Best - softest NON-LINTING MF towel?

PDC

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Looking for the ‘current’ best / softest MF towel that will NOT leave lint all over the paint. Particularly - what seems to be the current consensus best choice for leveling high spots as ceramic flashes? I can imagine the nightmare that a linting MF towel would cause while buffing out / leveling ceramic during application.

Thoughts. Recommendations?

PS - used a light spray based ceramic for the first time ever on the suv last fall. Very pleased - but after a pretty rough winter, it has accumulated some light toweling marks. I understand I will need to use a physical polish to remove the ceramic in order to correct and re-apply? Recommendations on what product to use to remove a DIY ceramic is greatly appreciated.
 
My favorite towel for that purpose is Gyeon Bald Wipe. Not cheap but it's a really good performer.

Any polish with a polishing pad should take care of removing the coating and fixing the marring caused by washing.
 
What wash process did you use that caused the marring?
 
Here lately...
•Whenever non-linting situations have
come under the spotlight...I’ve used the
below locally and readily available towels:
-resulting in a state of unimpeachable
lint-freeness, as it were.

3M Perfect-It III Detailing Cloths
Turtle Wax Premium Microfiber Towels


Note:
YMMV


Bob
 
What wash process did you use that caused the marring?

Hand wash with super thick MF washing sponge and blot dry with double thick MF drying towel.

This brings up an interesting observation - all the metal panels ( hood, doors, roof, trunk, fenders ...) look just about as good as the day I coated them. What I have noticed is that the painted plastic rear apron and front end really show light toweling marks even after careful, thorough correction and the same ceramic coating. Even when I had used traditional sealants I noticed that the painted plastic rear apron and front end always seemed much more prone to showing light toweling marks than the painted metal panels. Not sure if that is due to a different chemical make-up of the paint used for plastic body panels? Back in the day, they used to add a ‘flex agent’ to the paint used for endura or urethane pieces. Perhaps that additional ‘softness’ to the paint makes it more susceptible to scratching?
 
Here lately...
•Whenever non-linting situations have
come under the spotlight...I’ve used the
below locally and readily available towels:
-resulting in a state of unimpeachable
lint-freeness, as it were.

3M Perfect-It III Detailing Cloths
Turtle Wax Premium Microfiber Towels


Note:
YMMV


Bob

Thank you! I will definitely look into these - along with the Geyon Bald Wipes.
 
Mike seems to always use those Bald Wipes and I'm sure it's for a reason.


The GYEON Bald Wipes are soft but they are also STOUT. They work best for chemically stripping scratch-sensistive clearcoat paints with a panel wipe. Panel Wipes, that is solvents, by thier very nature don't tend to be GREAT lubricants. Towels that are limp and soft might be great for the final buff of a ceramic coating or when removing waxes or sealants, but they tend to roll-over themselves when used with solvents on car paint. Not so with the Bald Wipes. So I use them and teach using them for chemically stripping paint before installing a ceramic coating.

For just about anything else paint-related, I call these my Paint Care Towels.


From this article,

How to safely wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips - Traditional Hose & Bucket Approach



2: Second secret = ALWAYS inspect your towels before use.
That was the Pro Tip I shared in my first newsletter. In my opinion, inspecting ANY towel or anything that is going to touch your car's paint is the most important thing you can do. Like my saying goes,

It takes hours to buff out a car and only seconds to put swirls and scratches into the paint -Mike Phillips


In the picture below, there is a stack of 12 Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber towels, a quart of BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating Wash and to the right side of the car wash is a Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts . I love these towels for washing a car using this one-towel-per-panel car wash approach. If you don't want to use this approach then the Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts are also very good but ONLY if you know 100% they are clean and un-contaminated.

Also - if you're going to use the microfiber chenille wash mitts, Autogeek sells the good ones, not the cheapie mitts you see everywhere else. The difference is with the mitts we sell - you can wash them and dry them in your washer and dryer and they won't fall apart. The cheapie mitts simply fall apart. When you purchase this style of mitt, get the 4-pack each time you order them and this way you will ALWAYS have clean backup mitts in-case you drop your current mitt on the ground or in some other way it become contaminated or tatty. Remember - every time you wash or TOUCH your car's paint the things that touch it MUST be clean and soft otherwise you will put scratches into your car's clearcoat finish and this will happen even if your car has a ceramic coating.



Forrest Green Edgeless Microfiber Towels - BLACKFIRE Pro Ceramic Coating Wash - Grey Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt

Pro_Ceramic_Coating_Wash_001.JPG




Before inspecting and folding any towels - FIRST clean off your workbench or table top. It doesn't do any good to inspect towels on a dirty surface.

cleanTstorage_01.JPG




Once your work area is clean, now place your towels fresh out of the dryer on the clean surface for inspection and folding.

Pro_Ceramic_Coating_Wash_002.JPG




Wash your hands too - always WORK CLEAN!

Pro_Ceramic_Coating_Wash_003.JPG




Inspect your towels with your eyes and your sense of touch. Be sure to inspect both sides of your towels. Then fold and store in a clean place.

Pro_Ceramic_Coating_Wash_004.JPG




At a minimum, you will want and need 12 towels to wash your coated car. Order extras - you can never have too many high quality towels.

Pro_Ceramic_Coating_Wash_005.JPG




Store in a clean place
If you don't have a clean cupboard to dedicate for towel storage then get some type of storage container that has a lid. Think of your towels as TOOLS. Take care of your tools like a Master Mechanic takes care of their tools.

cleanTstorage_02.JPG


cleanTstorage_03.JPG


cleanTstorage_04.JPG




I'm in the middle of washing TONS of towels after the boat detailing class. Love the Forrest Green Edgeless Towels. Simple. Flat weave design. Harder to contaminate than a fluffy towel this makes them safer over time. I do not see them leave lint.


:)
 
I would say use multiple mitts at every wash even if you don’t think you have to. It’s just cheap insurance. I use six normally and have enjoyed marring free results for years.
 
PS - used a light spray based ceramic for the first time ever on the suv last fall. Very pleased - but after a pretty rough winter, it has accumulated some light toweling marks. I understand I will need to use a physical polish to remove the ceramic in order to correct and re-apply? Recommendations on what product to use to remove a DIY ceramic is greatly appreciated.


If you used a spray ceramic and you see no water beading nor sheeting this spring then that coating is just gone. So using any polish compound of your choice should remove those toweling marks. And if you are using good MF towels and properly washed then they will not lint. Nor will they mar the paint unless something is trapped in the towel as Mike demonstrated looking for in those photos. Carpro Essence Plus is good to renew the coatings if still present and take away minor blemishes. Read about that in the AG descriptions. As to towels, I have used AG brands, Gyeon, plus the Rag Company towels found here in AG store.
 
And if you are still getting marring after using new towels, it’s probably wash technique/ choice of wash media creating the marring before you get to the drying stage.
 
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