Drying Towel Question:

T

TheMeanGreen

New member
Anyone ever run into love marks from a dry drying towel, even when spritzed with a drying aid? Since I have switched over to drying the car with drying towels, I consistently leave love marks on the roof or trunk lid of the car, and they are not related to the drying aid being finicky, because the marks endure the next wash. The trunk lid or roof are always the first areas to be dried, thus the towel is at its driest point. For towels, I switch between the Griot`s 20x28 PFM and the LMF Sucker. I am being driven nuts as this has never happened until I began drying with a towel after every wash.

Which leads me to another question, as clear coat ages, can it loose its hardness?
 
Spray the drying aid on the panel , then just lay the towel on the car and pull. You need a drying aid that is slippery also. I’ve seen this with clients who use optimum rinseless as a drying aid.
 
I use Griots PFM towels for drying as well. Dry all the windows first. That dampens the towel and helps soften it up a bit. To be honest I`ve found that these towels perform better from a drying standpoint when they are damp anyway...

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@dschribs: Thanks for the input about the windows, I`ll have to try it next time.

@Mike Lambert: I did not mention that I am already saturating the first panels to be dried with a drying, Wolfgang Uber to be exact, with two oz of TW SNS, very slick combo. Will pull the towel without any downward force.
 
dschribs said:
I use Griots PFM towels for drying as well. Dry all the windows first. That dampens the towel and helps soften it up a bit. To be honest I`ve found that these towels perform better from a drying standpoint when they are damp anyway...

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I have found the same. I also dry the windows first to avoid spotting. It seems easier to deal with it on paint than glass for me.
 
TheMeanGreen said:
Anyone ever run into love marks from a dry drying towel, even when spritzed with a drying aid? Since I have switched over to drying the car with drying towels, I consistently leave love marks on the roof or trunk lid of the car, and they are not related to the drying aid being finicky, because the marks endure the next wash...
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What are the "love marks"? Is the paint actually *marred* or is it some kind of streaking?

Which leads me to another question, as clear coat ages, can it loose its hardness?
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IME it`s more a matter of the clear getting softer as it`s (over)corrected. I`ve done older vehicles that still had rock-hard clearcoat.
 
I`m *ASSuming* that all Drying Towels are CD-tested. If they pass the test (also assuming the clear in question is of comparable hardness to the data side of a R/W CD) then the marring is from some kind of contamination. In that case, I`d *guess* that it`s residual contamination that didn`t come off in the wash (unless this is all being done in an unclean environment).
 
I don`t use any drying aid at all. Lay it out and pull and then it`s bone dry paint after that and lay out on the next wet section. On the side I fold the mf drying towel 2 times and only the pressure so I don`t drop it. Useally I use Sonax version of the PFM style drying towels but one sided. When they start to leave streaks of water behind I swich to a fresh and clean dry one. So I don`t bother to wring them out anymore since I have so many of them and I wash them separately so that`s just good to get some more towels in the wash load. I only do bucket washes with a very thorough prewash. Got a couple of towel marring in the beginning when I started to do this more properly almost 3 years ago now. That I think was a mix of too much pressure and that I didn`t get all of the dirt off from the trim on the windows that`s just under the windows. At least the trails looks from coming from this.

Is extra carefull to get the dirt off these trim and also the the rails on the roof or the rain drainage that is covered with a plastic trim part on the Ford Focus. There it was baked in dirt that took a long time before it released from it totaly. Now I`m thoroughly PW clean rinsing them as a last step on the roof. It can be worth starting to aggitate the trim edges and as long as you reach under it. A detailing brush and doing this while the prewash foam is dwelling. So any dirt gets loosened up in the crevices of the car. But special attention on the bottom trim of the windows and mostly with the moving ones (don`t remember the english word for them) as you have a little wider spring there and you can get to pick up those later on either with the wash mitt or the drying towels or the glass cleaning towels. Point the PW on these parts a little extra thoroughly so it flush away the dirt when the prewash foam is clean rinsed off. Most dirt that lands on the windows runs down on these trim and rubber seals. So a place where dirt can build up if you don`t get it attention regualary.

The glass I use a dedicated drying towel for. As even if thoroughly washed sometimes you get that thicker film on them that the glass cleaner desolves. So I use the separate drying towel and feel if it`s little more grabby or ultra slick without it should be. If so the glass cleaning after the drying. This dirt that can be left on the glass I don`t want to drag over the paint.

/ Tony
 
Accumulator said:
I`m *ASSuming* that all Drying Towels are CD-tested. If they pass the test (also assuming the clear in question is of comparable hardness to the data side of a R/W CD) then the marring is from some kind of contamination. In that case, I`d *guess* that it`s residual contamination that didn`t come off in the wash (unless this is all being done in an unclean environment).
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If you mean unclean environment as in a coin-op stall in the middle of the semi-desert, then yes, the environment is unclean. haha
 
TheMeanGreen- Heh heh, oh man...that`s sure explain it! Maybe that`s it, *new* contamination getting on it. In that case I`d go back to touchless drying if it`s feasible. You sure have me counting my blessings! I remember doing it that way 40-some years ago, with black lacquer...yeah, you can guess how it turned out :o
 
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