to try out the new tools and here are my findings.
First, the <strong class='bbc'><em class='bbc'>BIG BLUE TOWEL[/i][/b]:
The towel comes wrapped nicely rolled up and secured with a paper band with the Pinnacle brand name. The only thing that concerned me was that the band was stapled together and if one was not careful, you may cause a snag.
The towel is large, by my standards, approximately 2 by 3 feet. Plenty of drying power. I did not wash the towel prior to use (I know, I can hear your moans!) . After washing my car, it's my normal practice to drench the car with a flat stream of water (without the nozzle) to get some sheeting action going and then move the car into the garage. I folded the towel into quarters (as suggested in a previous post) and began wiping, starting with the roof.
The first thing that I noticed was the the towel has very little drag compared to an Absorber. About the same when using a Magic Towel (from CMA). With the towel completely dry, it quickly picks up almost all of the standing water. After getting half the roof, I flipped over the towel to give it a final dry. By the time that I had completed the roof, rear window, trunk lid, and front window, the towel was pretty heavy with water.
I attempted to wring out the towel, but could not get any water to come out (the arthritic elbow strikes again). The towel weighed approximately 2 lbs at this point, so I figure that there was about a pint of water trapped in the towel.
As I continued on to the hood and front valance, there was more water residue left behind, but the droplets were small. Since today was fairly humid and about 80 degrees, I was impressed that the droplets evaporated fairly qickly and left no streaking.
The towel was leaving a lot of water at this point and I really only had door jambs, under the hood and the trunk area left to do (always a pain!!) so I switched to Viper Detailing Cloths for these areas (plus they get pretty grungy sometimes).
All in all, I am pleased with the towel and think that it's a more than fair value for the price. I will probably purchase a second one on my next order (take advantage of the Magic Towel discount and try the other new ones).
Next, the <strong class='bbc'><em class='bbc'>Eimann Fabrik Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner[/i][/b]:
I had several spots to try this on, but only 1 was on actual upholstery, the other 2 were on a door panel and the lower dash.
The cleaner comes in a typical CMA bottle with the included sprayer (nice touch compared to Griot's Garage). I used a Viper Detailing Cloth, first on the door panel.
I sprayed several squirts on the towel and rubbed gently with no luck. I used more rapid strokes and a little more pressure. This gave me a rather nice lather and a pleasant scent. I dried with a second towel, but whatever the stain is (kind of like splattered milk), it did not remove it. I was not expecting miracles, as this stain has resisted most everything.
Next, I went to the upholstery stain and sprayed first on the cloth, but found that there was not enough cleaner making it onto the fabric, so I put several shots onto the stain and then rubbed in the direction of the weave. Whatever it was, it seemed to disappear very quickly. By using a dry towel, I rubbed out most of the moisture and I left it to dry. Cool !!
I then used it on some marks left on the lower part of my dash (some people just have to cross their feet

) It was able to clean off the scuff marks with very little effort. I also scrubbed another little spot which was removed easily.
Once again, I was highly impressed with the Eimann Fabrik product. So far I have 3, (EF HI, EF CP, & EF C&UC) and they are batting .100 :xyxthumbs
I'll probably buy the entire EF kit next time, as it seems to be a great value, and if the quality of the other cleaners match what I've used so far, then... YAHOO !! :bounce
All together, I'm very pleased with my recent purchases and salute the crew at CMA for some killer products. I look forward to trying some of the other new stuff soon.
Fellow Autopians :bow please let me know if you have additional questions that I left unanswered.