Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

[amblin83]

Hi

I'm looking to speed up car washing to save time and labor so I can focus more on doing the actual detailing.

I'm quite familiar with aerosol dust removal systems at work to clean and maintain delicate optical components so I imagine, a leaf blower which basically work in a similar fashion can do the same trick on cars , to remove superficial dust particles before wash and blow away water beads after.

Since I live in the more crowded area of the world, we don't handle, or even see a leaf blower that often, so my main concern is that a leaf blower basically supercharge air to blow things away, without a proper air filter is there a risk that small debris sucked into the blower can damage the paint, and can this actually be used to remove light dust?

A

[Top Gear]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

A basic electric leaf blower is all you need, and it will have a filter built in, LOL.

It will not be powerful enough to do the least bit of damage, even pointed very close, nor will it be good at removing anything but loose or very light dust (for example, tree pollen is too sticky for blowing to be effective). A blower will, however, save you massive amounts of time and energy in drying a wet car, avoiding water spots and deposits, pushing beaded water off and down from all the surfaces - say 10-15 minutes to be totally dry with no added swirls. Before a wash, a water rinse is best, or if waterless, a California duster to knock off the big stuff. Dust-wise, though, a blower is good for a blast through the interior while you have the doors open blowing the jambs, etc.

You won't look back. Occasionally I use a blade or the short drive methods to get most of the water off before re-waxing with QW, but a blower remains the best way for me.

[amblin83]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Sweeeeeet! I'm looking at a small 20V Makita battery powered leaf blower, 2.6m^3/min @ 18000rpm , I assume it's powerful enough?

And actually I've been washing only half (top/front ---> top /rear) a car at a time to avoid waterspots and use two large MF drying towels to 'blanket' one small section at a time to minimize swirls. And then QD the entire car with small MF towels. Very exhausting and time consuming.

A

[Top Gear]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

No, sorry, that will be a waste of time. You want one of those electric ones you can find at the home improvement stores, around $30 US. The battery ones are a joke, more for indoors dusting.

[Super Dave]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

I have to agree... a battery powered blower is not powerful enough. I got a $40 Toro electric blower at Home Depot and it has been fantastic. I use it all the time to dry my car.

A bonus is that besides drying the car, I no longer ever sweep out my garage... I just blow the floor clean. I can't have my clean car parked on a nasty floor can I?

I almost forgot... once you buy a battery blower you will be buying batteries forever for it. By an electric once and be done with it.

[amblin83]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

No..not the tiny lil toys, it's a full size blower powered by lithium rechargeable battery packs, just called makita and they claim the wind speed is up to 179 MPH (holy smokes!) at the nozzle and the flow is 270CFM , with their large 20V 4Ah battery it can run up to 30 minutes.

Battery powered is a huge plus because i live in an apartment building and detail my cars in the underground carpark without accessible water and power so I had to improvise and build my own power washer...... with a 14.8V battery, 2-way pump, 2 gallon deflatable water packet, hose and everything in the same package on wheels so I can basically wash anywhere.... and I have 2 50w battery powered LED floodlights to see things better... I even tried a portable diesel generator so I can use my DA but it's waaay too noisy and the fumes was killing me . lol

[DasBurninator]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Personally I don't like the leaf blower. They are way too big and bulky to maneuver.

I am a fan of the metroblaster sidekick. Tiny thing packs a punch and you don't look like an idiot using a leaf blower on a car in all kinds of awkward positions.

[gspam1]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

No..not the tiny lil toys, it's a full size blower powered by lithium rechargeable battery packs, just called makita and they claim the wind speed is up to 179 MPH (holy smokes!) at the nozzle and the flow is 270CFM , with their large 20V 4Ah battery it can run up to 30 minutes.

Battery powered is a huge plus because i live in an apartment building and detail my cars in the underground carpark without accessible water and power so I had to improvise and build my own power washer...... with a 14.8V battery, 2-way pump, 2 gallon deflatable water packet, hose and everything in the same package on wheels so I can basically wash anywhere.... and I have 2 50w battery powered LED floodlights to see things better... I even tried a portable diesel generator so I can use my DA but it's waaay too noisy and the fumes was killing me . lol

I sometimes use a Ryobi 18v blower and it works OK for drying. I recommend you make a tip for it (even out of cardboard and duct tape) to reduce the size of the nozzle. The car has to be waxed though, and slick to the touch, otherwise the blower won't be very effective at moving water. Even if you don't dry the whole vehicle with it, it's great for blowing water out of emblems, grills, wheel lugs, door edges, etc.

[wifpd4]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Although the Master Blaster provides "warm, filtered air", it's two things to deal with. The vac/blower and the hose. While a leaf blower is one piece to hold and manipulate. I'd be afraid of banging the vac/blower into the car.

However, warm air would be so nice as fall/winter approaches.

[DasBurninator]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Although the Master Blaster provides "warm, filtered air", it's two things to deal with. The vac/blower and the hose. While a leaf blower is one piece to hold and manipulate. I'd be afraid of banging the vac/blower into the car.

However, warm air would be so nice as fall/winter approaches.

The sidekick is one piece and a fraction of the size of a leaf blower.

[The Guz]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Personally I don't like the leaf blower. They are way too big and bulky to maneuver.

I am a fan of the metroblaster sidekick. Tiny thing packs a punch and you don't look like an idiot using a leaf blower on a car in all kinds of awkward positions.

The sidekick is a great tool. Works great for getting the water out of the seems. It does take too long to my liking when it comes to drying an entire car.

Although the Master Blaster provides "warm, filtered air", it's two things to deal with. The vac/blower and the hose. While a leaf blower is one piece to hold and manipulate. I'd be afraid of banging the vac/blower into the car.

However, warm air would be so nice as fall/winter approaches.

I'll take filtered air over unfiltered air any day of the week. No need to blow junk back onto the paint. The hose on the metro master blaster is long enough to not have to worry about having it run into the car. The McKee's 37 Turbo Air Dryer is another option. I have the previous Detailer's Pro version and it works well. Much better than the little sidekick to remove more water off the paint.

[Top Gear]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Sorry, but is that little blower seriously powerful enough to dry off a whole car in 5-10 minutes? Sure looks like something good for only a small area, and slowly.

[DasBurninator]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

Sorry, but is that little blower seriously powerful enough to dry off a whole car in 5-10 minutes? Sure looks like something good for only a small area, and slowly.

It puts out a surprising volume of air for how small it is. Don't knock it till you try it.

[Top Gear]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

It's not about me. Again, will it dry a whole car in 5-10 minutes? Looking at it, I think it's physically impossible it could move enough air with enough force to push enough droplets far enough away from the nozzle. The size and shortness of the snout alone tells me the answer is no. Maybe you don't have the same problem I have with water spots and deposits, so maybe it's okay for you or others to spend more like 30 minutes fully drying a car, or maybe you don't actually dry it with the sidekick, but just move a few beads and then mostly wipe dry? By comparison, here's what I use, which is in a different league of airflow, at only $30. Why would I bother trying something that is 90% smaller?

[Kornercarver]

Re: Leaf blower - car drying and dusting?

I have both the Metro Vac Sidekick and the Air Force Master Blaster. Both are outstanding products. For those that doubt the air moving ability of the Sidekick, you would be amazed at the amount of air that little thing will move. They are far more powerful than a typical leaf blower. The Sidekick is great for drying wheels and the Master Blaster is excellent for drying the entire car. Having said that, I did dry my whole car with the Sidekick before I bought the Master Blaster. https://www.metrovacworld.com/produc...aster/overview