Father of 3

Water blade, big blue waffle weave towel from Autopia. I too use the yellow costco mf towels for waxing (wipe off - sonus applicator for on), cleaning door jambs, engine lid, door sills.

joolsbourne

I've used the blades for a long time and never had any problems.
I then finish off with a chamois. Is the waffle better than a chamois?

BradB

MUCH better. A quality waffleweave if far softer and the technology is much more advanced. There are hundreds of "pockets" which scoop up the water. (hence the waffle texture) and the microfiber weave within that is comprised of thread many times finer than human hair, woven in patterns with threads per inch in the thousands. This creates a resilient fabric that won't compress debris into the paint causing scratches and swirls. It also pulls debris into the fabric rather than having them ride on top where they can scratch more easily.

Newer synthetic chamois' are only good for initial water pickup and then only if you "lay on and pick up". Don't drag them.

California Water Blades do work well. The risk you take is being sure you NEVER get even the most minute debris in the blade. It will scratch. I have one. I use it on my neighbors car.

A word of caution about leaf blowers. Be sure you have the proper filters in place and be sure they are clean. I have seen two instances where a small piece of debris (on one occasion a tiny piece of tree bark) caused serious paint damage when hurled at the car at 100+ mph.

TheOtherEric

Lol, I have no idea how, but they ALWAYS manage to pick up wood slivers. Plus lots of other junk. Anyway, the point is this: there's GOOD microfiber and there's NOT AS GOOD microfiber. The waffle weave doesn't pick up junk, and even when it does, it comes clean in the wash unlike the Costco stuff. I wish I hadn't bought the Costco stuff, so I could justify buying a bunch of the waffle weaves from Target (p.s. the Target towels passed the "CD test" with flying colors).

amfp

I use a leaf blower. Than for little water left over dry with soft cotton towel.

Rezal

My Waterblade is sitting next to my Chia pet and Rubik's cube. Well, not exactly, but you get my point. Waterblade is fine if you have a (older) Volvo with slab sides. Doesn't work as well on the 993's curves.

I swear by the waffle blue cloth and have two. One is sufficient for the entire car but two allows you to really completely dry it!

hawk993

I invite a bunch of the Hooters girls over, have them put on bath towels and rub all over my car!

24FPS

thx... only use it on the car. there we go on the wood thing again...

cheers.

btw: i do have a hooters gift-card in the p-car... lifeisgood.

dcdude

About a year ago, I bought a bunch of synthetic chamois at the LA County Fair in Pomona. The "nice man" gave me a "but fer you" deal of $20(?) for 6 large orange ones and four smaller blue ones. Hey, printed right on them is "MADE IN GERMANY 100% RAYON," so they have to be good, right? Wrong. While they may be very absorbent, they dry with streaks and dots, which I hate. I even allowed for the "break-in" period. No improvement. I now believe that these are marketed as Shamwow. They sure are packaged the same way!

https://www.shamwow.com/ver8/index.asp

So I'm going to try waffle micro fiber.

I'm rejecting Griot's due to price, so we've got Blu-Maxx (1), Sonus (2), and Big Blue III (3). Since they're a sponsor, I'd also like to add the Uber Jumbo (4) into the mix:

http://www.detailersdomain.com/index...PROD&ProdID=55

All prices are around $25 for 2. Big Blue and Blu-Maxx both measure 24" x 36." I wonder if they're the same? Both Sonus and Big Blue tout "30% Polyamide," so that may be a good thing. I'm leaning toward the "smaller" 24" x 30" Sonus.

944/951guy

Is this any good?
Or is this Garbage?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Grit-...1%7C240%3A1318

Which brand do you all recommend?

Howdy993

+1 on Leaf Blower

Blaine S

I bought an inexpensive TroyBuilt leaf blower and that is only used for the car (so no dirt or dust blasting the paint). Works great to get water out of the tight spaces and brakes. A quick "blow dry" then waffle microfiber and finish with Speed Shine from Griots.

Arena993

SHAMWOW = BLOWS Worst drying product I have ever used

Mike

wellcraft290

leaf blower and electric not the gas powered one. No gas left of finish. I used to use the absorber and alot faster with the electric leaf blower.

Black993

Dang, I came here to post a smart-*** shamwow comment but its already been thrown out!

Anyway.

Let the hose do the work for you. Sheet the water off (yeah, you need wax on it for this to work), then use the compressor to blow out around tail lights, deck lid grille, marker lights, and sunroof felt, finish by a pat dry with a waffle weave microfiber. Oh, and don't forget the door jambs and trunk/hood jambs! You can always tell a clean freak by looking at their door jambs

I found a WW microfiber towel at Advanced that was actually better quality than the one I ordered from AutoGeek when I got my Porter Cable.

Also, make SURE you use the two-bucket method when washing, and clean the wash mitt after every panel.

The WATER BLADE WILL SCRATCH too! Just look at my Subaru...