With what do you wipe?

A

AlphaOmega

New member
I did two cars yesterday back to back. A maroon Acura and a black Audi TT. The sun was high in the sky.

The Acura was just a wash and dry, but we did a wax on the TT.

I use waffle weave dryinag towels and regular microfiber towels to do all my final wipedowns on the paint.

With both cars I noticed that the microfiber was leaving holograms all over the hoods. I know it's my work that did it, because I wipe vertically and that is the direction all the liines go. It isn't the first time I noticed this with the Audi (black paint). It's minor, and the owner always thinks his car looks great. But I know it's there and, having seen show cars that look like black mirrors, I can't stand it. What to do final wipe down with (or drying for that matter) that will reduce the holograms?
 
I had the same problem on a black olds alero that I did using waffle weave. I repolished the hood and followed it with a wash using megs car wash from a good clean bucket of water and followed by drying with these yellow mega plush (maybe ultra plush) that I had won in a contest of sorts from Poorboys world. These towels were very thick yellow with an orange border. These towels are much more absorbant than any WW that I have used and they did'nt leave this micro marring so they are my exclusive drying towels now. Problem is I only have six of them but I highly recomend them, Hope this helps, TD
 
So you know it is you that is creating the holograms? Do you know specifically that they were created by wash process or during drying? Are you sure they weren't there, but covered with a glaze until you washed it off?

Anyway, assuming you checked your wash media/drying towel(s) for contaminants and there were none; try changing you method of drying. Maybe blot, I hold my folded towel above the surface and allow the edge to "skim" the surface. You need to move slowly to allow the moisture to wick up to the towel. Or you can change your drying towel. Try a terry weave instead of the waffle weave. As mentioned above, try a "drying aid" to add a little bit of cushion/lubricity to the surface.

There are several factors to consider and you're going to be your own best Sherlock Holmes to narrow it down to the offending product/process.
 
Yesterday I used a shamrock and a little QD on a black Armada.For some reason the WW just made me a little nervous
 
I use a waffle weave towel to dry my cars, all of which are black, and never had any kind of marring issues.
 
I'll second (or third) using a QD as a drying aid. One other thing to look at it the media you are using to wash your MF towels in. It might be some sort of washing detergent being left in the towels that shows up when the get re-wet during the car drying phase. Try some vinegar in the rinse cycle.
 
JaredPointer said:
...One other thing to look at it the media you are using to wash your MF towels in. It might be some sort of washing detergent being left in the towels that shows up when the get re-wet during the car drying phase. Try some vinegar in the rinse cycle.
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:wall Completely forgot to mention this.

I wash most of MF in hot water which helps to dissolve detergent and any additives (like oxyclean). With the exception of the Charlie's soap powder, most of my laundry detergents are liquids.

Vinegar gets added to the rinse cycle for all of my laundry. Good catch JP:bigups
 
Hi Guys! How's everyone?! try using de-ionized water for final rinsing off. thats all ive ever used. normal tap water usually has too many mineral deposits that might be it. oddly enough it leaves the vehicle without any spots and I air dry the vehicles I do.
 
distrbd said:
:hmmm:I wonder if spraying a QD on before drying would help:cheers:
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That's what I do. I do a primingg couple of sprays on ww towel with pb s&g then one or two sprays per panel as I'm drying. Then whe I use another surface of the towel, I re-spray a couple of priming sprays.
 
sjr said:
Hi Guys! How's everyone?! try using de-ionized water for final rinsing off. thats all ive ever used. normal tap water usually has too many mineral deposits that might be it. oddly enough it leaves the vehicle without any spots and I air dry the vehicles I do.
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I don't, and don't have immediate plans to do so, but I still enjoy reading about those who do and how they do. What system do you use to produce your water? There was a member here who had quite a set-up in his garage (IIRC) to generate his water.
 
RobertP said:
I use a waffle weave towel to dry my cars, all of which are black, and never had any kind of marring issues.
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Ditto. I've been using it on my dad's RL ONLY since I de-swirled it last spring and it's holding up great. And that's with Acura's super-soft paint; nothing like rock-hard Audi paint.

But when I get home he wants it detailed for the summer and I get to try my hand at UPP on Nighthawk Black!! :yay :rockon I'm so stoked...I want to see that blue flake jump off the paint.
 
Mr. Clean said:
I don't, and don't have immediate plans to do so, but I still enjoy reading about those who do and how they do. What system do you use to produce your water? There was a member here who had quite a set-up in his garage (IIRC) to generate his water.
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Hi Mr clean. I get mine from an oilfield services company named Katco Vacuum truck service. I get it for less than 10 cents a gallon. They were the first company I worked for as a truck driver in the early 90's and I knew they had their own de-ionization plant they sold water to other companies by the barrel. I got to know the owner very well and are good friends. I had read about how good d.i. water was for detailing vehicles so my first call was to my friend. I swear by it. the water is awsome and combined with the wash and wax soap I use the fleet vehicles I do I dont have to even hand or blow dry them and they look as if their wet when they are completely dry. My federal contract clients love it.
 
Congratulations sjr on finding a system that works. :bigups I can only imagine how beneficial that "system" is when dealing on a fleet account, in terms of time savings at the barest of minimums. :)
 
I'm fairly certain that my problem isn't in the wash method. In fact I have actually seen the marring appear and increase as I have run the towel over the paint. I have even watched a fairly plush MF towel do this to the Audi after a wax job. I wondered if I was making the lines in the paint or in fact the layer of wax, as they are extremely fine lines.

I'm going to look into the de-ionized water idea. It's water spot time again here in Florida, and if I can find a way to let the thing air dry with no spots, it would be worth the extra expense in water.

I currently use city/county water with Simoniz spray wax mixed in. The water can still spot if I don't get it wiped quick enough, but the spots come up much easier.
 
I have seen the same problem. DOes it go away with teh heat and then a wash?

One of the things I do is pre spray my drying ww with pb sg, and then spray the panel with sg and use it as a drying agent.
 
I used to dry with WW towels and noticed the same thing.....it marked up the car. I quit using them alltogether but possibly they just weren't very good quality to begin with. I never bought any more so can't really compare.
 
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