How To Safely Dry Your Car - The GYEON Way

Often one of the most overlooked aspects in a car washing routine, and definitely one of the more meticulous tasks in the industry… proper car drying is vital to capping off any weekly wash. I know what you’re thinking… “It’s simple! Grab a towel, dry the car, done” … and while that is the general idea, it is a vast oversimplification that can be quite punishing if done carelessly. So – what is the proper way to dry a car, you may ask? Let’s talk about it.

Don’t Use The Tool That You Use At The Pool

There are many key factors that contribute to a safe and effective drying process, but none are more important than the product used to touch the panel – the towel. While there are touchless drying options like using a dedicated car blow dryer, there are still going to be some final touch-up areas that require the use of a towel. Not all towels are created equal and this is especially true for car drying towels; although the cheap appeal and large coverage area of household bath towels might be tempting, it’s a quick route to swirl city and marring manor. Cotton bath towels (while appropriate for home use) simply don’t cut the mustard when it comes to automotive paint; they can and WILL scratch your paintwork. Instead, you’ll want to reach for something like our microfiber drying towel, the Q²M Silk Dryer. What this towel is going to offer that’s different from any bath towel, chamois, or old t-shirt, is the premium twisted loop one-sided microfiber design. We’ll discuss specifics of towel construction and towel care in a future blog post, so stay tuned for that.

The Silk Dryer’s design allows it to be exceptionally absorbent and efficient, but more importantly, allows it to be safe for your paintwork. We offer two different sizes of our Silk Dryer for different tasks that you might need them for; the large Silk Dryer variant is great for quickly drying large areas, and the smaller version is great for getting behind door handles, drying off door jambs, or even for drying wheels. The key is to use the correct variant for the job – the last thing you want is to try drying your wheel with the large Silk Dryer and having the excess drag all over the floor or to try drying your full-size SUV with a small Silk Dryer.

Silk Dryer: How To Use

When drying a vehicle, there’s the obvious goal of removing water from the panel to leave a dry surface, but how you do that is just as important. It might be tempting to take a brand new Silk Dryer and go straight to spreading it across a hood or roof, but in order to achieve the best results we recommend using it alongside one of our spray detailers/sealants. What this is going to do is not only give you the benefits of whatever product you choose to use, but it’s going to give the towel the lubricity that it needs to gently glide over the surface while pulling away and absorbing any water in its path. Depending on your preferences, we have our Ceramic Detailer and Quick Detailer, or if you’re looking for something with a little bit longer durability, you can use Cure or Cure Matte as well.

What I like to do is take whatever drying aid you elect to use and add 2-3 sprays onto the towel followed by 2-3 sprays on the panel depending on the area of the car you’re working on. A little bit of product goes a long way – we’re not trying to saturate the towel with product here; just giving the towel the lubrication it needs to glide on the surface while absorbing water. Once you’ve applied your drying aid, if you’re working on a flat surface like the hood or roof, grab two corners of the Silk Dryer and lay the towel out flat on the surface with the twisted loop fibers facing down onto the panel. Make sure the towel is flat on the surface and then simply drag the towel in a straight line off the panel. Repeat this until the panel is dry.

When using on vertical panels like doors & hatchbacks, I like to fold the towel into fourths and dry in straight line motions. You shouldn’t be using a lot of pressure here – just enough to keep the towel flat against the surface. When using on decklids or hatchbacks, take extra care and be cautious around emblems & jagged edges, as the long absorbent fibers can get caught and snag on them; dedicated car dryers or compressed air can be especially helpful around these areas. Lastly, it should go without saying, but just like washing the vehicle, you’ll want to dry the vehicle from top to bottom and never in direct sunlight to avoid water spots and streaking.

Dry As A Bone

Once complete, you should have yourself one dry and glossy car that is ready to go in the garage or on a late-night cruise. The Silk Dryer is one of my favorite products in the lineup simply because it is so convenient, effective, and versatile. When cared for properly, it should serve you well for many washes to come. If you’re more of a visual learner, our brand ambassador, Yves, actually has an episode of The Detailing Guru covering this exact topic – it can be viewed here!

Like I said before, drying a vehicle is a bit more involved than just simply taking a towel to the surface and going to town. Vehicle paintwork can be very sensitive, and it is imperative to use tools that were designed for each job or task at hand. I hope this article helped to explain the importance of safe car drying, and I hope it helps to improve your washing routine. As always, thank you for stopping by and learning about all things GYEON – it is our goal to create a culture and environment where everyone can learn something new about detailing while also having fun doing so. Give us a like on Facebook and follow our Instagram & TikTok for daily GYEON content, and pay our YouTube channel a visit for product guides, product launches, and more. If there’s anything you’d like to see me write about and discuss here in a future post, let us know! Until next time, as our friend Yves likes to say… Ciao!