have to say I really enjoy washing/detailing my car(s). It's soothing in a way. *Therapy* :p

RedSLKChic

You know, I have never even thought of that. But the other day I was driving around and saw a man drying his Aston Martin with one. I was so excited to go home and try it......though I didn't yet

theveed

Works great if your car is well sealed, usually works better with sealant treated surfaces wherein the water sheets away instead of beads... but it takes too much effort sometimes and you'll be better off blotting the water puddles on flat surfaces instead of blowing it off...

Indispensable for cracks, crevices, side mirror and molding gaps, etc...

vraa

after i finished sheeting the water off the car i then dry it with a towel and i STILL use pretty much the same exact blower Eds posted!

oggle

Just saw this topic again... and noticed the topic sounds very kinky. "Give your car a blow" hehe

craniusmaximus

I thought I was the only guy doing this, I got the idea from a Corvette care site and they got it from Motorweek on PBS. I like the way it works, I remove the extension nozzle and use the base unit only. Oh...in the fall it works great on leaves too.

BlackC230Coupe

i thought i was the only one using a leaf blower on my car to!

i use it at least 3 times a week when i was my cars. its great. for the people saying it drys the car to much are just doing it to long. all you have to do is let the blower blow by the water for about 2 seconds and then dont go back. if u are using it to completly get all the water off it will leave marks at least on a black car. even if u dont do it all the way but do it to much it will still leave some water marks and when u get a chance to dry the car it will already be dry. i only use it a lilttle bit, then dry the car with a towel.

livetodrive

I use my 2-stroke gas leaf blower to dry off the car after washing it during the winter. It beats driving around the block at 80 mph!!

In warmer weather I just towel it dry with cotton towels.

oggle

I wouldn't recommend using a gas leaf blower as gasoline mist from the blower can end up getting on your car.

EdS320

Quote:
"I wouldn't recommend using a gas leaf blower as gasoline mist from the blower can end up getting on your car."

Gasoline mist? Gas leaf blowers do not blow gasoline mist...flame throwers do! Worst you get is stinky fumes. It's no worse than following a diesel car on the road! The little engine exhaust blows out the side of the engine, not the blower nozzle. I've used both with excellent results.