california jelly blade-safe to use?

Q

qman

New member
hi!

can anyone share their experience using this product. am considering purchasing one and would like to know if it is safe on your paint. thanks
 
Sooner or later you will get a tiny bit of grit or something in to mark your finish.

I used the California Water Blade and was very cautious but soon decided it was a great way of cleaning off my windows.
 
That subject has been covered a lot (same principle as the California Water Blade) around here with varying viewpoints:



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/109186-water-blade-plain-microfiber-towel-dry.html



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/97660-drying-mf-waterblade.html



http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/70796-california-jelly-blade.html



My personal opinion is the blade itself is safe, but like others have mentioned, sooner or later a tiny speck of grit will get trapped under it and you'll have a scratch to polish out.



Edit: it was after I found a long scratch in the roof of my car caused by the water blade that it was retired a few years ago. I now exclusively use an ultra soft WW like the Monterey WW from Excel Detail or a Danase Water Devourer to dry.
 
I've probably mentioned this on one of the linked threads, but one additional issue with the use of water blades is that they are basically geared towards a drying technique that I consider ill-advised: long sweeping motions.



If (more like when) something *does* cause a scratch, it's better for that scratch to be some short little thing, not a loooong scratch that's really obvious.
 
I agree with the above posters. And good point Accumulator--I'd rather potentially get a few light scratches than a long (and probably deeper) scratch from one of those blades and a speck of dirt.
 
I have used CA Water Blades for many years with no problems, even on black. I think if you follow two safety precautions you will be okay:



1. Wipe the blade with a towel after each pass, and



2. Only use the blade on a surface with plenty of water.



Every time I spoke with someone who claimed the WB caused damage, I discovered they were not wiping the blade or they were dragging it over a dry surface.
 
DavidB said:
I have used CA Water Blades for many years with no problems, even on black. I think if you follow two safety precautions you will be okay:



1. Wipe the blade with a towel after each pass, and



2. Only use the blade on a surface with plenty of water.



Every time I spoke with someone who claimed the WB caused damage, I discovered they were not wiping the blade or they were dragging it over a dry surface.
Click to expand...



Same here... I do however only use the blade on washes after which I will polish and not on maintenance washes... just in case I guess...
 
DavidB said:
/..Every time I spoke with someone who claimed the WB caused damage, I discovered they were not wiping the blade or they were dragging it over a dry surface.
Click to expand...



Not to be *at all* :argue but you can make me the one exception to the above. Heh heh, it just figures I suppose...and it's one more reason why I use the phrase "Accumulator-proof" with regard to certain products :o



I wash quite meticulously (little chance of residual dirt), and I *always* wiped my CWB after every stroke. I was using it on a very wet surface (can't do the sheeting rinse thing in this shop, and this was pre-AirWand) with a healthy coating of KSG.



I instilled a scratch about 4" long, the last 4" or so of a ~16" swipe.



I *still* can't figure out where that speck of abrasive whatever-it-was came from! This was inside in a spotless shop, no air currents, no dust floating around, nothing that shoulda caused it :confused: And it happened on the roof of the MPV, no trim that coulda held dirty water, nothing like that. Simply a [stuff] happens situation.



I must say that I used the CBW for years without any such problems, and that I have certainly marred paint using other drying methods...but I no longer do anything that can result in a scratch that's *that* long, and I can't really see using a water blade for the sort of short, interrupted motions I employ with other media.
 
That dirt speck could have come from you. The human body and especially hair can accumulate more dirt than you know. Unless you were in a clean suit in a clean room you can't rule out any source of dirt like dirt on the ceiling, how often do you wipe down a ceiling? Probably never. Even a foot step on a dried out puddle can cause dirt to fling up. I know I've scared everyone into paranoia here but hey just live with it, I know I do. My truck has more scratches than anything yet when I shine it up it still looks good.
 
qwertydude- Odds are the abrasive speck *did* come from the ceiling, which unfortunately is textured. I wipe down the light fixtures, clean the walls often, and yeah, you really could eat off the floor, but there's just no way for me to clean that ceiling properly :( At least it's high enough up there that not all *that* much stuff is likely to settle in its texture, but still.....



And yeah, despite my rather, uhm...extreme approach to personal hygiene, by the time I've done a full wash (think "undercarriage") I'm not as spotless as I'd like to be.



Guess this is why I keep :nono about the water blades...if it happened to *me* I honestly think it could happen to anybody.
 
qwertydude said:
I use the absorber and feel it's safer.
Click to expand...



I wouldn't concider it safer, if the absorber picks up a peice of rubble it will scrape it across your paint. Now with a plush microfiber, the towel will kind of cusion the rubble.
 
FWIW I use the jelly blade on roofs, hoods, and trunks, glass, and occasionally smooth vertical body panels. I always have my waffle weave towel as well, and I also always start out by misting the blade with either ONR (diluted) or S&W. On rare occasion I've induced marring, but that's totally attributable to yewzer error n my behalf - hitting a panel at the wrong angle, for example.



In general, I love the time savings of this thing. When combined with a flood rinse and a good WW towel, the drying process goes by quickly.
 
DavidB said:
I have used CA Water Blades for many years with no problems, even on black. I think if you follow two safety precautions you will be okay:



1. Wipe the blade with a towel after each pass, and



2. Only use the blade on a surface with plenty of water.



Every time I spoke with someone who claimed the WB caused damage, I discovered they were not wiping the blade or they were dragging it over a dry surface.
Click to expand...



I totally agree.



I have used the water blade for a few years and have NEVER experienced some type of speck embedding itself in between the rubber and the paint surface causing a scratch.



I find that the odds of this occurring is no more then say getting something caught in the nap of a mf cloth while drying the paint. Its extremely rare.
 
I think it stands to reason that anything you wipe over the surface of your car has the potential of marring the finish. For me... so far anyway... knock wood... I have had no problems and the benefit is worth the slight risk.



db
 
The last thing I wash when doing my car is my waterblade. I have a black 997 which has very soft paint and I have yet to create any damage using the blade.
 
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