- damn, I'm glad I clicked on this thread. My ways are old school, but I see truth in this thread...and now I've got some new ideas to mull over.

Someone throw me a bone on cleaning the instrument cluster. Tried something new, and instantly regretted it..."Invisible Glass" wipes. Lent free my ass. Back to my old way...microfib towel and spray cleaner.

 

Well the cluster isn't glass microfiber towel works best, I recommend not using any chemicals at all though. Just a plain mf towel. It really shouldn't be that dirty anyways, just dusty.

 

What do you think about using a California Water Blade for pre-drying? Autogeek.net recommends it. Seems like it would save a lot of time.

 

Water blades themselves won't hurt the paint..but if you have any contaminates on the paint the water blade will drag this across the paint thus creating fine scratches. The safest drying method is blotting with a microfiber towel or a waffle towel. These actually pick up any contaminates off the paint and protect the paint from being scratched.

Washing & Drying - Autopia.org

Water blade or plain Microfiber towel to dry??? - Autopia.org

 

What he said ^^^

Water blades can be very dangerous. Blotting with a waffle weave microfiber is still the best safest way to dry a car. I use a leaf blower to get water out of all the crevices too, that way I get no drips. If the car is waxed water will just fly off the car.

 

Do you have to do yearly safety checks? How do you get around them checking the tint %?

 

No yearly checks here in Florida. Although cops don't really care. Been pulled over twice since I got the tint and both times they didn't even mention the tint.

 

Here in Hawaii, we have yearly safety checks, and SOMETIMES they check the tint with a meter. If you fail the check, you must remove the tint, then go back for a re-check. Not good.