streaking & effectiveness of waffle weave MF towels for drying

C

cleeny

New member
assuming the meguiars water magnet ww mf drying towel isn't a horrible towel, i've used this towel a few times now for drying and i find it quite ineffective at thoroughly drying my compact car.



although i never use the free flowing water drying method before towel drying, i experience alot of streaks and find this particular towel hard to wring out.



i have actually found it much quicker and easier to use 2 quality 16x16 non-WW towels for drying.



basically i dont understand what the WW drying hype is all about because although the WW towels are bigger, they seem thinner and seem to hold less water than regular plush MF towels and are much harder to wring out.



your thoughts please?
 
I believe that there are different types of WW towels. Towels that cost more are more plush, more absorbent, and in general, higher-quality. I'm curious as to why you don't use the free flowing water method? By doing so, you will be able to get a lot of the water off the surface of the car before you use a WW or a MF towel. Of course, this is assuming that your car is well waxed.



As for drying towels, I use "The Absorber", which is a synthetic chamois that drys very well, and absorbs lots of water, like its name. The only downside of the Absorber is that it is possible to drag particles around the surface, therefore causing marring and swirls. As per many other members' suggestions, I now put the Absorber on the surface, and let the Absorber "absorb" the water, instead of dragging it across the surface.



Hope that helps, and welcome to autopia!
 
Um, I agree. I bought the water magnet and also bought into the WWMF towel hype. Well, that towel sucks. I have relegated it to door jamb duty now. I think the big blue MF towel from Wal-Mart does a far superior job of drying than the Meguiar's product. I have also recently pulled my Absorber out of retirement.
 
thanks guys



actually i dont use the freeflowing method because i'd have to run to the side of my house, turn off the water, come back to front, undo the nozzle, go back turn the water on, etc...

otherwise i get water all over me... actually i just realized: maybe i should bend the hose and then undo to minimize the splash when taking the nozzle off? or i should just get a new type of nozzle that has the free flow function (any suggestions?)



i'm sure things will be much better using my WW if i used the freeflow technique...

and yeah, i think i will bring my absorber out again until i buy a better ww towel.
 
Uh, why don't you just kink the hose, remove the nozzle, flow water over the car, re-kink hose, and then reattach nozzle. Works exactly the same as running around the yard. Flowing water over the car is well worth it. It will minimize what you have to take off the car.
 
Try looking for different types of connectors for the hose. You can get auto shut-off types, that shuts off when you disconnect the nozzle. There are also connector types where you turn a valve, before taking off the nozzle. You can make your own free-flowing nozzle with a short piece of hose fitted to a connector. So when you take of your standard sprayer nozzle, you can just attach this for the rinse. Hope that makes sense, as I don't really know what the proper US names is for those water gizmos ;)



Btw, have read that the water magnet towel should be washed prior to use (just don't use fabric softener ;) ). My own experience is that the water magnet doesn't work to well when wet, so it's a good idea too use the free flowing rinse to help ensure that the towel doesn't get soaked to quickly. And if the towel does get wet, I just get another, instead of trying to wring it out. Used like that it works quite well.
 
Well, at Home Depot or Lowes, there are those water hose splitters that split the incoming hose into two hose openings. I haven't done this myself, but I guess you could shut off both openings when you don't need the water, and open one of the openings when you need the free flowing water. Or you could spend some money on a multi-feature nozzle, which I don't have. Otherwise, you could just try kinking the hose like everyone else is suggesting.



BTW, I know what you mean when you say it's a PITA to go back to the water control valve and get water all over yourself :) I've been doing this until just now, when just I remembered that I have the water splitter thing that I could use.
 
Tasty said:
Uh, why don't you just kink the hose, remove the nozzle, flow water over the car, re-kink hose, and then reattach nozzle. Works exactly the same as running around the yard. Flowing water over the car is well worth it. It will minimize what you have to take off the car.
Click to expand...



You would be amazed at how many people would never think of that...



I just realized it a few days ago! :wall
 
meh i have quick disconects on my hose, so after i crimp it to remove the nozzle i still have no water.

I don't like using two hoses, so i have went to s superfine mist nozzle that creates excelent sheeting action.
 
how are other ww towels as far as wringing? are they easier to wring? I'm guessing if i got the pakshak supersoft ww drying towels, since they're soft, they would wring much easier than my water magnet.



and what size do most of you guys get? the 16x27 WWs? or the largest 20x40 ones?

would it be easier to use two 16x27s than one 20x40?
 
I have the Poorboys large 20x40 waffle weave towels . I love them. If i do not sheet rinse yeah it's hard to wring them out. If i sheet rinse and blow off with my vacuum i can dry both my tahoe and a4. Normally i am to lazy to blow off so i get 1 car per towel.
 
I find that drying with normal MF towel will still leave streaking. i'll need a few more passes.



WW on the other hand absorb water much faster with very little or no water streaking.

Hacing said that, some WW just don't do the job it should. Meg's water magnet is one of those! :mad:



But you can't go wrong with Pak shak's WW. if the 16"x24" and the new Ultra Soft 16"x27" a fitting size to work with. Not too big a towel so you can wring better. :)
 
thx for all the replies.

sounds like the best and efficient thing to do is to use the free flowing/sheeting technique and get two of pakshak's ww 16x27 ultrasoft towels [or better quality ww mf] to finish up. you're right that i want to stay away from the bigger ww towels although the freeflow rinsing would get rid of most of the water so i wouldn't have to wring the bigger ww
 
Wow I am amazed at these replies

My pakshak WW experience in the last year and half has been nothing but sensational

No streaking, lines or problems. My original towels are still good as new



When you do the free flowing rinse, don't turn the tap up to full, about half pressure is all you need

Also do it side on, not straight at the paint.

Amazing how many people use pressure guns and hose straight at it



Pakshak's are too thick to wring out but I usually can do all but door jambs with one towel of my big falcon

A pakshak ultra soft is for engine bay and jambs only.

I quick detail and dry at same time.



How do you hold the towel when drying?, scrunched up like most people or folded a few times

I fold twice, hold a corner and slowly with no pressure, glide the towel over bodywork, glass first



has anyone used the 200mph air dryer attachment you hook up to a compressor to dry, I saw it on winners circle.
 
I think using WW"s sucessfully is something that you have to learn. They blot....wiping with them across a surface does not give them a chance to absorb the water, hence the streaking. My WW's actually work better as I go and they become slightly damp...they absorb more quickly. I've never had any difficulty wringing them out. I thought that I had wasted my money when I first tried them until I learned how to work with them. I just invested in one of SMP's WW's with a foam core and what an improvement! As for watersheet drying, it is an essential part of my routine no matter how you get your spray nozzle off. I recently got a quik-connect system at Sears for about 5 bucks that really speeds things up. I think the best part of it is the rubber collar that remains around the hose end when the nozzle is removed. It protects the finish in case you accidently bump it with the hose end. The separate male and female portions that can be purchased let me switch between my fireman's nozzle and my foam gun quickly as I don't care for the spray nozzle that quick-disconnects from my gun.
 
last night I used four drying towels and prima slick to dry just in case using one could cause micro swirls

I can't see how gliding the WW across paint would cause streaking, I had none and the QD helped drying time as well



Also I added no rinse to my prima mystique/werkstatt auto body wash shampoo combo and two litres of purified water per bucket (2 x shampoo, 2 x water)
 
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