Chenille Wash Mitts

J

JCturboT

New member
I haven't used a Chenille mitt in years but after some of the discussion in the "Where is everyone buying their Sheepskin wash mitts from" post I am thinking of trying one on my Wifes Honda Pilot as it has the typical soft Honda paint.



It has numerous swirls and besides myself it only goes through touchless washes with my Wife washing it occasionally.It get washed with a Sheepskin mitt now.



I was wondering if the Viking 100% cotton mitts were still the mitt of choice these days or is there something better?



I am going to detail it soon and want to test another wash medium.



Jeff
 
I would do the CD test on the mitt before washing.I think it's more difficult to find a non marring cotton mitt than a sheepskin one. Also have to factor in how well the mitt wicks away/safely captures dirt.





I've never had issues with sheepskin mitts marring my paint but I also meticulously cherry picked each one I bought, designated certain ones for certain sections of the car, and do my version of Accumulator's washing technique with the foam gun. All of those factors avoided marring for me.
 
Bill,

I have cd tested all three of my sheepskin mitts and they pass with flying colors. It's when there is dirt involved that the issue arises I guess.



The poster in the other thread made the point that sheepskin mitts lay flat on the paint and don't wick away the dirt like a 100% chenille thereby dragging the dirt across the paint.



Swirl don't seem to be a problem with my two other cars but my Wifes Honda swirls just looking at it the wrong way.



Jeff
 
IME so far with my Accord, I don't think I could avoid marring without the foam gun. I've never experienced sheepskin mitts dragging dirt across the paint but I can't say that wouldn't be the case without the washing technique. For me, marring free washing isn't dependent solely on one factor/type of mitt, it's all of them used together. I bet if I used good chenille, which I've never been able to find, I'd continue to have the same marring free results.All of this said, I wash promptly after rain, and the environment here is cleaner than elsewhere. Those are two important variables in my situation that help quite a bit also.
 
JCturboT said:
Bill,

I have cd tested all three of my sheepskin mitts and they pass with flying colors. It's when there is dirt involved that the issue arises I guess.



The poster in the other thread made the point that sheepskin mitts lay flat on the paint and don't wick away the dirt like a 100% chenille thereby dragging the dirt across the paint.



Swirl don't seem to be a problem with my two other cars but my Wifes Honda swirls just looking at it the wrong way.



Jeff
Click to expand...



Until I see the science behind "wicking dirty" I'm going to have to keep using my terrible sheepskin mitts. Then again, I powerwash vehicles that are really dirty, thus washing off any real dirt and just leaving the grimy film. That said, didn't Meguiars drop their chenille mitts?
 
On my SRT8 it is very well maintained and hardly ever get really filthy, while my Wife's Pilot is a daily driver children and daycare kid mover so it does not get the Love it deserves :)



I will polish the swirls and use my foam gun when it is really dirty.





Jeff
 
yakky said:
That said, didn't Meguiars drop their chenille mitts?
Click to expand...



Yakky,

I think you are correct on those Meguiars mitts.

That does not necessarily mean they were bad...It seems Meguiars likes to discontinue some things from time to time, like their wheel brushes which I am now sufficiently stocked up on and those are great.



Jeff
 
I think the foam gun and using several mitts, not to mention having buckets full of soapy solution to constantly "recharge" them with after flushing the paint with them while you wash will help tremendously in avoiding the washing swirls. The real world swirls could possibly addressed as little as two or three times of year this way.
 
Bill D said:
I would do the CD test on the mitt before washing.I think it's more difficult to find a non marring cotton mitt than a sheepskin one. Also have to factor in how well the mitt wicks away/safely captures dirt.
Click to expand...



^^This



I have given up trying to find a chenille/cotton mitt that does not mar. Even the best ones I have found don't have enough "strands" for dirt to migrate upward - I can pull the strands away from each other and see the backing of the mitt or sponge.
 
I've used chenille mitts that didn't mar when used my way, but that was back when I was doing that "mitt-balloon" thing with the foamgun (what a PIA that was!).



