Chamois

chamoise attract little dirt particles and end up scratching the bejeebies out of your paint. Use a waffle weave MF towel. Much safer and just as effective.. And cheaper too.
 
I used chamois for ages, still have my old John Bull one around here somewhere.



My biggest gripe about them is that they *always* left too much water behind. Otherwise, IMO they're not all that much worse than Absorbers/Water Bandits/etc. and plenty of people love those. But yeah, they can trap dirt and become scratch-machines, seems to be more of an issue with such drying media than with WWMFs.



1flyfisher- If you want to use something like that, go with a synthetic instead of a "real" chamois. Better all the way around and a whole lot easier to maintain.



If you're not too concerned with drying-induced marring (from rubbing residual dirt against the paint), they sell "water blade" gizmos mounted to long poles that might work OK (at least for your situation) for getting the bulk of the water off.
 
I have a nice leather chamois, should I give it away and go with some sort of new micro fiber towel for drying?



What is the 1st and second tier drying/towel products.

Please Show me some substitute products that are better than chamois for drying a car. Higher end stuff but good value.
 
Advantages of a real leather chamois is that you have one cloth to dry your car , and you dont have to wash it , just rinse it out. It takes two terry towels to do what one chamois can do . Even micro fibre , onse it wet it doesent work and you will need another one. Disadvantages are when they dry they dry hard, and they are expensive. Absorbers, water sprites, water magnets are not as good as real chamois, but in my opinoin are better then terry towels, because you also use one , and you dont have to wash it , just rinse it , but you need a extra towels for windows. It is a personal prefence.
 
Well just like you never use a dry chamoise to dry a car you also don't use a dry MF towel. Always soak it in water first (just like a chamoise) wring it out and then use it. Works much much better than a dry towel. Not sure who told you to use a dry towel to dry off a car?
 
1flyfisher- I'd look at the "ultra soft" (or somesuch name...) Waffle Weaves from Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing





Jakerooni said:
Well just like you never use a dry chamoise to dry a car you also don't use a dry MF towel. Always soak it in water first (just like a chamoise) wring it out and then use it. Works much much better than a dry towel. Not sure who told you to use a dry towel to dry off a car?
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Eh...I use dry WWMFs for the final passes. Yeah, they end up a little damp by the end of the job. Note that you gotta use the right WWMFs for this or you'll end up with residual moisture and/or marring.



When ever I tried getting my WWs really wet first (and yeah, I did wring 'em out ;) ) they left too much water behind. So I use a damp one for the initial passes but finish up with a (basically) dry one.



Wonder if the QD spritz I employ makes a big diff here :think: But OTOH I do it that way even when not using the QD.



Heh heh, not too often that you and I are on opposite sides of the fence, huh?
 
Not to often at all there Accumulator ;) But like in all things there's more than one way to do it properly as long as it works is all that really matters. I've personally never had an issue with getting the finish I've needed off a properly wrung out wet MF WW towel. Could be the different locations too. Maybe you have different humidty than I do. who knows. As long as you get the finish your after it's all good.
 
Jakerooni said:
Could be the different locations too...
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The softened water might factor in too. Accumulatorette's always saying that it's harder to dry [everything] since I had the softeners installed :nixweiss

As long as you get the finish your after it's all good.
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Yep, different paths to the same place :hifive:
 
It has been my understanding when using a leather chamois that it is to be soaking wet and then rung out prior to use and as it absorbs more water just ring it out. That is how I have used it over the years.



It is news to me that they are bad and create swirls, but I am old school as I have not been into detailing as I had an older vehicle and carnauba wax, terry towel for buffing and a chamois for drying was fine. But with a new vehicle on the way I am after the best products and techniques.



IF a chamois is supposedly going to attract dirt how is it that a micro fiber towel, micro fiber applicator, foam applicator, etc DO NOT attract dirt? Seems to me every fabric or anything for that matter will attract dirt. After a vehicle is washed and clean and a chamois is rinsed and clean what is the difference?

I soak and rinse a chamois after use so it is clean.

