Mitts, dry towels, microfiber cloths

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mwemaxxowner

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I am currently educating myself on which products to buy to best care for my truck, chemical wise, but in the meantime I want to make sure I have the proper mitts, towels, etc since they actually contact the surface.

Are all microfiber products created equal? I am currently using an absorber cloth to dry, followed by microfiber towels I picked up at Walmart.

I'm also using a microfiber wash mitt, but it seems to be hard to get stuff out of it after it picks it up. I do rinse the mitt off with the hose and dunk it in a clean water bucket before it goes into the wash solution. I wonder if I need to look at wool mitts?

I also plan to order a nanoskin fine mitt to use now and then instead of claying. Or to cut down on claying frequency at least. If I need better products to apply stuff to the truck, let me know what might be best, and I can go ahead and order those while I figure out what polishes, waxes, etc I need to buy to care for my new black truck, and repair the fine scratching done by careless cotton washes at the dealer.

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mwemaxxowner said:
Are all microfiber products created equal? I am currently using an absorber cloth to dry, followed by microfiber towels I picked up at Walmart.
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No, not all are equal. There's often a very big difference between cheap and very good. It's important to buy a good set of drying towels and use proper technique as that's often where most marring, especially on dark colors, is introduced. Use of a nice detail mist/drying aid is recommend too. Lots here like Meg's D114. I most always do a rinseless wash but when I do use a hose, I mix up a higher concentration of Wolfgang Uber Rinseless and use it as a drying aid.

Spray the surfaces with the aid, and use the "blotting" technique for the first pass. Any remaining little traces of water or spots will come out on the final pass whereby you use a gloss enhancer/detail mist and a second/new drying towell. For the first towel, I use a larger one. Second pass I use 16x16 nice plush ones. Key too is to dampen the towel too. Never wipe a dry towel across that finish. Here again is where either Megs D114 or a Rinseless product comes in handy as they are excellent at lubricating things.

I'm also using a microfiber wash mitt, but it seems to be hard to get stuff out of it after it picks it up. I do rinse the mitt off with the hose and dunk it in a clean water bucket before it goes into the wash solution. I wonder if I need to look at wool mitts?
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Can't help you with mitts as when washing I use individual 480GMS MF Towels. I do this with both rinseless and hose/bucket washing. I buy the higher quality ones and can go through a number of them when washing without issue or care as they wash up beautifully to be used over and over.

I also plan to order a nanoskin fine mitt to use now and then instead of claying. Or to cut down on claying frequency at least. If I need better products to apply stuff to the truck, let me know what might be best, and I can go ahead and order those while I figure out what polishes, waxes, etc I need to buy to care for my new black truck, and repair the fine scratching done by careless cotton washes at the dealer.
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I'm old-school clay guy but I'm sure the mitts work too. I would also recommend a chemical decontamination too. Something like CarPro IronX or TRIX. I use the latter for ease of use on both gunk like tar and sap and then iron that has settled into the paint. Will make a HUGE difference when it comes to keeping your pads clean when buffing.
 
I really have to work on drying. If I wash it all and then dry, drying has already begun and watersports have set in. When I do a bit at a time, washing the next panel gets over spray on the dry panel(s) and I'm back at square one. I'm going to place an order for, at least, some drying towels and wash mitt once I sort that out, and some drying aids or rinseless wash.

As to the chemical decontamination, I know zero about that. But I have downloaded one of Mike's books and may dive in tonight.

I'm considering going with a good rinse with the electric pressure washer, foam it, then do a quick rinseless wash (they don't dry so fast, right?) Then blow it off with a leaf blower, then set in with some sort of drying aid or qd and a good dry towel(s).

After I get all the spiderweb scratching polished out.
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mwemaxxowner said:
I really have to work on drying. If I wash it all and then dry, drying has already begun and watersports have set in. When I do a bit at a time, washing the next panel gets over spray on the dry panel(s) and I'm back at square one. I'm going to place an order for, at least, some drying towels and wash mitt once I sort that out, and some drying aids or rinseless wash.
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Yeah, that's what always bothered me about doing a traditional wash, just chasing my tail trying to keep already washed panels wet. I think that is why I mostly rinseless wash even if I have access to water. I do wheel the wheel area first then pre rinse the vehicle, then rinseless a panel of two at time. Spray wax as I dry the panel, if I'm going that route, then move on to the next panel/panels. I will also clay durning that process for each panel if I am doing it. That doesn't give the wash product much time to dry and works for me.

