Leaf blower - few other uses

[C8N]

I initally bought a leaf blower to dry my car.
This past weekend, I found a few other uses for it.

1. Blow the interior: Open up all doors and windows and blow the **** out of the car then do a wipe down with QID. Certainly faster than vaccuming.
2. Blow the exterior: I do riniseless wash and since I do not own pressure washer, I used the leaf blower to blow off any loose dirt, pollen, leaf, twigs or whatnot off the car prior to any wash media touching the paint.
3. Blow the garage: I found that quite a bit of dust settles on my car even inside my garage. After blowing out the garage, I am seeing less dust.

Hope this helps!

[Meticulous-Detail]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

Thanx for the tips. I have used a leaf blower in this fashion too. It is also good to immediately blow an engine after hosing down. I use APC and various brushes to clean, then quickly rinse, then start the vehicle and leaf blow. This has worked great for me and I have never ran into an issue.

[C8N]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

Good idea on the engine bay!

The interior was huge for me.
I saw some videos of people using a pressure washer on the interior and thought... what the hell!
Then I said to myself... why not a leaf blower? There are areas where no matter what attachment you use on a vaccum, you will not be able to get in those tight areas.

Also use the leaf blower on bird bombs and bug splatters. Just rehydrate them with some liberal amounts of QD and give it a minute or so then blow them away. I don't have to worry about bug parts or bird bomb pebbles getting on my wash mitt.

[Meticulous-Detail]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

Tip for bird bombs and bug splatter, boiled water. Had 4 bird bombs on my new Durango yesterday, boiled some water in teapot let cool for 2 mins, pour over bird bombs until gone. They usually come right off with no QD/WW or any wiping. Dry with leaf blower of metro vac. I am on this new kick of trying not to touch the paint unless it is clean, no more wiping down dust or light dirt.......etc, even with super plush towels and WW.

[STRIFE]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

I have 3 leaf blowers....lol, i really like using on the wheels/ wheel wells.
Neighbours think i'm crazy...lol

[Top Gear]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

Me too, guys. I discovered the interior and engine bay tricks as well and what a difference detailing is with a blower! I think I will start blowing the underbelly and suspension where feasible, because even though I clean the underside (usually with wheel cleaner), the water deposit spots are building up to a hazy film on all the painted surfaces.

[Aenygma]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

I have been using a leaf blower to dry my car for years. I stumbled upon the idea with a motorcycle I had, and was wondering what could I do to make it easier to dry (bikes have nooks and crannies you would not believe). Ever since then I do cars inside and out as well.

Now for what some people who know me consider an odd use, but I assure you if you have allergies, or want to just get a room clean like you would not believe...
I use it to blow out the inside of parts of our home.

I open up the windows, put in ear plugs, and let her rip. The dust that goes flying out the window is incredible (and this from a room that if you walked in, would have thought was already very clean). It really makes a difference. In addition, when we added a dog to our family a few years ago she did what any good dog will do (shed & sleep on our bed). My wife we found out has a slight allergy to the dog's hair and it helps a lot with that as well.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

Here's a few non-automotive uses for your leaf blower:

• Take your old desktop computer outside, remove the cover and blast the accumulated dust from inside the chassis and power supply fan. Really cool to see how much dust those old desktops gather in.
• Now that summer is heating up, take your portable fans outside and blast the dust out of those.
• Blast cobwebs from under your eaves, along the ceiling, and under your furniture. You can almost hear the spiders say WHEEEE
• Remove your window screens and blast the dust from those as well. Come back to the windows and blast the tracks free of all the gunk there.
• Finally...these things are really handy for sweeping leaves from your yard...

[jarred767]

I love using the leaf blower, or even the shop vac on reverse, for blowing out engine bays right at the start and then again after cleaning as dust accumulates in there a ton. They really help getting water out of the nooks and crannies in wheels after washing, especially if you want to use BDB after.

Blowing out the interior is a great idea though, especially under the seats where people have all kinds of **** fall. This could considerably cut down on my interior times, which I will always try anything to do so as I'd much rather he spending the time on the exterior.

[Baklash]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

I love using the leaf blower, or even the shop vac on reverse, for blowing out engine bays right at the start and then again after cleaning as dust accumulates in there a ton. They really help getting water out of the nooks and crannies in wheels after washing, especially if you want to use BDB after.

Blowing out the interior is a great idea though, especially under the seats where people have all kinds of **** fall. This could considerably cut down on my interior times, which I will always try anything to do so as I'd much rather he spending the time on the exterior.

I love the idea of using it to dry the car, but wouldn’t blowing out the interior just move it to another location in the car?

[Nick Winn]

Re: Leaf blower - few other uses

I love the idea of using it to dry the car, but wouldn’t blowing out the interior just move it to another location in the car?

When the described technique is used, it is typically followed by a vacuuming & complete wipe down of the entire interior, including cleaning the glass.