| papawoolf |
I recently saw my neighbor using his leaf blower to dry off is Harley motorcycle.
I decided to try mine on the X. You wouldn't believe how fast it was to dry off the vehicle. The towel was barely wet. I started from the roof and worked my way down keeping the blower a couple of inches from the vehicle.
The worst part about washing the X, was drying it. Now it's a breeze. Touch it up with some Z6 and admire the shine.
:2: |
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| 'X MOM |
| just TOO cute! Whatever works to help us with that great shine! Hmmmm.........mine needs a bath now.....;) :D |
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| BaldEagle |
Great idea, thanks for sharing this idea. Just bought a leaf blower last fall and will give it a try when I get my X.
Picking it up tomorrow. Build date was 5-21 and could not believe it when I got the call this afternoon (5-30) that it was in. Expected to get it next week. |
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| megabuck2 |
Another idea:
There is a squeegee- like item called california something. Its about foot in length with medical grade silicon as the squeegee. After a wash and a rinse, the squeegee takes most of the water off the car. And drying with a towel after once over with the squeegee is a snap.
I've heard that using a blower to dry the car may cause damage such as if small pebble(s) gets blown on to the finish, a disaster.
My thoughts.
Mike |
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| DaleB |
I would use the blower in a relatively clean environment, as you could be blowing some small abrasives against the finish also.
The California Blade is quite effective. I use it to remove most water from the car.
It's very fast, and if the finish, as well as the blade is clean, it is very safe. |
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| SonShine |
Several people on one of the other car forums I'm on (s2ki.com) have commented on the leaf blower. I already have one, but I actually use it for yard work :)
I'm contemplating buying another just for the car so I don't blow any dust or dirt on it ;)
I think I'll need it with a vehicle as big as the X; I can dry my other car very quickly with a chamois. |
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| Maik |
The California water blade is extemely effective on the hood, sides and tailgate. On the roof, I find it most difficult gettind all of the water out of the ridges. Might just try the leaf blower this weekend.
I would suspect that the risk of a pebble being blown out of the blower is really quite minimal. |
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| VA Tech Hokie |
My neighbors already think I am crazy because of all the time
I spend cleaning the MDX. Now, you are suggesting I stand in
the driveway and dry the MDX with a leaf blower... ;) :D :D
How will I explain this???? |
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| megabuck2 |
Tell em you were hired by Honda to do some drag coeffcient testing without the wind tunnel.
Or you were hired by the leaf blower company to test market a new car washing (drying)equipment.
Or just tell him to butt out and enjoy cleaning your MDX without worrying about what the "neighbors" think.
Mike |
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| conradsmith |
I use a California blade to get most of the water off the hood, hatch, and sides. However, the 'grooves' and rack on the roof make it hard to dry with the blade. I have a B&D VersaPak (battery) light duty leaf blower, and it does a great job of moving the water off. I also use it for blowing hard to reach crevices.
- Conrad |
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| MARFONG |
| Learned this from another MDX poster: After washing and rinsing the soap off the vehicle, take off the sprayer from the hose and let running water flow over the vehicle. This really helps cut down the amount of time needed to dry. The flow seems to gather alot of the water beads together and run off the vehicle. |
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| PolyTat |
First it was peanut butter, now leaf blowers......wow who's dialing in the "1 Million ways to do things with things you already have" book???
I gotta give this one a try.....I get tons of leaves 2x a years and have one of those high powered suckers.....yeah my neighbors are gonna grin when they see me on top of the X with my red leaf blower :9: (well minus the flames) |
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| Robyjo |
quote:
Originally posted by PolyTat
First it was peanut butter, now leaf blowers......wow who's dialing in the "1 Million ways to do things with things you already have" book???
I gotta give this one a try.....I get tons of leaves 2x a years and have one of those high powered suckers.....yeah my neighbors are gonna grin when they see me on top of the X with my red leaf blower :9: (well minus the flames)
Leaves?? To have leaves, you need trees, to have trees, you can't live in Southern California, unless you're talking about a few plastic palm trees. It must be a collection of trash from the freeway at your doorstep, I'm sure. :22: (Sorry Tat--maybe a little left over resentment after the series...)
If the leaf blower works, cool, but I think I'll stick with the old fashioned method...there's something special about drying it by hand. It's kind of the same idea to me as taking a leaf blower to dry your kid off after a shower...:13: |
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| proskunetes |
Some notes on using a leaf blower:
1. If you touch the end of the blower to the MDX, it will cause a partial vacuum and stick to the car by "sucking"... I kid you not!
