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dunit

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I bought some Griots Garage cotten terry cloth towels (damn they were expensive!). Now I keep hearing about microfiber towels. Which should I use? Or should I use both?



I'm particularly interested in which is the best towel to dry the car after washing, and then which is the best to polish and then wax with?



My car is black and of course swirl marks are not wanted..





Thanks for any ifno!
 
My thought is to use the water bandit (synthetic chamois) for your primary drying with a good microfiber following along for clean up. You will probably also find that applicators (foam, microfiber..) should be used for applying the products instead of towels. Towels will work but would be a little on the wasteful side. Microfibers and QDs are great for removing the polish and wax residues.



There are advocates of cotton on the site but my best success has been with quality microfiber. I have no experience with the griots towels.
 
Totally agree with the advice on the Water Bandit. Not many people here dry their cars with cotton towels anymore. At least most of us don't solely rely on them. Most of us begin with a Water Bandit, Absorber, Water Sprite, even some choose the Water Blade, THEN we follow up with a cotton towel or Miracle Towel. The Miracle Towel is simply the best, nicest, plushest, softest microfiber towel of them all. A bit pricey though.
 
So now I have the car all shined up and covered until the show gets here in a couple of weeks. Inevitably, the car will accumulate dust at some point or another. What is the best way to get rid of it? I have found that Quick Detailing spray tends to be kind of streaky.
 
It might be your towel is doing the streaky for you should be wash them properly. If you have too much dust on the finish I recommend a light wash before the show. If you only have very light dust then you can use Meg's #34, Meguiars Last Touch Spray Detailer , Eagle One Wipe & Shine , Eimann Fabrik Clear Pearl II Instant Detail Spray or one of my favorites BLACKFIRE Deep Gloss Spray.
 
I use the California Car Duster successfully for light dust. If used correctly, it gets about everything off the vehicle, no scratching, and you can follow up with your Quick Detailer of your choice, knowing you are not mixing dirt up and probably scratching the paint.
They are everywhere, even Target. The one with the wooden handle is the best one in my experience.

Good luck and hope you win something !

DanF
 
Stokdgs said:
I use the California Car Duster successfully for light dust. If used correctly, it gets about everything off the vehicle, no scratching, and you can follow up with your Quick Detailer of your choice, knowing you are not mixing dirt up and probably scratching the paint.
They are everywhere, even Target. The one with the wooden handle is the best one in my experience.

Good luck and hope you win something !

DanF
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I use it myself, and if used correctly, it works really well.
 
There are so many old posts here regarding Towel choices that I would like to address. However, out of respect to the rules of the forum, I will not post product info here.



I would like to invite those who are still interested in the Cotton towel discussion to visit my profile and DM me with questions regarding the benifits of using Cotton Towels as an adjunct to your detailing preferences. Or more information regarding Cotton vs. MicroFiber.



Have a fantastic day.
 
Most here use MF towels. I would never use a chamois, synthetic or otherwise--if a small piece of grit gets imbedded in the material it can scratch the paint. For Drying--blow dry with an electric leaf blower then blot with a waffle weave towel. Generally 530 GSM for washing and QD, 360 GSM for wax-sealant-polish removal and 250 GSM for interior. Microfiber Tech has great towels at reasonable prices, 3D has some nice towels as well as a ton of other websites. Always wash new towels before use--then always wash alone without any cotton towels in the washer, no fabric softner, white vinegar in the rinse and dry on medium.
 
pwaug said:
For Drying--blow dry with an electric leaf blower then blot with a waffle weave towel. Generally 530 GSM for washing and QD, 360 GSM for wax-sealant-polish removal and 250 GSM for interior. Microfiber Tech has great towels at reasonable pricesAlways wash new towels before use--then always wash alone without any cotton towels in the washer, no fabric softner, white vinegar in the rinse and dry on medium.
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This is great info and is my technique.
 
Excellent information. However, I'm a little confused about calling a Microfiber Towel 100% cotton in your section about Microfiber. Otherwise I think your write up is spot on.
 
ScratchProtect said:
Excellent information. However, I'm a little confused about calling a Microfiber Towel 100% cotton in your section about Microfiber. Otherwise I think your write up is spot on.
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Welcome to Autopia!



While I do like a lot of Griot's stuff, and hold Richard in high esteem, some of their cotton towels are simply *awful*. Send 'em back with a letter explaining why.



"Microfiber" is a term that gets used in all sorts of ways. Technically, there can be both "synthetic" and "natural" MF, and the natural ones can be made out of cotton. Those are nicer for this kind of thing than "regular cotton towels" but IME they seldom compare (in softness/etc.) to MFs made out of good synthetic material.



Note the cotton MFs aren't all that common these days (I got mine years ago before DFTowels went kaput).



While there are a lot of sources for decent MFs, IMO the short answer is "PakShak" (LINK: 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 ). Don't let the thought of shipping from way over there scare you off.
 
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