Angus
AspiringProductSpecialist
Even though I’ve invested a small fortune in microfiber towels, I never seem to have enough them. Infact the largest part of my microfiber collection is the ones I use to dry my car. I’ve got large and small waffle towels for drying the paint. Low nap ones dedicated to door jams, gas cap area, trunk and hood channels. Glass towels of various weaves, and completely separate ones solely dedicated to rims and exhaust tips. And those are just the ones I use after a conventional 2-bucket wash! Nevermind towels for WW, or RW’s!!. There are so many options!!!
More recently I’ve been enjoying Griot`s Garage PFM terry weave towels. They’re great - I’m a fan! But command a premium price. So when I heard The Rag Company developed their own twisted loop weave towel as a contender to the PFM towel I had I get my hands on one STAT!
*Bias Review Disclaimer* The Rag Company sent me this item to use and review at no-charge. Ok, now that bit of housekeeping is out of the way… Onto my review!
Construction
Weighing in at 550GSM, this 70/30 blended towel measures 16” x 24” with rounded corners and a nice satin edge:
Close up of the “twisted loop weave”
For comparison`s sake: PFM (16X16) on top, Twistress in the middle, classic 25X36 waffle weave drying towel on the bottom:
In action
What impresses me the most about the TWISTRESS towel is how great of job a job it does absorbing rinse water w/o the need of a drying aid. It’s 16X24 size, when folded into quarters, is very easy to hold and use when drying flat and horizontal surfaces:
Driver’s side mirror:
Passenger’s side mirror:
Front bumper/headlight/fog lamp:
Rear bumper:
Windscreen:
All done!
Once saturated the Twistress is very easy to wring out.
Comparison to GG PFM towel
For drying GG offers their PFM towel in two sizes: 16” X 16” and 25” X 35” - I own both. And while I love using the 25” X 35” for drying large flat surfaces (hoods, roofs... etc) when fully saturated it gets heavy and is hard to wring out due to its large size. It’s also cumbersome to fold and hold while drying vertical surfaces. I need to use both hands to hold the towel - one to dry and the other to hold onto the extra material. And even then, I’m always slightly paranoid I’m going toloose my grip causing a corner to touch the ground. Because of this, I’ll typically switch to using the smaller 16” X 16” PFM towel to dry vertical surfaces.
TRC Twistress towel, on the other hand, is just big enough to dry larger horizontal surfaces while being small enough to hold with one hand for vertical surfaces. Pictures of all 3 towels:
The twisted loops look pretty similar, don`t they? In person, the loops on the PFM towel are slightly longer.
By the numbers:
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Towel [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Size [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] GSM [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Blend [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Cost* [/TD]
*Price found on respective companies websites as of August 2017
**Price for 2 pack
Conclusion
The Rag Companies Twistress towel is my new favorite drying towel. Not only is it inexpensive to purchase @ $7.95, (yes thats right SEVEN DOLLARS AND NINTY FIVE CENTS)!!! but it’s easy to use, and keep reusing following a 2B wash. Don’t get me wrong, PFM towels are great, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy them. But IMHO the Twistress towel is simply a better value for $$. I’m getting more - that’s for sure.
Hope you enjoyed this review!
More recently I’ve been enjoying Griot`s Garage PFM terry weave towels. They’re great - I’m a fan! But command a premium price. So when I heard The Rag Company developed their own twisted loop weave towel as a contender to the PFM towel I had I get my hands on one STAT!
*Bias Review Disclaimer* The Rag Company sent me this item to use and review at no-charge. Ok, now that bit of housekeeping is out of the way… Onto my review!
Construction
Weighing in at 550GSM, this 70/30 blended towel measures 16” x 24” with rounded corners and a nice satin edge:
Close up of the “twisted loop weave”
For comparison`s sake: PFM (16X16) on top, Twistress in the middle, classic 25X36 waffle weave drying towel on the bottom:
In action
What impresses me the most about the TWISTRESS towel is how great of job a job it does absorbing rinse water w/o the need of a drying aid. It’s 16X24 size, when folded into quarters, is very easy to hold and use when drying flat and horizontal surfaces:
Driver’s side mirror:
Passenger’s side mirror:
Front bumper/headlight/fog lamp:
Rear bumper:
Windscreen:
All done!
Once saturated the Twistress is very easy to wring out.
Comparison to GG PFM towel
For drying GG offers their PFM towel in two sizes: 16” X 16” and 25” X 35” - I own both. And while I love using the 25” X 35” for drying large flat surfaces (hoods, roofs... etc) when fully saturated it gets heavy and is hard to wring out due to its large size. It’s also cumbersome to fold and hold while drying vertical surfaces. I need to use both hands to hold the towel - one to dry and the other to hold onto the extra material. And even then, I’m always slightly paranoid I’m going toloose my grip causing a corner to touch the ground. Because of this, I’ll typically switch to using the smaller 16” X 16” PFM towel to dry vertical surfaces.
TRC Twistress towel, on the other hand, is just big enough to dry larger horizontal surfaces while being small enough to hold with one hand for vertical surfaces. Pictures of all 3 towels:
The twisted loops look pretty similar, don`t they? In person, the loops on the PFM towel are slightly longer.
By the numbers:
| GG PFM (large) | 25” X 35” | 860 GSM | 80/20 | $38.99 |
| TRC Twistress | 16” X 24” | 550 GSM | 70/30 | $7.95 |
| GG PFM (small) | 16” X 16” | 860 GSM | 80/20 | $19.99** |
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Towel [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Size [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] GSM [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Blend [/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: #1155cc"] Cost* [/TD]
*Price found on respective companies websites as of August 2017
**Price for 2 pack
Conclusion
The Rag Companies Twistress towel is my new favorite drying towel. Not only is it inexpensive to purchase @ $7.95, (yes thats right SEVEN DOLLARS AND NINTY FIVE CENTS)!!! but it’s easy to use, and keep reusing following a 2B wash. Don’t get me wrong, PFM towels are great, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy them. But IMHO the Twistress towel is simply a better value for $$. I’m getting more - that’s for sure.
Hope you enjoyed this review!
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