Drying Your Car

Now you have finished washing your paintwork, it is time to start drying your car. I personally prefer to use a microfiber drying towel or Chamois leather however a lot of people have sung the praises of the wiper blade tool (not a car wiper blade).

If you decide to use the wiper blade tool however I would suggest following with a drying towel after to get any droplets that may have been missed.

Warning: Do not use a household towel; these are made up of different materials to serve a different purpose. You could seriously damage your car's paintwork if you do not use the correct equipment.

I always start at the top of the car and work down. I lay the drying towel on the roof and drag it to the side. I repeat this a few times and then rinse the towel and continue the other side.

I generally try to work fairly quickly on the drying process so that watermarks do not have time to appear. This is most affective when the temperature is not too high.

Once I have removed the bulk of the water, I repeat with the towel folded to catch the remaining droplets. I continue this a few times until the bodywork is completely dry.

Tip: remember to remove the water from any gaps in between panels etc to eliminate steaks later on. Water can sit under the rear lights or boot lip as well as in the handles, wing mirrors and the petrol cap. I also like to wipe down the bottom of the door sills so that the car does not get sprayed when the door is closed.

Now the body work is clean and dry, you can move onto the paint cleaning process.