Watery World

Removing the accumulated water from a large tow vehicle after washing will quickly saturate a chamois or microfiber towel. It’s even a bigger job after washing a motorhome or trailer. Rather than deal with a towel, I rely on a water blade, which looks like a squeegee on steroids. A couple strokes of the blade and most of the water is gone, making it easy to finish the job with the towel.

Now, you can’t use a typical squeegee found in auto parts and home improvement stores, because the blade is usually too stiff and can lead to paint damage. A water blade is made of soft silicone and molds nicely to the vehicle body lines, nooks and crannies and — if used correctly — will not leave scratches in the paint. After researching the various products on the market, Shurhold (shurhold.com) seemed to have the best pedigree when it comes to vehicle cleaning products — the company offers a wealth of cleaning gear you didn’t know you needed until you use them — so I went with its Shur-Dry Flexible Water Blade.

The Water Blade is 12 inches long and is integrated into a stout handle, which makes it convenient to use the blade by hand. I elected to add the company’s Shur-Dry Flexible Water Blade Adapter so the blade could be attached to a telescoping pole for reaching higher areas — something RVers can relate to. Both products can be purchased on Amazon for $35.81 and $15.48, respectively.

Sliding the Water Blade on to the adapter took some wrangling because the blade handle seemed to be a little too large to slide into the plastic track. I figured that was by design, since you don’t want the blade to move around, but it was really tight. I made it work better by adding a thin layer of silicone grease on the handle; I leave the adapter attached all the time, which has no real bearing on using the blade without the extension pole.

My main impetus for buying the Water Blade was to remove water that always accumulates on my truck’s vinyl bed cover after a rain or washing. My arms are not long enough to reach the center and leaning on the cover is not an option, so a pole was employed. I already had a telescoping pole from Swobbit (swobbit.com) — another company marketing an array of quality cleaning products for auto, RV and marine use — and it looked like the adapter would work, even though the proprietary Shur-Lock quick-release mechanism is not designed for a competing product. It did, sort of. The adapter doesn’t snap in place solidly, but it stays on the pole. Shurhold’s telescoping poles, in 6- or 9-foot iterations, are designed for a perfect fit and sell on Amazon for $38.98 and $48.98, respectively.

The Shur-Dry Water Blade removed standing water beautifully thanks to its super flexibility and T-edge configuration, which grabs a lot of water on every swipe. The blade conforms to recessed areas and other contours without complaint; just make sure there is plenty of water to remove to prevent paint scratching. And the blade makes short work removing water from RV sidewalls.

Anything that makes washing vehicles easier gets my vote, and the Shurhold Water Blade is now a permanent item in my cleaning arsenal.