Guys talking Towels - Bulk or One Off - Good Bad or Ugly

[tnecniv]

Anyone using BOAs for wax removal on dark cars?

Are they linting like crazy? Mine do. While I like the towels, they lint terribly every time I use them with any oily type wax. So much for Korean MF. I'll take the AG Cobra 600s every time for the no-lint option.

My BOAs actually lint on my WHITE car using Optimum Car Wax!

 

[cardaddy]

I've fallen in love with the purple ones here. Supreme I think they are. They are super soft and they have two different nap lengths. They are the only towels that touch my paint. I use the longer side for qd and sprays and the shorter side for removal of product. I have some if the 530s but just don't feel the same to me.

My go to wash mitt is the CG dread style (lime green). I bought one to try a few months back and have recently ordered 2 more. Super soft and the old one, other than a ever so slight color change, feels still just as soft.

The inside gets a wide variety of towels but still all mf. I have the golds and some generic Cobra ones that came in a box package. I think yellow, green, and a weird blue one. The yellow I use on plastic, green on glass, and golds on nav screen and gauge cluster. Stuff that might scratch but I don't want scratched.

Those weird blue ones puzzle me. Only one side is usable. The edges are rolled under and no backing or anything and no nap on the back. I never had a good chore for them so I relegated then to wheel duty. Mainly the final wipes and removal of excess dressings.

Drying is a head scratcher for me. I have the Cobra weave ones. They work fine but just don't feel soft like I would expect. They honestly feel almost like my old megs drying towel. I use the Cobra because it's new. I started using a leaf blower some but don't always dry out all in time without spots. I mainly blow the crevices and wipe the rest.

My friends get to use my old supreme shines and megs mitts when I do there cars. They are still fine but I think I've graduated. Really prefer the feel of my others.

I have some really old (5 year) mothers towels that are strictly for exterior plastic and tire dressing wiping. As these age I plan for the golds to move into that spot.

This whole idea of "generic" towels really doesn't exist. Almost ALL TOWELS are either coming from China or Korea. Then (insert your name brand here, or website name here) puts their name on them. Whether that be zoomba, or shazam, or slitherin, or solid gold unobtainium. I have some from names that have been mentioned that once the tag has been taken off, they've been washed, then mixed with others.... I challenge anyone to tell that they are "XYZ" name brand. That is not to say that SOME are so inherently different that they stand clear as THAT towel, from THAT website. Of course they do. But by and large many of them are the same, or at least so close to the same that spending 20%, 40%, 100% even 200% or in some instances 400% more just doesn't make sense. :doh:

I agree, the perfect drying towel is a bit of a misnomer at best. I have several of the Cobra Guzzler HD's (foam core units) and they'll dry like nobody's business. Those suckers (get it.... suckers) will SOAK UP SOME WATER! But I'd rather have a more flexible towel for drying, like a lighter weight waffle weave.

Being as I blow dry everything I really don't need much to finish drying. Then when I do it's with a drying agent like Megs 156 or DG 951 both of which provide EXCELLENT slickness, gloss, and eliminate any water spots what so ever. The waffle weaves that are down in the 300 to 350 gsm range work great for drying like this. Although I'll just use the short side of a 360 or a 530 that has been dampened a bit and get great results every time.

The AG Cobra 530's were the first towels I ever bought from AG a couple of years ago now. Not bad, and have held up well over the years. Although now I tend to like another 530 better, they come in blue with black borders. The loops are shorter on both sides, but imo a bit denser, and the thread is definitely softer. Never mind they run less than half the cost!

The purple 600's I've not tried, but I'm a big fan of duo-plush in both 600 & 700 weights. I've not had a problem with any 75/25 duo-plush towel with the "hand drag" test no matter if it says "Korean fabric" or not. What causes the hand to drag is the construction, and being more of a split end versus closed loop design.

 

[cardaddy]

I have a lot of different towels from a lot of different vendors. Without getting into towels not sold at AG, I honestly think the best ALL AROUND paint towel is the purple 600gsm Cobra sold at AG.

It doesn't scratch or lint. I have some that have been washed many many times and they hold up very well. You can use them to buff anything off paint - and they have MF edges. You can use them for waterless or rinseless washes. Even the color holds up well after many washings.

If someone was looking for one towel to do everything on paint - I would get these. They aren't cheap , but they are good.

What if I may ask have you found the difference to be between the AG 600 Cobra and say MFT's 600 duo-plush? I ask because I don't have the 600's, only the 700's, and they are EXCELLENT towels.

I do see that you mentioned MF edges, so that's rather than silk I take it?

