Two questions:
1) Do you use a single 4x4 suede cloth to coat the whole car? If not, approximately how many do you need?
2) Approximately many microfiber towels do you use for leveling? And can these used microfiber towels be washed and reused?
I typically use 2~3 on a small/medium car.
You can use one side to do say half the hood, then turn it over and do the other half. You can also rotate it 90° on the foam block.
Some folks actually cover the foam block with a glove so that product doesn't soak into it. I have a similar block, one of my wife's makeup thingy's, that one is inside a glove because more of it is soft than the thin soft foam on the side of the CarPro block.
With the CarPro blocks I just wash them good when I'm done. Been using 3 of them for 3 years now. (2016 will be 4)
The *key* when applying your coating(s) with the suede method is that you get a better, more evenly distributed product application. Much MUCH better than if you're using a round foam applicator (like the yellow ones you'll find on AG and at the parts stores). And also IMHO an easier, (and thinner) application than if you're using the yellow wedge Lake Country applicator. That one uses a LOT of product, and can soak up as much inside the foam as you'll use on half a SUV.
The trick when using ANY applicator when putting a coating on is to keep a keen eye on it, looking for any contamination, or even a minute bit of dirt or trash (like you'll find around chrome trim, window trim, rain drip moldings, marker lights, you name it). So when you're using the block and suede you have a controlled area of applicator and you can see anything that shows up on it. Like I said earlier... you can flip it, and turn it. Just keep a SHARP EYE out for any bits of dirt or compound that might have been hiding in a crack or crevice.
THIS is why I like buying the 10 pack of 16" square ones and cutting them. I mean heck... if I were paying $1.299 EACH for a little 4" cloth I'd want to use it for as long as humanly possible. But at 12¢ you can use TEN on a vehicle for what one 'pre cut' one costs. Another thing about the suede cloths is you can use them to apply the coating in tight areas once they get a little dirt on them and you don't want to put them on wide open, perfectly corrected paint.
You can do your plastic trim, reach into and around mirror trim and edges, windshield edges, around the cowling, all over the wiper arms and blades, literally everywhere you can fold one and stuff it into.
For instance; I just ordered a bottle of GTechniq C4, which is pretty darned expensive. Don't want to be wasting that stuff.
With the little suede cloths you can use drops at a time and reach exactly where you want to cover. Of course they also work great with Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant (WETS).
Some may scream sacrilege here.... :laughing: but sometimes I'll take a used one, that has dried coating on it and soak a part of it with WETS (or the old version of Ultima Tire and Trim Guard Plus (UTTGP) and reach into/and around all the little fins on a cowling, or under the hood part of the cowling, and around the jambs where there is plastic that you'd put trim sealant on. They work great each and every time. And THEN it's time to throw them away. (
Not that I keep all my used ones of course... that'd be just crazy... :laughing: Just that if I've been using them, and go to do some exterior trim, or trim in a jamb somewhere, I have no problem using that little piece of suede cloth sitting there that was used earlier in the day to apply coating.)
Moving on.....
How many towels to 'knock down' the high spots? Usually 2, maybe 3 is all you'll need. Maybe even the 'short' side of the towel IF IT IS A CLEAN, SOFT, QUALITY, towel. (
I most often use what AG calls the Gold Plush Jr's, although mine came from elsewhere.)
Same towel, different seller. Good thing now though is the retail pricing at AG has them for close to what that 'other place' does, (
even less when there's a 15% off sale and free shipping).
More fun though to buy a case at wholesale, that's only 180 in a case. :laughing:
What you want to be most critical of is use your towels from the TOP down. Like I said, you can even use the short side to knock down any larger, more obvious areas that are flashing/flashed. (
Which is when it's 'fresh' and before it starts to really cure.) That's not to say that you'll do your complete wipe with the short side though! For your final wipe you'll want to always use the long side, always. You can still use the 360 GSM type, or move up to a higher, thicker towel. There is a 530 one that I like (it's baby blue) but the 360's will work just fine.
Moving back to working from the top down. This is just as you would when washing, and drying, and applying spray waxes, sealants as well. The top is just cleaner, which means your towels are cleaner. (
SAME THING for the suede applicators, keep that in mind.)
So 2~3 towels to knock down the high spots. You can flip those over and use the long side to do your final wipe. If you use the long side to knock the high spots, just be aware of what you did with which towel. You don't want to be using towels too long with some coatings as they've been known to have the coating itself 'dry' in the towel and it's possible to end up with it scratching the paint. Not that all coatings will, nor that all towels will, just be aware that there is a possibility of it happening.
YES you can wash and reuse your towels after doing a coating. That is unless the coating manufacturer says otherwise. Although you DO want to soak them in a good All Purpose Cleaner (APC) as you go through them during the process. IOW's... use one, then toss it in a bucket with APC. Don't have to wash them right away, but considering you've done a wash, paint decontamination, compounding step, polishing step, coating step, final trim step, wiping/cleaning jambs, interior, etc....
you should by this time have a decent washer load. Having the coating towels pre-soaking in APC prior to dumping them in your washer is just going to make sure they are as clean as they can be.
By "decent washer load" I'm saying that going through a multi-day, multi-step process you should be using a LOT of towels. Compounding should use - 8~12 minimum, Polishing - 6~8, Paint Cleansing Polish/Lotion - as many as 1 per small panel, 2~3 for hood, 2 for roof, 3 for each side etc. minimum (8~12), Panel wipe with something like Eraser or a home-brew panel wipe solution, Another 6~10, Coating knock-down - 3, coating final wipe 3~4.
It is NOT uncommon to use AT LEAST 2 dozen, more like 3 dozen towels doing a multi-step, multi-day project, so keep that in mind. Both when buying, AND using your favorite towels. This is why it was SUCH GOOD NEWS to see AG finally come onboard a few months ago with attractive pricing on microfiber towels for those that are not buying by the case. :dblthumb2:
FWIW:
(
Some of the 'pro' versions of coatings through the years have even said to toss towels once they've been used to wipe down a coating. That's not the norm so much, but it has happened. Of course that'd be hard with a $8.95 towel, but if you're charging $695~$1995 to do a paint correction and coating, then what's a few towels?) :laughing: Of course you're buying those $9 towels at a fraction of that price (like by the case) by the time you're in the realm of $2K for a paint correction so it's a moot point.
Said a lot to say nothing there huh. :laughing:
Basically, this is your answer.
- Suede applicator cloths --- 2~3 per coating application (can get 2 coats out of 3~4 applicators with most vehicles)
- Knock down towels --------2~3 per coating application, per vehicle (perhaps short side for knock down/long side for wiping)
- Final wipe towels ---------- 3~4 per coating application, per vehicle
- Reusing towels ------------ YES you can reuse your coating towels, PROVIDING you didn't let them sit for hours/days/weeks after wiping coating.
(Where if you buy the pre-cut 4" cloths you'll pay $12.99 for TEN!!!!!!) I'm sorry... but $1.29 per cloth, versus 12.4¢... I'll break out the SCISSORS! :laughing: Heck... I even have some nice 'pinking shears' that give me that fancy zig-zag edge. You can even go to the cloth or hobby store and buy scissors that have a cut profile in all sorts of shapes. (Including the scalloped edge of the CarPro cloths.) 
