wasupdu

I absolutely despise drying my vehicles. For some reason it takes so much time and irritates me beyond belief with all the water drips all over the car from the mirrors to to the front bumper, rear bumper, windows, etc.....

I find myself waxing the cars after every wash (each car gets washed/waxed at least once per week). I'll typically apply the wax a couple hours after everything has dried. Do I really need to dry the car after a wash if I do this every time? In other words, is there any harm in leaving all the hard water spots on the vehicle until i wax?

Masterspy

I use a leaf blower to dry my car after wash. I follow it up with Ultimate detailer for a finish touch.

luigi524td

I find that because our city water is loaded with chemicals if I don't dry my car I wind up with horrible water spots. The leaf blower is a good idea and makes the final dry pretty easy. And if you're waxing your car weekly (gee - where do you get all the free time??) the wash water should just sheet off.

pjinca

Is it really THAT much trouble? Geez, it takes me like 10 minutes to dry my car with a microfiber towel or 2. If it bothers you that much find a good carwash that will do it for you, there is one near me that will not run my car through the regular wash, instead they hand wash it each time I go.

bonehead

Let the hard water spots dry and then wax??? I'll grant you that drying a car is royal PITA. Heck, I used to like washing my car but I've now grown to despise washing it as it's now become somewhat of a chore. If you let the spots dry, then you'll etch the paint. Waxing over them may cover up the spots temporarily, but they're still there. Not like you're dissolving them with the wax.

Get a CR spotless (then you can truly wash and walk away) or as other have mentioned, a leaf blower or vac with a blower option. Only problem with a leaf blower is that the air isn't filtered. Dust, particles, even rocks can come thru and destroy any work you may have done and even f-up the paint.

hondik

Just drive fast for 2 minutes and car is dry no.. ? I do it that way.. much faster and effortless ..

richard313

Same here, the neighbors always gave me a weird look.

Cwest

+1 I also think about with the leaf blower blowing isn't it stirring up surrounding dust and contaminates back on top after you've washed it?

+1 I do that on occasions
Mine also looks at me like WTF. But no annoying water collected in small cracks that leaks out after you drive off.

rctmthouse

Remove the nozzle, rinse car by letting the water run from the roof down, water will sheet off the panel, helps speeding up the drying process. Learn this from some detailers at autopia awhile back, been doing ever it since.

@mr

If you live in an area where it actually rains occasionally, get a water barrel and catch the rainwater. It is not only good for your plants and flowers, but it also is much milder than tap water and leaves less stains.
I live in the Netherlands so for me it is easy..I wash the car and it obviously will start to rain. After the rain I dry the car with the Meguiars water magnet. Does a good job for me.
Waxing over water stains is a no go if you want a spotless result.. or you must mean polishing. Using a quick detailer to remove the dried water stains before waxing is advisable.

but +1 on speeding it dry on the road though

Ar.