If we are to believe, we should always be putting mega numbered super thick ultra high GSM towels on our paint, or nothing at all. So what could the GSM figure of the border possibly be that'd make it safe to put to paint? (Insert irony here.)

I am a proponent of segregating towels for specific uses, and am always on the hunt for new and different towels. Will focus on just a few.

Polish removal: My favorite here are the AG purple 600's, with the AG grey 530's a close second. Solid towels, middle range price, which is about $5-7 in my book. On AG for 3/$20, better with 15 or 20% off. I haven't used these for anything else, but given the quality they would likely work well for wax removal or QD.

Wax/sealant removal - MM crazy pile are far and away the best. And priced like it. Premium price - $11 each.

Sacrificial towels (wheels, engine, degreasing). Non-paint. Everyone should have some of the Costo golds. Super cheap price category. My marketing slogan for these would be "the best towels that you won't care about trashing." Great for waterless midweek wheel touchup.

As I was typing this, the doorbell rang and the mailwoman handed me a package from MF Tech with some Korean 470's, the dual colored blue/grey 700's (China), and some of their 360's (China). Almost like Christmas over here. Will update this later after playing with them.

The friend/girl told me I should go to MF anonymous or some sort of support group. I guess that's what you all are for. My name is Ryan, and I am an addict. Where's the free coffee and donuts.

Ryan I will agree, YOU my friend are always up to something with towels. You were SO NICE IN FACT that in the last thread where we were talking OPENLY about such trivial things as "Microfiber Towels" that you sent me two of the ones we had been talking about FOR FREE!
OMG, what happened there, FREE TOWELS? Surely you didn't sell them, that'd be a bad boy. Imagine my surprise when in walked CarMomma from the mail box with a package.
Then sure enough, inside was not one, but two towels for me to try. Do know sir that yes I do appreciate you sending me a "Shaggy Dog" as well as the "DETAIL MASTER™ PRO Eagle Edgeless Orange" just so that I could compare them to some I had here.

And little did you know (because the package hasn't arrived at your place yet) but CarMomma sent you out a "Extra Fluffy Korean Detail Towel 470 GSM" along with a "Extra Fluffy Microfiber Quick Detail & Waterless Wash Cloth 700 GSM".

Perhaps we can both compare one to another and come up with thoughts on one versus the other.

Right off the bat I can figure out why the "Shaggy Dog" has been discontinued. That was/is in fact a Korean towel. Don't know what happened in the design of it, but the name belies the fact that it indeed does feel like a shaggy dog. CarMomma said just that when she felt it, "Feels like a dog that needs a bath" were her exact words. Then again, that is only I think a 360gsm towel.

The other one, obviously from The Rag Company and one that has been highly regarded as of late, especially by "Junkman" (amongst others) seems a bit interesting.

Although I cannot for the life of me see where it being only 30 GSM more in weight than the aforementioned "Extra Fluffy Korean Detail Towel 470 GSM" could possibly cost more than a couple bucks more per towel, and quite possibly twice as much (were one buying in bulk). (Seems there is a price break at one site around 30 units which would really help. Although I've been notified that new pricing can be had if you spend $200 or more, yet that pricing hasn't been posted so I guess it is a real life guessing game.) :dunno: Still not enough for me personally to spend 45%~125% (or more) per towel.

Do look forward to comparing the two however. Thank you again Ryan for the free towels. :dblthumb2:

 

[Rmd]

Tony, happy to send the towels. You are also a towel fiend, so the resulting conversation and information exchange is worth much more to me and to others than the $10 or so I paid for the towels I sent you. And thanks for sending me your towels for free. Wasn't expected or even contemplated.

The car momma's quote is classic. I recall describing those towels as "mange-y dog" in our PM's but the dog in need of a bath line is even more spot on. I can see why those were discontinued. AG sells an edgeless grey towel in a similar weight and I would be interested to see how those compare. I would expect they are much higher quality given the price.

The RagCo comments were mine via PM as you know, and post-Junkman their pricing structure, specifically the wholesale program, is quite different than before that event. Don't really feel that I should go into it on this forum, but suffice to say, I am disappointed. A little math reveals that a free shipping option at web price vs. a previous wholesale price averaging 50% of web price doesn't pencil.

 

[cardaddy]

Tony they are 350"s here at ag but at another site they are 360 I have some from both and they are within a few pennies of each other if I catch a sale here.

can"t tell the difference between the two they are constructed the same and work and feel the same.......like I said when AG has a good sale I always pick up some here.

