I find that many people hate the drying process, and this is also the time when you are most likely to add imperfections to the paint. One of the best things you can do to not only cut down on your time, but minimize adding swirls, scratches, water spots, and other imperfections, is to utilize the sheeting method. This works best if you have a fresh coat of sealant or wax on your paint.

After washing your vehicle and rinsing down the paint so there are no suds left behind, remove your hose nozzle so you get free flowing water. Start at your top panels and let the free flowing water flow down your vehicle. Create a cascading effect by moving the hose so the water moves left to right, then a little lower moving right to left, then a little lower and from left to right. The water will flow together and eventually run off of your vehicle, leaving behind much less water that you can easily blot dry with a quality waffle weave drying towel. Since this minimizes wiping your paint, you minimize adding imperfections. It will also save you time, which is important when you are washing so water spots are not left behind.

Below is a very brief video taken from a cell phone. The first few seconds show wetting the hood of the car, then the last few seconds are using the free flowing water moving left to right quickly. You can see the water pool together and run right off of the hood with very little water left behind. We’ll be creating a new video of this technique in the spring, but this should help for now. The wax on this car was Pinnacle Souveran.