But how exactly does this happen?

 

Remember that the least invasive method calls for minimal pressure and friction against the paint by reducing the potential. It almost sounds like you should not touch the paint at all! The above picture is an example of how poor quality washing and drying products and poor techniques can have an adverse effect on your vehicle’s finish. If you use a sponge to wash your car, the sponge does not release dirt particles back into the water. What happens is that as you make another pass on the body, the dirt that is still in the sponge gets rubbed against the paint and scratches your finish. If you are drying your car with something like a terry cloth, the fibers can pick up dirt and get caught in the towel so when you are drying, you are rubbing the dirt across your finish, causing damage only repairable by polishing (and in some cases repainting).

 

By using high quality products like sheepskin wool wash mitts and microfiber towels, you can wipe the vehicle and not have to worry about leaving scratches behind (only when the surface has been washed, or polished).

 

To dry the vehicle, we highly recommend (and use ourselves) a Waffle Weave microfiber towel. Because of microfiber’s high absorbency and extremely gentle texture, you save a lot of time drying and significantly lower the risk of scratching your paint. The good ol’ leather chamois towel is still a good choice, but is not as absorbent and safe as microfiber. Remember, you have good intentions when caring for your vehicle, so why not do it with the best supplies?

 

For simplicity, we will refer to Waffle Weave microfiber towel as “WW MF.”

 

Now that you have your WW MF, fold it into 1/4s or 1/8s depending on the size of your towel, or whatever feels comfortable to you.

 

There are two techniques to drying with a towel which I will explain along with the pros and cons.

 

The blotting technique is exactly what it says - blot the towel on the paint so the WW MF sucks up the water. The benefit of this is that it is the safest route to ensuring that while drying your vehicle, you do not scratch the paint. By the time you are ready to dry, your vehicle may not have water on all parts of the body, so this ensures that you are not ‘dry rubbing’ on the paint, risking scratches even further. The downside to this is obviously that it can take quite some time to finish drying your car. This is important especially when drying while the sun is out. If you have a black car for example - black attracts light and heat. Heat evaporates water and will etch into your clearcoat. This is not a big deal if you are going to polish your car afterwards, but you should always work with the mentality of being “safe than sorry.”

 

The second technique is the conventional way of drying - wiping your towel across the paint. The benefit to this technique is that it saves time. If you are using a high quality WW MF, the risk of scratching your paint is greatly reduced. You do however still run a slightly greater risk over the blotting technique, especially if your vehicle’s paint is contaminated (which we will talk about shortly) since the wiping action may dislodge dirt particles and be rubbed against the paint.

 

Start to dry the vehicle from the top to the bottom. If your vehicle is facing the sun, dry the area where the sun is facing first, including rims. This will help to avoid water-spotting. If your towel is leaving fine droplets behind, wring out the towel and make a pass over that area again. If you are unable to get anymore water out, get your microfiber towel that you set aside for touch up drying and dry off those residual water droplets.

 

Now that your vehicle is almost dry, you need to dry the water that is in the crevices. These crevices are places such as the gap between your headlights and your bumper, or the tail lights and the trunk. After you are done, dry the rims with the microfiber towel you have set aside specifically for this task.

 

Most car owners will finish off after drying their vehicle by adding some tire shine and calling it done. Some may follow up with some form of paint protection (carnauba wax or synthetic sealant). Make It Shine always performs a clay bar treatment before adding any protection. We do this because it increases the quality of the detail, and helps the wax or sealant perform its best. Would you put cream on your face before washing it? The same sort of concept applies here. The clay bar treatment is like an exfoliation for your paint.

 

Finish by dressing your tires, and plastic trims with the appropriate products.

 

 

Notice the swirl marks that take away from the true colour of this car.