If you want to decontaminate and want to avoid marring as much as possible from claying, Chemicaly decontaminate first. Do something like; wash and rinse, use something like Carpros TarX, the follow up with IronX, then clay. This will help remove some contamination, and hopefully make less work for the clay. Just glide the clay product over the surface with very little pressure, while listening and feeling to see if the clay has done doing its work.

I've got some RUPES M101 and M707 on the way to try out. From what Todd@Rupes says, M101 rinses very well, even if left till the end to rinse.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...r-maintenance-wash-carnauba-wash-*new*-2.html
 
Use The Cheep Wally World towels on Interior dash, and cleaning Headliner. A good Quality Waffle weave towel works great for drying. You can buy one of those fancy Blow dryer to dry you car, but your neighboors may look at you funny.
 
Mantilgh said:
Yeah, that's what always bothered me about doing a traditional wash, just chasing my tail trying to keep already washed panels wet. I think that is why I mostly rinseless wash even if I have access to water. I do wheel the wheel area first then pre rinse the vehicle, then rinseless a panel of two at time. Spray wax as I dry the panel, if I'm going that route, then move on to the next panel/panels. I will also clay durning that process for each panel if I am doing it. That doesn't give the wash product much time to dry and works for me.

If you want to decontaminate and want to avoid marring as much as possible from claying, Chemicaly decontaminate first. Do something like; wash and rinse, use something like Carpros TarX, the follow up with IronX, then clay. This will help remove some contamination, and hopefully make less work for the clay. Just glide the clay product over the surface with very little pressure, while listening and feeling to see if the clay has done doing its work.

I've got some RUPES M101 and M707 on the way to try out. From what Todd@Rupes says, M101 rinses very well, even if left till the end to rinse.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...r-maintenance-wash-carnauba-wash-*new*-2.html
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Ahhh. One of my next questions is why rinseless washes seem to be all the rage here.

I live at a pretty secluded spot surrounded by trees. No neighbors can see me using a blower on my truck 😊.

I'm not sure if I will try to tackle polishing the light scratching out myself, or if I'll try to have professionals correct it first, then do my due diligence to keep it that way. Via foam cannons, rinseless wash, good washing and drying products, etc.



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mwemaxxowner said:
Ahhh. One of my next questions is why rinseless washes seem to be all the rage here.
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Will only speak for myself but the reason I use Rinseless is that I truly believe it's safer and better overall. It's also far faster for me. Less fuss, etc. I can knock out my car including a detailed cleaning of the wheels in one hour.
 
I'll have to taste the coolaid. It takes forever to wash my truck the way I've been doing it. Any specific brand?

This is a truck, and will be used as such. It isn't a show car, so I don't necessarily have to have the best money can buy. But I want good stuff with a good bang for buck value. In ten years it's going to have some character marks. There will be no way around it.

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OP read this. Very very helpful in learning about MF.

http://www.incrediblydetailed.com/microfiber-manifesto-everything-need-know-microfiber-towels/

Invest in some waffle weave drying towels maybe 2-3 of them to dry car. Use plush MF for quick detailing and other just normal MF for wheels and stuff. I recommend splitting up your loads with paint sensitive towels vs wheel and interior and other towels. I wash my window towels with my paint sensitive


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Awesome! Thanks, I'll check it out tonight, and probably order some stuff.

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I would get 3-4 waffle weaves I lean twoards more since my truck wich is an extended cab shortbed I can dry about 3/4 of the way with 2 25x36 waffle weave towels before needing to grab another and thats just the body and glass not the wheels. For a waterless wash I like ONR It's really nice to make qd out of 2oz makes a whole gallon of quick detailer. I prefer to wash with soap and water with a chinelle microfiber mit with a high quality soap on my daily drivers because in Indiana cars get pretty dirty. For show cars or a nice enviorment though I do like rinsless.
 
