Sneak Peek: New *FINE GRADE* Speedy Surface Prep Towel

C. Charles Hahn

C. Charles Hahn

CCH Auto Appearance, LLC
I was contacted a short while ago by a gentleman from SM Arnold in response to the video I posted about their Speedy Surface Prep Towel. He asked if I would be interested in evaluating the new, soon to be released Fine Grade version of the towel. It arrived today, pictured here next to the original:



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The original SSPT carries P/N SSP-589:



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The fine grade SSPT will have P/N SSP-580:



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As you can see, the new towel is the same size as the original, but the fine grade can be identified by its gray color:



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There is also a difference in the appearance of the polymer material (original on left, fine grade on right):



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I will be putting these both to use in a side-by-side comparison over the next few days as time allows, and I will be posting a full video review and comparison of them soon (along with a few other heads-up tests and reviews I have in the pipeline). Hopefully this will significantly reduce the amount of marring on softer finishes that the original grade towel instills.



Just thought I'd let everyone have a peek at what I'm told should be available in the very near future (I'm not aware of any vendors selling these yet).



A big thanks to Joe Arnold @ SM Arnold for giving me the opportunity to evaluate this new product!
 
Thomas Dekany said:
Cool! Not sure why a fine grade, but what do I know? The regular one is an amazing invention. Very happy with it.
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I absolutely love the original SSPT, the only thing I don't care for is I find that on some finishes it can leave some pretty wicked marring. The fine grade towel is supposed to address that issue.



Only other issue (which there may not be any way around) is that these towels are VERY sensitive to the panel temp. If the vehicle hasn't cooled significantly it can streak and the polymer material starts to "melt" a bit. That can be problematic for express details where the vehicle isn't being washed traditionally (waterless/rinseless is used instead) and the vehicle can't sit and cool off indoors/in the shade for very long. Probably no good way around that issue for now, but hopefully over time they can improve on the technology. For those of us who mostly do full details indoors this is a great alternative. My blue towel has around 30 uses on it at this point and as you can see, it still looks pretty much like new.
 
Reading the patent, there seems to be some implication that another product like this exists but the manufacturing steps are more costly. Frankly, the patent doesn't seem to cover the core technology, just the manufacturing process.
 
Very cool Charlie, I know my guys have gotten about 90 plus cars easily out of the First towel. These towels are great. Im not really sure why one need to use the fine grade, but I the marring issues are the concern. From what we noticed is the marring is not a major issue as we are correcting the paint anyways. We don't get cream puffs here. Can't wait to hear your feedback though!
 
Also looking forward to your review Charlie. Got my towel from Rob at Towelpros and will be buying another when needed. This will eventually replace clay IMO.
 
Alfisti said:
Which of these is HD Nano Prep equivalent to?
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I will go out on a limb here but it appears the Nano Prep and the first offering by SM Arnold (SSP 859) blue towel are one in the same from talking to others that have these towels. This is just my belief and based only on those conversations. I also think offering a finer grade will advance the acceptance of these towels in the detailing community.
 
Alfisti said:
Which of these is HD Nano Prep equivalent to?
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As far as I know, all of the variants of this towel (HD Nano Prep, Nanoskin Towel, Lane's, etc.) are private labeled versions of the original towel.



Dan said:
Reading the patent, there seems to be some implication that another product like this exists but the manufacturing steps are more costly. Frankly, the patent doesn't seem to cover the core technology, just the manufacturing process.
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Mixture article for cleaning superficially-adhered substances - Patent # 7867967 - PatentGenius



As far as I can tell, that patent covers everything except the manufacturing process, as it shows both the Magna Sponge and the AutoScrub applications in the attached images/figures, but not the towel. So it seems the core technology is what is patented.



Barry Theal said:
Very cool Charlie, I know my guys have gotten about 90 plus cars easily out of the First towel. These towels are great. Im not really sure why one need to use the fine grade, but I the marring issues are the concern. From what we noticed is the marring is not a major issue as we are correcting the paint anyways. We don't get cream puffs here. Can't wait to hear your feedback though!
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Thanks Barry, glad to hear they're holding up so well for you guys. The manufacturer claims 100 cars so that's pretty respectable. I agree with you that if the paint is being corrected it's not a major concern and not everyone will find a need to have both versions on hand, but for those who don't get the kind of messes you typically have to clean up or aren't planning on doing much correction if it can minimize the marring that's never a bad thing in my book. We'll see.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
for those who .. aren't planning on doing much correction if it can minimize the marring that's never a bad thing in my book. We'll see.
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That's what I'm interested in hearing about. IF such a product can be used marring-free, then, well...OK.
 
Dan said:
I'm waiting for Accumulator approval testing. Lol.
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Heh heh, don't hold your breath ;)



I still haven't figured out just how such an approach could work out as marring-free as the way I use ultra-fine clay :think:
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh, don't hold your breath ;)



I still haven't figured out just how such an approach could work out as marring-free as the way I use ultra-fine clay :think:
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As I recall, you use it during an ABC wash, correct? I question whether the towel would be able to hold up to that sort of usage....
 
I recently did a review of the fine grade disc, but I will not post it... I will shoot another video...



While the finer grade material is definately more gentile, the Glide lubricant doesnt hold a candle to my Infinite Use Detail Juice when it comes to lubricity. The fine grade disc does still tend to leave some marring behind, but is definately an improvement over the original material. The disc leaves less marring when my IUDJ is used instead of the Glide as lube. I have a fantastic video that I shot that shows side by side comparisons, but I would prefer to scrap it and do another one as some may be offended.



Thanks for posting, Charlie. I look forward to seeing your results.
 
Garry Dean said:
...but I would prefer to scrap it and do another one as some may be offended.
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I think I know what you mean, but I can't get the image of a Jeff Suggs style video out of my head....lol.
 
hotrod66paul said:
Not trying to hijack the thread but Jeff Suggs does have a new thread started on MOL. This guy is really out there somewhere.
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I just posted on his thread... What an idiot...
 
hotrod66paul said:
Not trying to hijack the thread but Jeff Suggs does have a new thread started on MOL. This guy is really out there somewhere.
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Glad to see Mike Stoops almost immediately skewered him. Talk about delusional!
 
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