HOw do you use a chamois?

[GrandPrix34]

how do you use on? I really havent use one but now my car ends up like shit after i use it! SOMEONE CLUE T HIS DUMBFU**K IN PLEAZ!!!!!!!!

[Reapper]

Well the way I was taught was like this. You get it wet and wring it out then just pull it down the body. Seems to work for me like that.

 

Laterz,

William Grimmer

[musthavemuzk]

do not wring it out dry though. leave a little wet in it so it drags across the surface easier.

 

i have been looking at the california blade ( i think that is what it is called) it is a wide blade used to dry your car quick and painless. problem is the cost.

 

Monty

[supreme_style21]

I've got the Cali Water Blade... never used a chamois. Everyone that has used my blade say that the chamios is much better.

[NeverSayDie]

I've always thought that blade doodad would cause little tiny scratches. Have you noticed any?

[supreme_style21]

No I have good luck with it. Haven't seen any scratches from it. It worked perfect for smooth flat surfaces, but once you try using it on curves and creases (like along body-side moldings and ground fx), it doesn't do a very good job.

[paulo57509]

Make sure to hand wash and throughly rinse out the chamios once in a while.

[CPSMonteZ34]

Another tip is not to wipe in the typical "wax on - wax off" motion. That'll create the well-known spiderweb swirl marks on the clearcoat.

 

As mentioned, just get it wet with clean water to make sure there aren't any dry spots (it absorbs water better after it is damp). Wring it lightly, then lay flat and drag over the body. Start with the roof and hood / truck surfaces first so any water on those areas doesn't dry up and stain while you dry other areas (water on the sides usually runs off quick enough and can wait). Soak up some water with a few passes and wring as you go.

Don't use it on the wheels as you're sure to pick up some remaining brake dust and metal particles. They're certain to end up on your car again the next time you use it, no matter how clean you try to get it.

 

Something that helps before drying the car: A good trick while washing it is to do one body panel at a time. Soak it down, wash it, then run the water over the panel. Spraying tends to leave soap residue, or bounces the soap onto other body panels. Try running it over the panel with and open ended hose and let the water sheet over the panel. It'll do a better job of washing the soap away. Move on to another body panel and keep the ones you just finished wet. This way, while you wash your car, you keep it wet, and that helps prevent water stains. Then get out your chamios and dry away.

[nerfbars]

I use the "Absorber" synthetic chamios. Its the best I've ever found. You can even store it wet in its tube and leave it in your car. Plus you just wash it with your laundry. I also have the Cali Blade and I dont like it that much. If you leave a single grain of dirt on your car you can feel the blade drain the grain across your paint. I think it put a scratch on the roof of my car

[GnatGoSplat]

I have the Absorber too.

I like it, I can't complain. I've used real chamois before and like the Absorber much better.

[J]

water blades only get most of the water off, it's pretty much only to save your towels and your car won't get all water spotted if u wash it in the sun. I love mine and no, it doesn't scratch my car. Great deal for $20 if ya ask me! Jay

[SuperBuick]

I would never touch my paint with a chamois. Way too easy to scratch the paint with one of those. I recommend using a water blade for the big stuff and then a leaf blower for the rest. Never use a towel either - scratch scratch scratch.

 

If you feel the water blade scratching the car with dirt, then you haven't washed it well enough!!!

 

Paint is one of the most expensive parts on the car - take care of it.

 

Also, clay and wax your car as often as possible - I cannot begin to emphasize how important it is to clay. Do it once and look at the clay bar after you're finished and then tell me it was an unneccesary step.....

 

-Tom

[Brian P]

I always wash my car, doing the horizontal surfaces first, then topp-bottom on vertical surfaces. And I agree about the claybar, made my sister's paint go from sandpaper, to glass

[CPSMonteZ34]

...and the final results are in!

 

"To each their own."

 

Hell, I even know an old fart that used an old style lamp oil (kerosene-type) on his paint for years, and it was the shiniest, best looking truck with weeds growing around it, out in the middle of a field, that I'd seen anywhere (even in some garages). Even the chrome didn't have any rust on it. Sold it to some collector/rebuilder who managed to salvage damn near 40% of the original paint.

 

I've listened to virtually every argument out there for or against anything that dries a paint job that they're all either the best thing since sliced bread, or the crappiest fly-by-night gimmick known to man - all depending upon how one actually uses it.