Tim, are the ones you are talking about being 360's coming from the east or west coast? Honestly we don't have rules forbidding where we buy towels, nor discussing where we buy towels, just that we don't post direct website links, nor their pricing. (Although it seems somebody got upset with our previous discussion.)

I'm just trying to figure out which ones we're talking about.

I haven't gotten many towels that I absolutely love yet (I don't have that many, compared to you guys at least), but I want to warn you guys about the RED 300 GSM Eurows (I got them from Amazon). I got interested in them because I thought they were the ones that Larry@AMMO uses.
While they aren't horrible, the edges are crappy and curl like crazy. And my biggest gripe about the red is.. ALL of my other towels and even polishing pads have turned red/pink from the dye just from sitting in a bucket with OPC together.
I put them them through multiple washes by themselves before I used them and they still stain my other towels/pads.

Thanks for the heads up! :dblthumb2:
Although RED isn't exactly the most colorfast cloth out there. My wife hates washing red so badly that if one of us have bought something red sometimes it'd go months after buying before we could get her to wash it the first time. Her excuse.... "I was trying to get a full load of REDS together."

BOY did I just make BIG booboo.........

just pulled a load of gp towels out of the dryer.......evidently I put some towels that where dropped in a pile of sawdust in the hamper(thought I tossed them) anyways I have about 50-75 towels that will be hitting the trash.

well guess I'll be scrambling up some new ones.

Oh my LORD!!!!!!!!! Please tell me you're pulling our legs, it's not April Fools yet Tim.
OTOH, DO NOT trash them. Try brushing them, lint roller, power brush, fingernail picking, you name it. CarMomma said wash them again.

After that, what about.... Interior jobs, wheels, bumpers.

Then finally; you can always cut them into little scraps for applying exterior trim sealant, making MF applicators for waxes, paint sealants, you name it.

Bottom line however it I am REALLY sorry you had a boo boo brother, man that stinks!

 

[Kamakaz1961]

Anyone using BOAs for wax removal on dark cars?

Are they linting like crazy? Mine do. While I like the towels, they lint terribly every time I use them with any oily type wax. So much for Korean MF. I'll take the AG Cobra 600s every time for the no-lint option.

I have a Black 2013 Mustang GT and use the Aqua Blue MF towels for wax removal. I have no lint issue and have been using them for over 6 -9 Months. AGO's Gold Jr is good too, however, I prefer the Aqua Blue as it is actually softer than the Gold Jr (IMO).

The Aqua Blue is manufactured in Korea not China. IMO any MF towels manufactured in Korea are better quality overall. As for where I get them it is on a different site and 2 sites sells them. I only use Korean manufactured waffle weave towels too as they are very absorbent and do a great job of drying. Again, all this IMO and from experience with several different brands of towels made in China or Korea.

I get other products from AGO as they are great....I do not get any of their MF towels anymore. FYI

 

[cardaddy]

I have a Black 2013 Mustang GT and use the Aqua Blue MF towels for wax removal. I have no lint issue and have been using them for over 6 -9 Months. AGO's Gold Jr is good too, however, I prefer the Aqua Blue as it is actually softer than the Gold Jr (IMO).

The Aqua Blue is manufactured in Korea not China. IMO any MF towels manufactured in Korea are better quality overall. As for where I get them it is on a different site and 2 sites sells them. I only use Korean manufactured waffle weave towels too as they are very absorbent and do a great job of drying. Again, all this IMO and from experience with several different brands of towels made in China or Korea.

I get other products from AGO as they are great....I do not get any of their MF towels anymore. FYI

Yeah, now if someone wanted to let me compare that MM 500 to a Korean 500 and a Korean 470 I'd put them through their paces for sure. Yet I can't imagine a place this side of the Good Lord's Blue Heaven where a German towel that costs 4 times as much as one Korean, and twice as much as the other could possibly be that much, (or half that much) better in performance, construction, durability, shedding, longevity, (you name it).

I received a sample of a 400'gsm that's built like your typical 360 or 530, short nap - long nap. It is however from very fine thread and built to be much softer than the same thread as your typical 360, just crammed into a towel to be a 400. I'm thinking about ordering some of them though as they only have a few thousand and may not be getting more in later. (They ARE NOT on any website.) Thing is they are CONSIDERABLY more expensive than a 360, actually ended up costing more like a 530. But built from a really fine, really soft fiber into a soft dual-nap towel that is unlike the one below and above it for sure! Then you compare it to another 400 I have that has literally no 'nap' to it at all and feels like velvet and it's hard to believe.

Shows what most don't know about microfiber towels that's for sure!

 

[arisking]

If I could find the source for the Tornado buffing towel I'd buy a 100 of them. Best towel I have ever used!

