California Dry Blade

[LT22]

I just bought one and have used it a couple times. I was wondering If it is safe to use? will it damage any paint/wax?

[Xtreme99_s-Dime]

I have one and it works great for big areas that are a pain to dry with a chamois. Namely the hood, trunk and roof. Don't expect it to dry your whole car though. It won't get down into the cracks and stuff, but I still love mine.

I've only had mine scratch one time, and that was when I forgot to wipe the edge of the blade before I used it. To get the edge clean, just wet your fingers, and pinch the "blade" edge between them and slide the blade past your fingers. You should be able to feel when there isn't any dust on the silicone. Other than that, just remember not to press to hard, and you're good.

P.S. I usually hold the whole thing in the middle area, otherwise it bounces up and down on the surface that you're trying to dry. But try it out and whatever works for you is best.

Have fun!

Stephen

[Xtreme99_s-Dime]

sorry, but when I said not to press to hard, i meant when you're drying your car, not when getting the dust off the blade.

My bad

[gb387]

Re: California Dry Blade

Originally posted by LT22
I just bought one and have used it a couple times. I was wondering If it is safe to use? will it damage any paint/wax?

I worry about scratches... I was going to get one then someone on MOL pointed out you have to be very careful not to scratch the paint. The blade won't scratch but a grain of sand stuck to the blade will. Just my .02.

[Jbirk]

I say just pass on this concept. It is easier to dry the way I do.

I use a chamios and follow with the water magnet. It is so easy. Wet Chamios then ring it out. Wipe car with chamios then immediatly within a few seconds hit the area with the Water Magnet or the Supreme Shine Microfiber.

You see a Chamois is not perfect for removing 100% of water, but it removes more than 99% and you can just keep going with it.

I also bought a Mr. Clean AutoDry just because there is a filter. I could care less about the dry rinse polymer stuff. I just use filtered water to rinse the other water off my car. It helps. I gave away the soap and polymer rinse aid to a friend because I just want the filtered water.

I would one day like to get a very nice home filtration system and make my own distilled water too. That would be awsome.

[RyanB]

I use a blade followed by the water magnet. Keeping your blade clean is (IMO) easier than keeping the towel or chamois clean. Have found this to be very fast and safe way for me to dry.

[gtp]

IMO, you take the same risk picking up something in a clay bar and scratching the surface as you do a water blade.. if you pay good attention and watch carefully for picking up particles then you should be ok using it .. in my opinion

[Slick]

I've used my water blade for years now, and am quite happy with it. It works better on some cars than others. When I had my Lincoln Mark VIII LSC, I could almost dry the whole car off with it, as it's a very smooth, fluid design. With the Saturn Vue, I can only get the major surfaces, then a LOT of drying out nooks & crannys. The water blade is pretty much a NECESSITY for me right now... it's so hot & dry here in the high desert that I can't dry the car off fast enough to keep it from water spotting (even in the shade). So, I take the blade to the major surfaces first, then follow up with the Absorber. I'd be FAR more concerned about picking up grit/contamination in a towel than I would with a silicone blade, but whatever...

[Ranger72]

The water blade has always scared me, just the thought of getting a particle stuck inbetween the blade and finish is enough for me to use toweling. Maybe when Meguiars "water blade" comes it they will have some sort of different design.

[SkeeterJD]

The water blade scared me too until I used it. I can't dry my entire car with it, but IMO it saves in drying time and ringing out time. Not that I drop my towels (if I do I normally throw it in the wash pile anyway), but with the blade you can really feel what what is going to be touching your paint, as opposed a MF or something like that where a particles can get trapped.

They just came out with a water blade that is all flexible too, so I might have to check that out. If you are careful, I'd say the W.B. would be a good choice.

[Karl SS]

Bought it, used it... Never again!
Maby it will work well inside a workshop or somthing.. But outdoors somthing is bound to land in the water on your car before you get to use the waterblade

I made a looong nice scrach on my roof, and two on the hood..
they went out with some scratchx, but I can't scratchx the car everytime I dry it..

[papi_Jay]

Only reason to be scared of water blade / dry blade is if you didn't completely rinse .
Otherwise every panel or so rinse the blade by dipping it in a bucket of cool clean water , keep a towel / rag in the other hand and wipe the balde after every pass to get anything off it that might have gotten there .
Used mine for a long time and never had a problem ...

There was this time though .. at band camp ......

[tron1974]

I used it a few times on my Maxima, but found a few scratches. I am not sure if they were caused by this, but I didn't want to test it again. It was probably dust that got trapped or something. Now I just use it for the windows after a wash.

I found 2 water magnet towels work well. I use one to get the majority of the water off and another to finish getting the spots out.

[LT22]

I've returned mine, while sliding the blade across i saw it leave light scratches on the surface. Horrible. While returning it to Kragen (very bad service) I walked in the store and the guy immediately said no returns. He wanted to keep my money. I told him about the 60 day return agreement. He acted like he didnt know what it was and asked one of his employees about it. His employee confirmed it and i returned the blade. The funny thing is the manager had to sign the return slip, so he knew about the return agreement. That TIGHTWAD tried to jip me. Good thing i didnt leave right away without confronting them or they would have let me walked right on out and they would have kept my money.