DrJones
06-17-2003, 06:52 PM
Yes it can be done. There are a few catches though. It will work on any car with any finish, but works best when your car has a good coat of wax on it.
The basic concept behind it is that it takes advantage of the surface tension of water. Meaning (well... not an exact definition but enough for the non-engineers out there to grasp the concept) that particles of water like to stick togeather. That's why it forms into drops. You can see now why a waxed surface does a better job. Rub something that is kind of oily on a counter top or something, like maybe butter or cooking oil, and put some water on it, it will really stick togeather and slide around the surface.
So what you do is remove any nozle you have from the hose. You don't want to use high preassure. You want to have a good flow of water. There should be a lot of it coming out, but it should be clear, not white with bubbles or whatnot. Then the basic strategy is to 'push' the water on the surface off with the hose.
So on the hood, for example, you first wet the whole hood so none of it is dry. Then start on a corner and spray water onto the hood. Then push the hose in the direction the water is spraying, untill you 'shove' some of the water over the edge. This water will start falling, which means the water connected to it will also fall. Because the water holds togeather well, it will all stick togeather and kind of 'sheet' off the car in one smooth motion.
With a decent coat of wax and a little practice you can get a car about 95% dry. There will always be a few spots that are left, but you can take an absorbent cloth, and blot these. You don't want to rub, as that would cause swirls. But when you only have a few spots to pick up, some light preasure is more than enough to pull that water off the surface swirl free.
It takes a little practice but isn't to hard to do. Just play around with it next time. The only big thing to remember is you want a nice smooth flow, not a lot of preassure.
The basic concept behind it is that it takes advantage of the surface tension of water. Meaning (well... not an exact definition but enough for the non-engineers out there to grasp the concept) that particles of water like to stick togeather. That's why it forms into drops. You can see now why a waxed surface does a better job. Rub something that is kind of oily on a counter top or something, like maybe butter or cooking oil, and put some water on it, it will really stick togeather and slide around the surface.
So what you do is remove any nozle you have from the hose. You don't want to use high preassure. You want to have a good flow of water. There should be a lot of it coming out, but it should be clear, not white with bubbles or whatnot. Then the basic strategy is to 'push' the water on the surface off with the hose.
So on the hood, for example, you first wet the whole hood so none of it is dry. Then start on a corner and spray water onto the hood. Then push the hose in the direction the water is spraying, untill you 'shove' some of the water over the edge. This water will start falling, which means the water connected to it will also fall. Because the water holds togeather well, it will all stick togeather and kind of 'sheet' off the car in one smooth motion.
With a decent coat of wax and a little practice you can get a car about 95% dry. There will always be a few spots that are left, but you can take an absorbent cloth, and blot these. You don't want to rub, as that would cause swirls. But when you only have a few spots to pick up, some light preasure is more than enough to pull that water off the surface swirl free.
It takes a little practice but isn't to hard to do. Just play around with it next time. The only big thing to remember is you want a nice smooth flow, not a lot of preassure.