Anyone still use terry cloth towels?

beefy z said:
Where are you guys getting this "DF ALPINE" 100% cotton microfiber towel". i did a search and there are alot of vendors selling a "DF" towel. is there a criteria or standard for a df towel or is it simply a 100% natural cotton towel devoid of the usual 80/20 or 70/30 blends we usually see? i get the feeling that alot of you are saying that by using these df towels , you're eliminating the scratching that terrys could cause in the past.
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www.dftowel.com



Also sold at www.pakshak.com



Also check out the Concours Buffing Towel at www.autopia-carcare.com



It is a cotton towel of Alpine Fiber which as I understand it , is a type of microfiber but it is not comparable to the 80/20, 70/30 etc. type of MF towel which is polyester and polyamide.

It is a specific type of towel and it's different from any type of regularly available cotton towel. I love them but I feel that there is a place for both DF towels and regular MF's in my arsenal.
 
I prefer terry towels for certain applications & removals. It all depends on what product you're using and what you're trying to accomplish.
 
There are allot of company's out there who would love to have the original PR man for MF products working for them. This guy has many people believing that MF is Superior to cotton and that cotton will scratch your clear coat or paint. If cotton scratches my clear coat or paint I'm going to raise hell with someone!!!

Been using cotton for many years with no problems at all with scratching or marring. The Martha Stewart towels are great and my Nappa sells great Terry towels. Wish people still used the old diapers as they were the best. The real cotton t-shirts were great rags too.

If you feel you need the expensive MF rags then go for it . Please believe me cotton will not scratch or mar your finish or cause any kind of swirl marks. If any towel or material has the slightest bit of dirt or grit thats what causes problems. Get away from the PC and do it by hand like it should be done. The above is just my opinion and experience over many years and not meant to cause any arguments. I'm new to some of the waxes and sealers they have today but not new to waxing my vehicles. Done that for many years now. Mike
 
Mike, many cotton towels WILL marr your finish. It's nothing to do with PR...just personal experience. The only ones I'd risk using prior to waxing is the Alpine Cotton towels because they're also MF. I say "prior to waxing" because that's when your paint is un-protected and vunerable. During and after waxing, most QUALITY cotton is ok if used with care. The wax/sealant acts as a lubricant between the paint and fibres and reduces the risk of marring.



That's not PR, just experience.
 
Alfisti said:
Mike, many cotton towels WILL marr your finish. It's nothing to do with PR...just personal experience. The only ones I'd risk using prior to waxing is the Alpine Cotton towels because they're also MF. I say "prior to waxing" because that's when your paint is un-protected and vunerable. During and after waxing, most QUALITY cotton is ok if used with care. The wax/sealant acts as a lubricant between the paint and fibres and reduces the risk of marring.



That's not PR, just experience.
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cotton terry towels are better to my knowledge
 
Alfisti, "That's not PR, just experience"

Don't understand that statement at all unless you misunderstand what a PR man does for a company.

A PR man does not need much experience with any company's product to push or sell that product to the public.

Yes, cotton can scratch and so can MF if they are not clean. If clean and good quality they will both work and you can bet that if I waxed and buffed 1/2 of any vehicle with cotton and the other with MF you would not be able to tell the difference. No way, shape or form!

I have tried both on two of my vehicles because of all the hype about MF and I was not impressed at all after spending $24.00 for two MF towels. That was a waste of money. I gave them to my wife for furniture waxing towels.
 
I dunno, I've always thought of my towels (never rags!) as a tool, just as important as my other tools: my PC, rotary, polishes, waxes, etc. So with this thinking I like to use mf exclusively on pretty much all areas of the car excluding any grease of very heavy soiled areas, engines, door jambs etc. Interior as well. I do use cheap white cotton towels (not rags) for stain removel on carpet.

You can find some good deals from the online vendors on MF; just gotta look around.

I agree with Mike above only on the idea of paying $24 for 2 mfs(16x16? or WW?) is pretty darn steep. I wouldn't pay that; no need to pay that.



I guess it's all on how you wanna look at things.



Remember, it's a towel (tool) not a rag.



G'day!
 
LangMan37, Good point and well said.Guess I'm just to old! After raising 7 kids and my wife always giving me the old diapers and my worn cotton t-shirts for what she called rags back then as my mother did for my Dad just seemed to stick with me,Lol.

That's just one of the things that happens when you start getting old. Now where did I put my cotton rags......I mean tools!!, Lol. Just funning with you and you are right!, Mike
 
Mike-in-WV said:
Alfisti, "That's not PR, just experience"

Don't understand that statement at all unless you misunderstand what a PR man does for a company.

A PR man does not need much experience with any company's product to push or sell that product to the public.
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If you re-read my post carefully you'll see what I meant. I wasn't talking about a PR man's experience...I was talking about my own.



Also note my point about pre-wax use.



Irrespective of marring, another feature unique to synthetic MF (as opposed to natural cotton MF) is the split fibres. This gives it a 'grab-an-hold' ability that separates it functionally from any form of cotton towel.
 
*One* of the problems with "cotton" towels is that they are not always all cotton. The seams and edges can be and usually are polyester or some other material that may scratch a cars finish. Sal Zaino still recommends the use of cotton towels to remove Zaino (although he supposedly has been testing and recommending some MF products) but he only recommends using American made towels from certain companies and even then the edges of the toweling should be removed. A lot of the cotton diapers even though they feel soft, are not necessarily 100% cotton. Also, cotton stated as 100% not made in the United States may not be 100% cotton according to several sources including Zaino.

Check out this link for some more info:

http://site.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=44



Hopefully the pic will be visible showing the marring induced by improper cotton toweling.



Certainly, there are some cotton towels available that are safe for paint and of course there are MF towels that are unsafe for paint. As far as paint being too soft for a bad cotton or MF towel, I certainly believe that to be the case sometimes. The best bet is to take an old, unwanted, unscratched CD and check every towel that will touch your paint with the "scratch test". Rub every section of the towel over the CD and if it scratches, it shouldn't touch your paint. I believe MF is here to stay but I also believe that cotton toweling has it's place in our detailing arsenals.
 
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