But if you people say it creates swirls more than other products I will consider that before I start detailing my new vehicle. Maybe I will go with WWMF instead of a chamois.





lawrencea said:
Advantages of a real leather chamois is that you have one cloth to dry your car , and you dont have to wash it , just rinse it out. It takes two terry towels to do what one chamois can do . Even micro fibre , onse it wet it doesent work and you will need another one. Disadvantages are when they dry they dry hard, and they are expensive. Absorbers, water sprites, water magnets are not as good as real chamois, but in my opinoin are better then terry towels, because you also use one , and you dont have to wash it , just rinse it , but you need a extra towels for windows. It is a personal prefence.
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You use a wet MF towel to dry? Why?

When you buff off the wax don't people use a dry towel to buff the car wax off?

Why would you need to use a wet mf towel to dry a car?

If a dry mf towel is used for drying and creates swirls Wouldn't a dry mf towel for buffing wax create swirls then?







Jakerooni said:
Well just like you never use a dry chamoise to dry a car you also don't use a dry MF towel. Always soak it in water first (just like a chamoise) wring it out and then use it. Works much much better than a dry towel. Not sure who told you to use a dry towel to dry off a car?
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If you have soft water you will make more suds and getting soap off of anything will be more difficult, including your body or a car.

We had hard water in our home growing up as a kid in the 60's and my father installed a water softener and you can feel the difference when showering and washing. Softer water made it much more difficult to get rinsed off from soap and shampoo.







Accumulator said:
The softened water might factor in too. Accumulatorette's always saying that it's harder to dry [everything] since I had the softeners installed :nixweiss





Yep, different paths to the same place :hifive:
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I still use it (autoglym aqua dry), not the safest around but I like it because of the easy maintenance and despite countless use, it still feel as soft as the first time you use it. Just rub it against on hand to judge for yourself. I tend to glide it across the painwork instead of using pressure to wipe. I ever tried the cheaper chamois but it turn very hard and work badly after some use. As for my WW, the absorbance win hands down, but it does not clean away dirt on the cloth as easy as chamois and gets rougher after each use.
 
1flyfisher said:
It has been my understanding when using a leather chamois that it is to be soaking wet and then rung out prior to use and as it absorbs more water just ring it out. That is how I have used it over the years...
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Yeah, that's how one uses a chamois (real or synthetic).

It is news to me that the are bad and create swirls..
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It's not that the chamois itself causes marring, but that any residual dirt that gets caught in it will when dragged across the paint. And yeah, there *will* be residual dirt ;)



IF a chamois is supposedly going to attract dirt how is that a micro fiber towel, micro fiber applicator, foam applicator, etc DO NOT attract dirt. Seems to me every fabric or anything for that matter will attract dirt. after a vehicle is washed and clean and a chamois is rinsed and clean what is the difference?
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The diff is that a zero-nap drying medium like a chamois lacks anywhere for the dirt to migrate to, so said dirt is more likely to get pressed against the paint with sufficient force to cause marring.



You use a wet MF towel to dry? Why?
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The pre-use dampening can often "prime" a WWMF so that it adsorps water better. This works especially well with WWs that don't seem to work all that well; it's not necessary with WWs that *do* work well.





When you buff off the wax don't people use a dry towel to buff the car wax off?
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Yes, generally. But sometimes one might use a MF that's (very) slightly damp with a QD.



Why would you need to use a wet mf towel to dry a car?
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Buffing off LSP residue and drying a car are so different as to be incomparable. Buffing is a friction-based process whereas when drying it's best to minimize friction (some people go as far as blotting when they dry, letting the water soak into the drying medium without moving it across the finish).



Damp WWs are sometimes a bit softer than dry ones too, but it's primarily about the "priming" of the WW.



AS I UNDERESTAND IT (and that understanding might be faulty) WWMFs don't absorb water into their fibers the way cotton towels do, the *ad*sob water, it gets caught between the tiny ("micro") fibers. I suspect the priming causes some sort of increase in efficacy with regard to capillary action, but that's just a guess.



If a dry mf towel is used for drying and creates swirls Wouldn't a dry mf towel for buffing wax create swirls then?
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Generally, buffing towels are plush, like regular (cotton) towels and are either soft enough or not. Most of us dry with Waffle Weaves, which are simply different. Drying with plush MFs is more likely to leave residual water *IME*, even MFs like the Shamrock that are touted as being great for drying. That's not to say they don't work, they do, but not the same way/as well as WWs.
 
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