Almost all the car washing guide you will read will tell you to dry your car after washing it. However, none will say to you that drying your car is as important as washing your car.

While I don’t have the stats to prove this, I’d just think that there are just as many people who have a problem with their car paint due to too weak drying techniques as there is from a poor washing technique.

Throughout this post, I will tell you the reasons to dry your car after each wash, the useful drying aids, the tools you can use to speed up the drying process, the detailing sprays, and the process of drying your car using microfiber cloths.

Why Dry Your Car?

It’s commonly known that you need to dry your car after washing it.

The reasons why you wash your car are pretty simple and straightforward. When you ask someone why they should dry their vehicle, they might look at you like a cat stuck in headlights.

Some may think that drying a car seems like a chore. So, it’s understandable if some wouldn’t want to do it after making an effort to wash it.

However, I believe that your car can only be said “clean” once you’ve finished drying it.

Leaving it air dry for an hour would mean a waste of time washing it as it will end up you to create more work for yourself.

Just think of it similar to washing the dishes, leaving it air dry will only be prone to water spots.

Water spots are noticeable ugly stains. These often carry leftover traces of dirt, chemicals, or minerals.

Though you can remove the water spots, they can be very stubborn. Sometimes, you have to resort to using a clay bar and might need to cut and polish the car.

Aside from leaving your car looking ugly with these water spots, some are also corrosive that can taint your vehicles clear coat and paint.

Would you risk your paint just to save yourself from 10 to 15 minutes of drying?

Drying Options

It’s essential to use the right tools when drying your car.

Don’t attempt using paper towels, bathroom towels, underwear, bedsheets, or anything like that. These may seem useful, but these are likely to damage your paint in the process.

Instead, use:

Microfiber cloths. These are the most common towels used on cars, whether you’re washing or drying. You can never be wrong using and owning lots of these.

Microfiber cloths are soft enough not to damage your paint. These are absorbent enough to dry your car efficiently. You just need to use 2 to 3 of them to dry your car completely. The plus is it’s cheap and can easily be bought to stores.

When buying these, make sure they don’t have obnoxious labels that could affect the paint. Moreover, microfiber cloths work best when you use it with detailing spray or drying aid.

Electric Leaf Blower – this has been famous lately. It’s safe, efficient, and seems to work well all in all. This will make drying your car a lot quicker. This is a significant investment that you can use for 10 minutes of bi-weekly or monthly.

Chamois was the go-to car dryer way back years ago. It was effective and absorbed water quickly. However, the main issue with this is that it’s an animal rawhide. It was not ideally made for washing cars. It may be useful but could also be very dangerous.

Since it’s leather, any dirt left on your car after washing would stick between the chamois leather and your vehicle. As a result, you might drag the dirt all over the panel, which creates micro-scratches.

Also, chamois leather is a lot harder than microfiber cloths. Using it without lubrication would cause scratching itself. In the end, I suggest you not to use chamois leather.

Using Detailing Sprays and Drying Aids

It’s never ideal for touching the panels without lubrication even you’re just using microfiber towels. You can simply dampen the cloth with water or use a detailing spray or drying aid.

It’s never a good idea to touch your panels without lubrication, even when using microfibre towels. As a result, you will want to dampen the cloth with water or use a drying aid.

Optimum No Rinse is the most popular drying aid. However, any waterless cash product or quick detailer will do a similar job.

These products I mentioned above are supposed to clean, protect, and shine your car all in one. It’s beneficial to use them as a drying aid.

Do exactly what the product instructions tell you to do. It’s easy to misuse them and end up with a streaky finish.

How to Dry Your Car Using Microfiber Cloths?

Similar to washing your car, you should start on drying the top of your car up until down. Starting at the bottom is not a good idea as it will only create more work for yourself.

When drying your car, you will need many microfiber cloths. Again, just like washing a car, if the cloth gets dirty, you need to flip it over and swap it eventually for a clean one.

Once you have done wiping the exterior panels, make sure you also dry the door jams and other crevices. Some cars are prone to rusting in certain areas. So, do some research ahead of time and make sure that you dry those areas immediately after each wash.

 Finally, the last parts you will dry are the alloys and tires.