 

[VP Mark]

Anyone using BOAs for wax removal on dark cars?

Are they linting like crazy? Mine do. While I like the towels, they lint terribly every time I use them with any oily type wax. So much for Korean MF. I'll take the AG Cobra 600s every time for the no-lint option.

Really? Washed mine with micro restore when they first arrived. Never seen lint from them.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online

 

[Coopers ST]

Oh my LORD!!!!!!!!! Please tell me you're pulling our legs, it's not April Fools yet Tim.
OTOH, DO NOT trash them. Try brushing them, lint roller, power brush, fingernail picking, you name it. CarMomma said wash them again.

After that, what about.... Interior jobs, wheels, bumpers.

Then finally; you can always cut them into little scraps for applying exterior trim sealant, making MF applicators for waxes, paint sealants, you name it.

Bottom line however it I am REALLY sorry you had a boo boo brother, man that stinks!

I agree, I am cheap enough and don't have enough I would pick it all out. I would sit in front of the TV and pick the foreign objects out to make a usable towel again.

 

[cardaddy]

If I could find the source for the Tornado buffing towel I'd buy a 100 of them. Best towel I have ever used!

Man, that's a blast from the past. They were like totally flat/smooth on one side and nappy kind of semi wooly semi-open fiber on the other, right? Back 5~6 years ago they were $5+ Cdn.

If I could find them or anyone else I bet (like if they existed) I think everyone would be more than happy to help you buy 100 of those puppies. :laughing:

But seriously; If you have one, might try calling Ian or Dan at MFT and ask them about it. Maybe send it to them and see if a similar material is available these days. :dunno:




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[runrun411]

I just love these long discussions about MF towels. Soon you guys may see me on an episode of horders because of my addiction to MF towels. Cardaddy, there has got to be help for us. LOL

BTW: did you see the Junkman video on MF. Now you know where to go. Nuff said.

 

[SYMAWD]

Man, that's a blast from the past. They were like totally flat/smooth on one side and nappy kind of semi wooly semi-open fiber on the other, right? Back 5~6 years ago they were $5+ Cdn.

If I could find them or anyone else I bet (like if they existed) I think everyone would be more than happy to help you buy 100 of those puppies. :laughing:

But seriously; If you have one, might try calling Ian or Dan at MFT and ask them about it. Maybe send it to them and see if a similar material is available these days. :dunno:




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I just googled Tornado buffing towel and it seems like they are still around assuming it is the same one you are talking about.

 

[arisking]

Yup, they're around I just don't like the idea of 100 towels being 500 dollars for me to spend, haha.

They're so insanely good though it's almost worth it. Haha

So if you want to help me buy a 100 I'll be happy, haha.

Man, that's a blast from the past. They were like totally flat/smooth on one side and nappy kind of semi wooly semi-open fiber on the other, right? Back 5~6 years ago they were $5+ Cdn.

If I could find them or anyone else I bet (like if they existed) I think everyone would be more than happy to help you buy 100 of those puppies. :laughing:

But seriously; If you have one, might try calling Ian or Dan at MFT and ask them about it. Maybe send it to them and see if a similar material is available these days. :dunno:

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using AG Online

 

[cardaddy]

I just love these long discussions about MF towels. Soon you guys may see me on an episode of horders because of my addiction to MF towels. Cardaddy, there has got to be help for us. LOL

BTW: did you see the Junkman video on MF. Now you know where to go. Nuff said.

Yep brother, I have more MF than I need (by a LONG shot) but NOT NEAR what I want!!!!!! Hopefully once we swap around enough "FREE" towels we'll be that much closer to "Microfiber Nirvana".
HAH! That could be the name of a website! :laughing:

Re: Junkman.....
O no you de-eent. :laughing: Not touching that one. I know, you know, and most everyone I can think of knows that "China" is NOT what causes towels to be "grabby". As you said; "nuff said".

Here I was, and based on the people that contacted me were/was/is thinking that we were ALL LEARNING something and at the very least TRYING TO at least keep up to date with the latest and greatest of "all things microfiber".

Strangely enough.... our discussion just disappeared! DISAPPEARED!!!
:dunno: Poof!!!

I'm no stranger to the forum world, not by a long shot. So imagine my surprise when people start asking ME (of all people) if *I*got upset or even worse.... *angry* and closed the thread! Say WHAT? !?!?!

Cardaddy likes EVERYBODY!
Here I was thinking we had some really good thoughts kicking around. But whadda I know?!?!

