Best Drying Cloth Ever

[R8Spyderman]

Isn't even a cloth and it isn't a chamois, either. Forget about Shamwow (which I find to be quite rough and probably abrasive to clear coats) and microfiber towels which are great for polishing dry but horrible at absorbing water. "The Absorber" looks and feels like natural chamois and works much the same but is larger and rectangular, not irregularly-shaped the way natural chamois is. It is basically a flat synthetic sponge. If you allow it to dry out, it becomes hard and brittle (like natural chamois) but once it gets wet again it softens like natural chamois but holds way more so you wring it out less. It cut my car's drying time by at least half because it picks up so much water on the first wipe and each subsequent wipe. I was truly impressed bu it today but when I finished it was dusk so I couldn't really see well enough to sing its praises too highly so please allow me to revise this opinion tomorrow if the light of day discloses a lot of smears that went unnoticed tonight, but it is by far the most absorbent drying "cloth" I've ever used.
http://www.cleantools.net/WebSite/in...e_absorber.htm

[cmxi]

It does have great drying properties.

However, if you are going to use it, don't pull it across the surface; dab instead. The reason being -- the surface tension that it creates in contact with the paint pulls away any wax or sealant on the finish itself. Even dabbing will result in some wax/sealant loss. You can make any 6 month LSP last less than a month. In addition, unless you've clayed the car (and even if you have), any remaining surface contaminants are easily pulled with the Absorber and can scratch the clear coat -- because, as mentioned before, the surface tension is great.

It is marketed such that the small dimples in the Absorber create air pockets that reduce surface tension, but the reality is, the reduction is minor and the flat tension on the finish is still too great for it not to pull away wax/sealant.

[randombloke]

For people in the UK, the halfords synthetic chamois came out better in the review by autoexpress and is half the price:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product..._kit_test.html

[harrison]

There are heated air blow drying machines. Anyone have experience with something like this? I occasionally blow water out of nooks and crannies... Using a pencil tip nozzle and COLD,filtered, air. A slow process that I think is beneficial. I wind up finish drying with micro-fiber towels. The Mr.Clean wash system is what we start out with.

[NFS13]

It does have great drying properties.

However, if you are going to use it, don't pull it across the surface; dab instead. The reason being -- the surface tension that it creates in contact with the paint pulls away any wax or sealant on the finish itself. Even dabbing will result in some wax/sealant loss. You can make any 6 month LSP last less than a month. In addition, unless you've clayed the car (and even if you have), any remaining surface contaminants are easily pulled with the Absorber and can scratch the clear coat -- because, as mentioned before, the surface tension is great.

It is marketed such that the small dimples in the Absorber create air pockets that reduce surface tension, but the reality is, the reduction is minor and the flat tension on the finish is still too great for it not to pull away wax/sealant.

Really good points! I hate to dry the car with anything if I don't have to. Once paint has a coat of sealant/wax, sheeting off the car as the last step of washing usually leaves less than 5% of the surfaces with water on it. Then a good weaved micofiber will "lift" the remaining water without wiping.

[R8Spyderman]

I use a Makita 18V cordless blower but it blows ambient air, neither heated nor cold, and it blows off the hidden water in crevices and does help in the drying process but not enough to actually dry the entire car. I suppose it could but it would take too long even though it blows with a substantial volume of air. Best bet IMO is to use a water deionizer so that no minerals will be left to create white water spots, and then use a synthetic chamois to remove most of the moisture and either air dry the rest or buff with a microfiber cloth. Using the synthetic chamois cut the drying time to less than half! The blower is useful but the synthetic chamois is indispensable, IMO.

[FiftyPence]

I have always found the Dodo Juice Supernatural dying towel to be excellent.

[NVRL8R8]

I start with your common household leaf blower, then finish off with micro fiber towel. This really gets all water out of the nooks and crannies!

[ADV.1 Matt]

I think I might have to try these out. I don't have space for a leaf blower!

[exhilR8]

I bought The Absorber to try it out after seeing this thread last Sunday, and I agree that it does absorb well, but I also agree with cmxi that it tends to adhere and could cause abrasion or swirls if used in a wiping motion. It does save alot of time, and it's way more abosrbant than microfiber towels, but I'm going to use it only by dabbing, or by laying it on the surface and peeling it off. For the final wipe down, I'm going to keep using microfiber.