Do you use the California Car Duster?

[BabyBigfoot]

I was just curious how many of you use the California Car Duster.
Have you found anything better for quick de-dusting?
What are your experiences with it, good and/or bad?

[Carlos Muñoz]

Nothing beats this combination:

Meguiars Body Duster + Speed Detailer + Supreme Shine Microfiber

[96greencivic]

I use the California duster when it's not too bad. Just enough to get the pollen off.

[miked2]

I love the California Car Duster. Ours is maybe five years old. I actually have two -- the big one for the car, and the small one for the dash. My wife bought a couple for the inside of the house, she liked mine so much.

The key with this thing, and the Meg's equivalent, is to realize its limitations. It dusts, nothing more. At various times of the year we get serious pollen action going around, and after I put the car back in the garage after a wash, by the next day there's a thin film of dust everywhere. The duster works great for this, and has never scratched the paint, etc.

I use the mini duster for the dash. Many times, after using it, that's all the dash needs for cleaning -- it really gets dusty more than dirty.

If the dust has bonded to your paint via driving in rain, etc., then the duster is not for that type of thing.

It's a good purchase. I'm not sure how long they last, but mine still works just fine, even though it's dirty as heck (it still takes off the dust, and does not introduce scratches). When I replace it, I'll probably go with the Meg's version, which seems to have a nicer handle.

[RDVT4ME]

Get an additional mini duster to clean the brake dust off your wheels. Make sure you only use it for the wheels.

[LS1MONSTER]

Don't laugh guys.. but would a swifter work just as well?

[miked2]

In terms of dusting off the body of the car, I don't think the swifter will do as a good a job. The reason why is that you'll have to put pressure on the swifter against the car, which can introduce scratches. The way the car dusters work is that you very lightly move just the ends of the fibers against the car -- very little pressure. When the dust makes contact with the fibers, the paraffin in the fibers sticks to the dust.

[LiquidBlack]

...

No.

[YukonG]

I too have the large, wooden handled, California Car Duster for the outside and the small one for the dash. They really do a great job of removing dust, but as Miked2 said, you have to realize that it is only designed for removing dust. Another thing to remember is that the vehicle has to be completely dry in order to use the duster. Don't make the mistake of trying to dust off your vehicle in the morning when is has dew on it or you'll wind up making a mess of smeared dust and pollen. If you read the label that comes with the duster it says "The dirtier it gets, the better it works".

LS1MONSTER, I don't think that the swiffer will do a good job and it might actually wind up scratching the paint. The car duster is made of soft cotton strands impregnated with paraffin wax. The swiffer would probably drag accross the surface and leave marks. Just my opinion.

[miked2]

Yeah, YukonG is completely right -- the car has to be completely dry.

Here are the uses I've found for the duster:

1) Sometimes I wash the car one day, and do paint prep and wax the next day. Or do paint prep one day, and wax the next day. In these cases, the car sits in the garage overnight. Before doing the next day's work, I will dust the car before doing the work.

2) During periods of no rain, the car will get dusty in-between washes. The duster can take care of this much more quickly than using QD.

3) When we used to have a Sunday driver car (our Z3 convertible), which was garaged most of the time, I would periodically dust the car in-between drives.