You mentioned an individual that may have had a dog in the fight, (because of allegiance with a certain provider). But honestly.... short of a rocky start with him I managed to correct any misconceptions (refused to respond to/or get involved in personality conflicts) and then we moved along splendidly. Things were shiny, bright and slick as a fresh coating on a sunny day.

So yeah... several guys were blindsided by the sudden loss of that one. :dunno:

It is important that we share our experiences with providers both good and bad. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. We are ALL constantly doing a never ending "beta test" on products. This thread however (Including the now missing one) just happens to be about microfiber towels. (And of course we would discuss where we've found them, good,, bad and ugly!)

Sometimes the best sellers/providers out there end up with a product that just doesn't work. (For instance: "Shaggy Dog's") Better finding that information out here in an open discussion than after wasting your hard earned dollars only to find out later. Can I get an amen?

So with that, I implore EVERY - ONE - OUT - THERE to contribute, to share what you know, to know what you share. Prices are one thing where people get bent out of shape. As long as we are cognizant and remember NO LINKS to product pages we can still help one another to find, enjoy and most importantly NOT TO OVER PAY FOR QUALITY microfiber towels.

I had a mentor tell me decades ago when I started polishing paint in the 70's. "One thing to always remember; Good things are not cheap, and cheap things are not good. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ACT LIKE A FOOL AND BUY THE HIGHEST PRICED THING ON THE SHELF!"
He got me hooked on Meguiar's as a teenager (and I never regretted it).

These days Meguiar's is but part of the equation. We have THOUSANDS of choices. But JUST AS HE SAID all those years ago, you have to look for the BEST thing for your needs.

Faced with the choices we have these days, who knows how he would react, I surely don't.

Bottom line guys, share what you know. If that little tidbit helps the next guy, then you had a winning day.
What scares me however is when OUR VOICES ARE SILENCED. (As other members made me aware of late.)
Then......
NO-BODY wins!!!!!!!!


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[cardaddy]

Yup, they're around I just don't like the idea of 100 towels being 500 dollars for me to spend, haha.

They're so insanely good though it's almost worth it. Haha

So if you want to help me buy a 100 I'll be happy, haha.

Noooooo no no no no no no no....
I'll trust you on them being THAT good. I was thinking more along the lines of EVERYONE helping everyone find/buy those solid gold puppies.

Too rich for my blood. Or for my own good, whatever works. :laughing:

Heck, the Korean 470's are rich for my blood, and I'm not in at anywhere NEAR what Rag Co is charging for ONLY an additional 30 GSM. (Which is why CarMomma said she wants to keep them all.)

You know what they say, "If momma ain't happy... nobody is happy".

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[parttimer]

I just wanted to touch on the 470 vs 500gsm towels. I have both and weighed them both and found the results surprising.
The 72g towel is the rag place....

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[tpr1634]

Not sold here, just the way it is.................

 

[dad07]

Tim, are the ones you are talking about being 360's coming from the east or west coast? Honestly we don't have rules forbidding where we buy towels, nor discussing where we buy towels, just that we don't post direct website links, nor their pricing. (Although it seems somebody got upset with our previous discussion.)

I'm just trying to figure out which ones we're talking about.

the 360's came from MFT.........the 350's came from AG, after looking at the other place this morning(been awhile since I ordered from them)AG at regular price is still the better price.



Thanks for the heads up! :dblthumb2:
Although RED isn't exactly the most colorfast cloth out there. My wife hates washing red so badly that if one of us have bought something red sometimes it'd go months after buying before we could get her to wash it the first time. Her excuse.... "I was trying to get a full load of REDS together."



Oh my LORD!!!!!!!!! Please tell me you're pulling our legs, it's not April Fools yet Tim.
OTOH, DO NOT trash them. Try brushing them, lint roller, power brush, fingernail picking, you name it. CarMomma said wash them again.

After that, what about.... Interior jobs, wheels, bumpers.

Then finally; you can always cut them into little scraps for applying exterior trim sealant, making MF applicators for waxes, paint sealants, you name it.

Bottom line however it I am REALLY sorry you had a boo boo brother, man that stinks!

nope no joke! don't get me wrong here these were cheapo towels that I use for interiors, jambs, engines, etc. , so it really doesn't bother me that much. was just mad at myself.

I will replace them with some more cheapo's and right now AA has 25pack of yellow towels (200 weight) at a good price.(on sale) comes out to about .68 cents a towel and for GP use when they are nasty it dosen't bother me to trash them.

I save money using cheap towels for dirty work and keep the paint towels just for that Paint.

 

[fly07sti]

Really? Washed mine with micro restore when they first arrived. Never seen lint from them.

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