2. Be careful if your leaf blower is electric especially with the water around the car.
3. A shopvac with a blow feature will work just as well.
4. Driving around the block is almost as good as a leaf blower.
5. Try leaf blower + zaino... |
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| juvee |
| Yes, leaf blower does work well. Think this was a tip mentioned on Meguiar's website - or one of the big wax makers that I saw online. I just ordered some supplies from Griotsgarage - they have some nice drying and polishing cloths also. I don't like the chamois feel and ordered one of these synthetic type cloths and will let you know how well it works. |
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| proskunetes |
Robyjo,
You're not bitter about the Sacramento defeat to the Lakers are you? |
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| xcel |
Hi All:
___I’m a back pack blower kind of guy but if you just gotta have a leaf blower; Backpack or otherwise, Echo is the number 1 name in the game …
___It's not just my opinion, it’s my job ;)
___The small no-name electrics should do fine for this activity and will be cleaner as well as easier on your pocket book …
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
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| up4funnla |
The leaf blower concept is similar to using the air compressor. Difference is the leaf blower covers a larger area than the gun on the end of the air hose. Most likely the end of the gun is metal and the tip of the leaf blower is plastic. Some car washes out here in California use air hoses/compressors to get the water out of the door jams and this certainly helps PREVENT THE WEEPING MIRRORS.
Forced air can be a time saver. However, be careful around plastic and rubber mouldings. You don't want to cause any damage to the seals or have mouldings fly off the car. |
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| xyzzy |
Xcel,
My Stihl and I beg to differ. :D
My neighbors and I have been using leaf blowers to dry our cars for years. The one feature I can tell you that helps is a throttle lock. It allows you to move the blower around to various angles without having to keep a finger on the trigger.
Chris |
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| xcel |
Hi xyzzy:
___The Back Pack Echo’s I own/use don’t need a throttle lock because you move the throttle to the position you want and let it go. If my guys are blowing out grass clippings from lightly mulched beds, off a drive, or from freshly weeded soil, you can use the blowers at the settings that are appropriate to the beds and drives being blown off. The throttles do not spring back to idle or spring to full throttle as you may have inferred.
___As for blowing off the X, I don't own one just yet but it surely works great w/ its 200 mph wind speed at the discharge tube on the Previa LE, Corolla LE, Accord LX, and the Chevy and Nissan Landscaping trucks.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
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| Triple7 |
Try duct taping old panty hose to the well, ...hose of the leaf blower. You still get good blowing power, but the hose will trap any dirt particles or pebbles that could do damage to the finish.
:27: |
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| ByeByeChrysler |
I like the idea of a shop vac....it's less embarrassing incase a neighbor sees you or someone drives by.
They can't tell if it's blowing or sucking.:rolleyes:
Nobody add to that last sentence.:2:
:16: |
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| BaldEagle |
quote:
Originally posted by ByeByeChrysler
I like the idea of a shop vac....it's less embarrassing incase a neighbor sees you or someone drives by......
Nobody add to that last sentence.:2:
:16:
My wife used to worry a little about what the neigbors thought when I would dry my X with the leaf blower. Now two other neighbors are doing the same to dry their cars.
Won't touch the last sentence. |
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| sbyron |
I've been doing the blower thing for a couple of years now with my vehicles.
Works great getting the water out of the cracks and crevices.
Nothing more aggravating than waxing, and you hit a wet spot!
My neighbors think I'm crazy...but then they say they need to try it. |
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| octavian |
Sorry pahdners, down heah in Texas there is no such thing as a leaf blower.....we call 'em tumbleweed blowers.....as in "get that darn tootin' tumbleweed outta muh front yard afore I git out my shotgun and blast it out".:D
But seriously, my leaf blower consists of driving the 3 miles to my home at at roughly 80mph.....OK, I slow down to 40mph in the residential area.....the water just streams off my X (off course I use Zaino, ahem) and I literally spend about 55 seconds using a microfiber towel to dry the remaining wet spots on my X. Then I apply Z6. It works down heah quite nicely, thank you....of course, it wuz 97 degrees today.....a little cool to fry eggs on the sidewalk, but my Western omelette turned out jus' fine. :1: |
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