But if the marring is coming from the dirt, and you're *NOT* gonna use the mitt-balloon technique (who in their right mind would?!? :grinno: ), then IMO

the problem won't be solved by switching to a chenille mitt.



FWIW, I don't find that dirt "migrates up into the wash medium" or "gets safely trapped in the nap" or anything like that, at least not to a degree that's acceptable to me. If I move a dirty mitt across my paint I end up getting marring. Dirt in my rinse bucket at the end of a wash usually means I'll find some degree of marring if I look hard enough.



I'd "dislodge and flush" with a BHB/foamgun combo to get the "big stuff" off, and then switch to a sheepskin mitt.



I know I'm off the deep end when it comes to this topic, and that others apparently do fine without going to the lengths that I have to go to, but if somebody's having marring trouble....
 
I have been using a microfiber mitt that looks like a chenille one. It is from Griot's Garage and has lasted me near ten years. The problem with the cotton ones is that I would not get a year out of them before they deteriorated. I always rinse the mitt off with the hose until it looks clean after every panel before I put it back into the bucket. I have done it this way since the very early 80's. It always seemed a waste to put the mitt right back into the bucket after collecting the dirt from the car. This was long before I heard of the two bucket method. A lot of people would have said I was being anal retentive, but apparently, I was just way ahead of the curve. The proof of the effectiveness of my method was that the bucket was almost as clean when I was done as it was when I started. It certainly looked fresh at a casual glance, but if you looked really close, you would see a tiny amount of sediment at the bottom.

I also washed the car twice. First, very gently, with almost no pressure, to sweep the really big dirt off with the soapy mitt, and then rinse the car, and wash the whole car again, only this time, I would use enough pressure to get the car completely clean. You just can't get a car completely clean without marring the paint with only one wash. Paint is just too fragile.



The past 3 years, I have been using a boars hair car wash brush for my first washing, because I believe that the bristles lift the dirt particles away from the paint best as you wash. I use a very gentle sweeping motion for this. Of course, the boar's hair brush rinses perfectly clean with the hose, so the wash water stays even cleaner. I also like the fact that the brush gets into crevices that the mitt cannot get. It helps me get the car cleaner faster. I believe if you rub too hard with a brush, you can get marring with the bristles, but rubbing hard isn't what I use it for.
 
JCturboT said:
Yakky,

I think you are correct on those Meguiars mitts.

That does not necessarily mean they were bad...It seems Meguiars likes to discontinue some things from time to time, like their wheel brushes which I am now sufficiently stocked up on and those are great.



Jeff
Click to expand...



Those cotton mitts simply don't last, and after microfiber mitts that looked like them were invented, they basically became obsolete.
 
Blackthornone- Sounds like you and I aren't all that different when it comes to washing (gee, that's supposed to be a good thing but I fear it's like calling you crazy :o ).



I wonder how many times I wash the car during one wash...I'd guessing four to six, but then I let things get kinda bad sometimes.



That MF mitt from Griot's piques me interest...from that long ago I'm guessing it's not the "muppet" one, right? OR is it?
 
Accumulator said:
Blackthornone- Sounds like you and I aren't all that different when it comes to washing (gee, that's supposed to be a good thing but I fear it's like calling you crazy :o ).



I wonder how many times I wash the car during one wash...I'd guessing four to six, but then I let things get kinda bad sometimes.



That MF mitt from Griot's piques me interest...from that long ago I'm guessing it's not the "muppet" one, right? OR is it?
Click to expand...



It's not calling me crazy, lol. Griot's still sells the same mitt. It is in a pack of two, one fluorescent green, one fluorescent orange. Ok, maybe not ACTUALLY fluorescent, but almost day glo. I have been using the orange one, not that I think there is any difference between the two. I have the mitt, not the pad.
 
Blackthornone- Ah, OK, those *are* the ones I refer to as "muppet" MFs. I never tried those, somehow their design just leaves me cold, but eh...that's just me :nixweiss Sounds like you're really satisfied with 'em.
 
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