OTOH... once ypu have a good layer of LSP (especially if that is a coating) you can dry 99.5% of ALL water off with a blower. :-)

I dry CarMomma's big ol' SUV with a blower, which keeps me from having to touch the paint (and induce swirls) and in a lot less time than a towel. :D
 
cardaddy said:
OTOH... once ypu have a good layer of LSP (especially if that is a coating) you can dry 99.5% of ALL water off with a blower. :-)

I dry CarMomma's big ol' SUV with a blower, which keeps me from having to touch the paint (and induce swirls) and in a lot less time than a towel. :D
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That's what I was hoping. Once the paint is corrected and waxed well, that it'll dry much easier. At that point I may foam, rinseless wash, then blow dry. Once in a while really roll my sleeves up when it's time to treat my girls to a night out.

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mwemaxxowner said:
That's what I was hoping. Once the paint is corrected and waxed well, that it'll dry much easier. At that point I may foam, rinseless wash, then blow dry. Once in a while really roll my sleeves up when it's time to treat my girls to a night out.

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If you *DO* coat it... you will find that it not only doesn't get as dirty as easily.... but.... it washes much more easily as well.

If mine isn't dirty from road grime, (not driving in the rain for instance) but it's just a bit dusty after a weeks driving. I'll hit it with the lil' 1700PSI electric pressure washer, then foam it, let it dwell while I foam the entire thing, rinse with the PW, foam again, rinse over it with the PW, then pull the hose and rinse with flooding and NEVER touch it with a mitt. (My favorite for my Infiniti is a Merino Wool mitt.)

Then I can blow dry it and like I said, 99.5% of the water is gone. I'll take some Aquawax (on all the other's except my Infiniti) or on my car some WG Deep Gloss Spritz Sealant and lightly hit those spots that have any water remaining and call it done.

Saves me a TON of time that way.

FWIW, I always do a complete wheel, tire, and wheel well cleaning. That takes a good 12~15 minutes per wheel. So the idea that I can rinse twice, foam twice, and blow dry is something that I take kindly to. :D :dblthumb2:
 
Oh it'll definitely get SOME sort of wax or sealant, just not sure what yet. Until I came here I was going to use meguiars tech wax or rejex.

I've already washed and clayed it once, then used meguiars polish, then mother's cleaner wax. I should have used a finishing wax, because I am already no longer really seeing evidence that it was waxed. It did shine nice though. Looked super clean.

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The swirls and light surface scratches still showed (show) in direct sunlight though.

Basically, I have a brand new $40,000 truck. I feel it should look brand new. Not slightly flawed. Even if that only shows when the light hits it just right.

I almost took it to the dealer to have them correct it, but I honestly didn't want them touching it again.I won't let them wash it after services either.

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At minimal, try the edgless. They are well above the cheap stuff from big box stores in terms of quality. Save those rags for dirty/all-purpose jobs.

I use the edgeless on my paint. We have 3 Subaru's in our family, and these do well on the sensitive finish.

For drying, I've tried all sorts. Got several waffle weaves; different thickness & brands. Even a few spa & show horse versions. In the end, I'm very happy with the two-towel method; one damp/wrung out & one (or two) buffing towels. For that, I like the rolled edge.

Not only affordable, but both towels are excellent for rinseless & waterless as well. With frequent sales on AG, they're tough to beat.

Personally, I'd say try as many as you can. What works for others might not work for you. Quite a few samples - with glowing reviews - ended up being awkward for my liking. The only way to be sure is to give as many as you can a go. If finance is tight, you could always do some trading at the samples thread.
 
Welcome to the world of owning a pickup with dark paint.

Don't be afraid of tackling the polishing yourself. Do some research, and you'll have no problem. I just did my wife's car last weekend. I plan on tackling my truck this week.
 
pilotpip said:
Welcome to the world of owning a pickup with dark paint.

Don't be afraid of tackling the polishing yourself. Do some research, and you'll have no problem. I just did my wife's car last weekend. I plan on tackling my truck this week.
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The biggest hesitation to not wanting to polish myself was having to buy a polisher I'd rarely use. Now that I know of one I can borrow, that is changing.

Money isn't necessarily all that tight, but I don't wanna waste money buying a ton of towels or products that don't get used either. It adds up quick. But, then again, over the life of the truck it'll be important.

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