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This is fairly common practice, actually, and the only downside to it is if you have really hard water you could end up with little trails of water spots that need to be given a once over with a microfiber towel and some quick detail spray. At our old house the water was so hard that this method really wasn't an option - the little water spot trails were horrible. But in our current place I use this method just for the wheels, grille, etc.

As for inducing swirls in your drying process, if you do a final rinse with the nozzle off the hose and just let the water flow over the car you'll sheet off the vast majority of the water and can then basically just blot the rest dry with a good waffle weave microfiber drying towel. That's what I do, then use the leaf blower for the areas mentioned above.

But if your water is such that you can dry a dark colored car fully with a leaf blower, go for it!

 

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The leaf blower is great on motorcycles too. Ive used it for a few years and almost everytime someone will walk by and think Ive lost my mind! Dont know why, it seems to make sense to me

At work, I use a typhoon air nozzle to blow off water beads and get the rest with an absorber shammy...saves time

 

I've used it on my cars for about 10 years now. You can still get water spots as Mike said. I always leave a little water on the car in a shaded spot, enough to dampen the towel, so I finish drying with a damp towel then I use my detail spray, that gets most of any spots left on the car. Its best to wash a dark car out of direct sunlight, in a shady spot or at dusk. The blower gets the water out of all the nooks and cranny's you otherwise wouldn't get with a towel. Just be very careful around your car with the blower, it can do lots of damage if you drop it.

 

Yep, I learned the technique here on the forum years ago. As has been been said, leave a little bit of water on the car to wipe down with a quality microfiber towel.

Think of it as taking your car to the full service car wash without all the nasty detergents and brushes.

 

I use mine too. Mostly in the areas where water will hide, like side lights, door handles, side strakes, grille and it's great on the wheels and tires. I still dry the car though because it ends up eliminating the watermarks better the the blower.

 

I go to the spray wash and when it's only dust on the car and I spray it down with the spray wax.
Then follow it up with a pressure rinse and then a final spot free rinse.
Then a quick trip 6 miles on the highway at 70 to 80mph and when I get home it's dry.

Then a final application of Adams Detail Spray and a Microfiber towel and finally some Adams VRT on the tires.

Done

 

Mike, what do you think of those soft plastic "squeegees" like they use at auto dealerships?? I've been using one to get the bulk of the water off (the cars are so well waxed, there are huge beads of water after liberally hosing them off) and then final drying with a clean, soft microfiber towel or two.

 

Yes, I used to use a California water blade (same company as the car duster) and it was medical grade silicon, can't see why a high end one would do any damage, but I will let Mike be the authority that he is...

 

No, not new I started using my leaf blower in 2004 and yes, neighbors looked at me like I was crazy. laziness is the mother of invention

 

Ditto....I have been doing this for years, I actually purchased a leaf blower solely for this process. I have also been using a product called Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845. Now when I wash my cars I can let them air dry and there are no water spots....great stuff. Works extremely well on black and dark color cars.



Collinite Liquid Insulator Wax #845, liquid wax, heat-resistant wax, car wax

 

Sorry for the delay - this one got by me.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of these things on a car that I care about. All it takes is one little bit of something getting caught in there and you've got a very long scratch in your paint. I've seen it happen waaaay too many times in the past.

If the car is that well waxed just take the nozzle off the hose and turn the water pressure down about half way, then just let a steady stream of water run over the paint. It will sheet 90% or so of the water off the car and you can then either blot it dry with a quality waffle weave microfiber drying towel or with a leaf blower/waffle weave towel combo.