I wouldn't hose down the garlic but if you rub the dirt off the roots , trim them , and rub loose off the bulb you should be fine.

i wouldnt wet them either, I have heard it is done commercially, but they might be artificially dried then?

I do hose off, but once done, they immediatly sit in my greenhouse on a big open piece of screening with a fan blowing up from underneath them. I do this with potatoes too. Neither have any surface moisture left the following day, but are left in this environment for a few more days just to be sure. Potatoes, however, need to be kept in shade, so I place a dark cover over my greenhouse (just an 6x8 foot size)..

I'd always heard that you shouldn't wet down alliums. And I listened to that advice; until the year I had no choice but to harvest out of wet clay.

Only way to remove the dirt was to swish each bulb in a pail of water, and lay it out on a work surface to dry.

Every since, that's been my procedure. I clean each bulb in the pail, then lay them out on a table where it's warm, but not in direct sunlight. Once they're surface dry (which takes a surprisingly short time, during the summer), the bulbs get bunched and hung.

This will be my fourth year following that regimen, and I've yet to lose a bulb.

I agree, I always swish them in my rain barrel before I hang them in the shed, no harm done. Just be a little genlte on them, because when the skins are moist they tear easy.

With alll the air movement from below the screen from the big fan, mine also dry quickly as do potatoes. With potatoes, however, the skins are very fragile until they dry out, so you do need a bit more care in handling.

sometimes it rains after i pulled the onions (do not grow garlic) while they lay in the garden for a day or two. i dry/cure them in a shed no fan on wire racks for about 4 weeks. no problems.

tom