One of my favorite tools in the detailing bay has to be my leaf blower. I like it for a couple of reasons. First, it cuts my drying time by at least half compared to using a terry towel, synthetic chamois (often called a “shammy”) or other things that you would use to physically rub over every single inch of your car in an attempt to dry it.

The leaf blower that I use is a Black and Decker multi-unit that I picked up at Home Depot and I think it cost about $139.00 CDN and I simply love it. Anyone who washes their car regularly should own one…even if they don’t have leaves to blow around. It is also a leaf vacuum and mulcher which works with another attachment that I may outline in another post…

Anyway, with the air nozzle attachment, the manual says that it will spew air at a velocity of up to 230 miles per hour - which I can tell you is probably true when I watch how fast it blasts water of the car. Actually it’s quite loud on the full power setting.

The other reason I just love this thing is because of every car detailers worst enemy - water drips coming out of body panels, sills and other hiding places that can screw up a good window cleaning, cut polish or wax job. Using the leaf blower can completely eliminate that problem once you learn how to blast those hiding spots on most cars. In addition, this thing simply rocks when it comes to drying wheels and tires so they can properly absorb tire dressing. Nothing is worse (or more wasteful) than trying to apply tire dressing to a wet tire.

Lastly the leaf blower solves another problem that plagues anyone with the car detailing bug when water spots dry on the paint or window before you can wipe them off. This is especially true when the air temperature is above 65 degrees. Water spots were the bane of my existence until I got armed with the leaf blower. Bam! Not only that, but those water spots can be damaging to your paint if you live in a part of the world with hard water. Leave water spots on long enough and they can actually form a hard calcification on the clear coat.

Here’s a quick clip of what the leaf blower looks like blowing water off a beautiful, black 2000 BMW Roadster that I detailed for a friend.