Thought some of you guys might like to see this from our recent detailing adventures...
James B
James B
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Our latest detailing video...
- Thread starter Auto Finesse
- Start date
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- detailing
Golf 7.5R & Clio 200
One thing I noticed, looked like h drying with a towel you were sliding it around instead of dabbing it. Though it best to pat dry?
Really good vid, love the Lambo 
Golf GT & A4 Avant
looking at the pictures, either very clever photography, tripple is the best 'filling' product ever, or it was corrected to get the finish on the below pictures.
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/blog/2013/03/superleggera/
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/blog/2013/03/superleggera/
Golf GT & A4 Avant
The sarcasm wasn't aimed at you, Dave. I'm hurt you think I'd lambast you for that
Golf GT & A4 Avant
The sarcasm wasn't aimed at you, Dave. I'm hurt you think I'd lambast you for that
Yeah it was, bully.
If I'm honest, I rarely pat dry anymore. care just doesn't keep in good enough condition regardless of my wash technique. owning a rubbish car is frustrating, but not having to worry about a dealer washing it and all the rest of it is a relief
Pat drying is not something we have ever championed, use good drying towels and be thorough on your wash stages and its not a problem, the real chance of inducing wash marring is in pulling dirt across the car on the wash stage with a mit, hence the extensive use of pre cleaners (such as Citrus Power) and hot snow foam (Avalanche) prior to touching the car. Iv detailed cars and maintained them after detailing for many years and pat drying a vehicle has never been something needed to keep a vehicle in a corrected state. Like it or not sooner or later you will have to pull a cloth across the paint surface, its not what causes scratches, what causes them is dirt and debris between that and the surface.
Thanks for that, guys. I completely agree that at some point a cloth will be used on the paint and that might inflict swirling. However, surely you want to minimise the chances, so pat drying is the safer option?
I could understand it if the car was to be corrected, I guess... was the car corrected?
I know how written word comes across, so other than the sarcastic reply above, this is conversational.
I could understand it if the car was to be corrected, I guess... was the car corrected?
I know how written word comes across, so other than the sarcastic reply above, this is conversational.
Also, just to add, I'm more surprised at Clark/PB to be honest.
Taken from their advice site;
"Although you are now working on clean surfaces, you still want to minimise the risk of inflicting swirl marks when drying off. For this reason, we recommend pat drying with a microfibre drying towel instead of a traditional chamois leather."
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/safe-washing-and-drying.html
Taken from their advice site;
"Although you are now working on clean surfaces, you still want to minimise the risk of inflicting swirl marks when drying off. For this reason, we recommend pat drying with a microfibre drying towel instead of a traditional chamois leather."
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/safe-washing-and-drying.html
Its all a matter of the job in hand, however even if we where working on a freshly corrected car, a few stages would be different but id still not pat dry a car, heres why: Im confident enough in my wash procedure that its not necessary, iv detailed many cars for many years also gone on to maintain those cars on contract after initial detail and pat drying has not been needed to maintain a car correctly, if you pat dry you still leave a damp surface, which you have to follow over with a detail spray and cloth after, the cloth is the same as a drying towel, if you misted a bit on the wash its still there after pat drying so you still pick it up on the second wipe down and move it across the surface, as iv already explained its not the cloth that causes the marring its dirt and debris between the cloth and the paint surface. So it pays to spend more time honing your wash procedure than it does trying to "pat dry" a car.
As for it "setting a bad example" I think thats a tad extreme but thats your opinion and your entitled to that.
As for advise on the PB website, thats their way of doing things, its also worth noting Clark is a profesional detailer, the blanket advise they give an ammeter may not always reflect the exact process they use to detail cars in a professional manner. We are separate companies so what I suggest has not reflection on the advise they give.
As for it "setting a bad example" I think thats a tad extreme but thats your opinion and your entitled to that.
As for advise on the PB website, thats their way of doing things, its also worth noting Clark is a profesional detailer, the blanket advise they give an ammeter may not always reflect the exact process they use to detail cars in a professional manner. We are separate companies so what I suggest has not reflection on the advise they give.
Using those PB yellow towels or equivalent for the past 2 years and ive never had any issue with marring. After 12 months my cars generally get a light polish with the machine just to remove a bit of dead clear but theres no marring.
What Im saying is, who gives a s**t?
I used to wipe dry with der wunder waffles and they butchered my paintwork so thats about the only towel id say pat dry with.
If not buy the yellow fluffy ones.
I treat my towels better than I do my car btw. Stored in a dedicated box and washed in clean water in the washer after use, they are left damp too and never dry out.
What Im saying is, who gives a s**t?
I used to wipe dry with der wunder waffles and they butchered my paintwork so thats about the only towel id say pat dry with.
If not buy the yellow fluffy ones.
I treat my towels better than I do my car btw. Stored in a dedicated box and washed in clean water in the washer after use, they are left damp too and never dry out.
AF and PB should. I recognise PB as one of the best detailers in the game, hence my surprise at seeing that.
Now pipe down ex dedicated hobbyist.
AF - fair points in your opinion/experience, although I disagree (QDs offer more protection than water from stray dust particles etc) - agree to disagree.
But for goodness sake, recognise advice and advise!!! And "ammeter" and "misted"?!
Im just doing quick replies, didn't realise the grammar police was in town
Im pretty sure it was worse than that but autocorrect has wriggled it around a bit. You missed the where and not were QDs do offer some protection in the slickness they provide whilst drying, we always go over the car with a drop of Finale while wet before drying for that very reason. However a good quality towel will be fine even on dry paint.
James B
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Dear JD and other contributing members, please forgive me, but I would like the opportunity to clarify a couple of points raised in this thread. Firstly, the above advice stands - we do champion pat drying. Not everyone does, which is far enough, but we do, along with the use of car dryers and filtered water as bona fide drying methods that are safe and effective. Secondly, as the title in the video suggested, this was a collaboration detail - collaboration means two or more people or parties coming together and sharing ideas/processes/work to get a task done. Hence why wipe drying is shown in this video - while it's not something we usually do, we didn't have an issue with it, as it's how James likes to work (and his work from over the years speaks for itself) and our studio is a clean indoor environment (so little, if any, chance of fresh debris landing on the car as it was dried off). Thirdly, this car came into us for a protection detail, and was covered in wash marring and fine swirls. So yes, Tripple did a nice job of filling a lot of this, but I did still have to be clever/careful with the lighting for the studio shots. However, correction of any sort was never mentioned or claimed - whenever it is, we provide Sun Gun illuminated shots in our write ups as proof. I hope this explains the discrepancies noted. Best regards, Rich @ PB.
