Microfiber hand test??

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Stroked89coupe

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Just getting into detailing. Still learning. Spent about a grand in the last month through autogeek. First post as well.




I heard some of my inexperienced friends referring to this hand test and using it with microfibers. Suposedly if you run your hand over the microfiber and it ''grabs'' at your hand, it will scratch you paint. Then he mentioned adams rags and how they don't do this.


I for one can not STAND this feeling and is one of the reason I do not use microfiber. I just so happened to run into an adams rag and did the hand test on it. Sure enough it didn't do it. But it also did not appear to be microfiber. It was SUPER SOFT though.



I bough a set of Cobra microfibers (The set of 6 or so that autogeek sells) Got them in and sure enough they failed the ''Hand test''.


Is this a good way to judge a microfiber or do my friends not know what they are taking about?

Is there an alternative to microfiber with the same performance. I am using microfibers mainly to remove wax and that's pretty much it.
 
the hand test, this is the silliest thing I have ever heard of. Your towels are fine. Get new friends :)
 
well...if the hand test if true then all my microfibers suck..

but I also lift weights, work on cars, and use my hands on a lot...sooo my hands aren't made for magazine model pics.

point being, you're fine, and so are you're towels, especially if you bought them here..
 
Your friends probably got that from one of Junk Man's YouTube videos. I've used MF's that are a little grabby on my hand that work perfectly fine on my soft Subie, Toyota and Harley paint. The MF's that don't grab work as well. Whatever makes you feel comfortable, do it.
 
cleanmycorolla said:
Your towels are fine. Get new friends :)
Click to expand...

Lolz.

I can tell you the "hand test" doesn't mean much. I've been using Cobra AG towels for years - yes they fail the hand test... However, they are good towels and do not scratch.

In a counter argument, some people say that picky feeling you feel during the hand test means the towel fibers are better at "grabbing stuff off the surface" - making the towel good - and towels that don't feel picky aren't good.

Well, I have both towels that feel picky and towels that don't. Both are good and do not scratch. It depends on the quality of the towel - not that test.

What towels did you get from AG?
 
I thought that when you feel the microfiber-towel (MF-towel) grabbing the skin on your hand that it means it is a microfiber/towel made from "split microfibers". Many higher quality microfiber-towels are said to be made/assembled from "split microfiber".

Then again:
A person's hands may just be rough-as-a-cob.
Not a very good MF-towel testing subject in that case.


Bob
 
Stroked89coupe said:
Thanks for the fast responses. I appreciate it. I bought the cobra kit.


Microfiber Towel Combo
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I've been using those purple 600gsm and grey 530gsm towels for years on my black car. No, they do not scratch. They are some of the most versatile longest lasting towels out there.

I have the green ones as well, but have never used them.
 
FUNX725 said:
I thought that when you feel the microfiber-towel (MF-towel) grabbing the skin on your hand that it means it is a microfiber/towel made from "split microfibers". Many higher quality microfiber-towels are said to be made/assembled from "split microfiber".

Then again:
A person's hands may just be rough-as-a-cob.
Not a very good MF-towel testing subject in that case.


Bob
Click to expand...


LOL


All microfibers feel this way to me. Even cheap ones from the parts store. My hand don't feel like sandpaper but I don't keep them in my pockets all day either.
 
I stopped doing "the hand test" years ago. I now use the Foot test!






Seriously...........
 
You should be fine. As for the hand test you are 1/2 correct. I have towels that do not grab at all and they are Micro-fiber towels made in Korea.
I also have the AGO gold MF towels too; and they grab by touch. However, in no way shape or form do these scratch the paint (the other 1/2 of my answer). I do prefer my Blue Angora MF towels over the Gold by far. I use the Gold to remove compound or polish, the Blue Angoras I use for removing my LSP.

That is just me but I use the "hand test" for testing quality of the MF towel. That will let me know which MF towel to use as the last LSP

Now I am sure alot of people on this forum may think I am a little cookoo for coco puffs....but so be it
 
Get a significant other and no more hand tests :nomore: :D

I am starting to try and color coordinate my towels actually to simplify things.

1 color for paint
1 color for interior wipe downs
1 color for windows
finally 1 color for wheels and tires

same thing with pads,
 
The microfilament strands of a microfiber towel are much thinner than a cotton strand. The grabbing that you are feeling are the microfilaments grabbing at your finger prints. Rub the microfiber on the back of your hand and it'll feel smooth.
 
I tought it was the opposite, I read in an article called "Determining the quality of a microfiber towel" this:

The first and probably most important test to determine the quality of a microfiber towel is touch. How does the towel feel to the touch? Is the microfiber cloth soft? Would you trust it on the finish of your car? Does the material “grab” the imperfections on your skin when you run the microfiber towel over the palm of your hand? You want this to happen… when you can feel the towel grabbing your skin that means it’s a microfiber towel made from split microfiber. High quality microfiber cleaning cloths feature split microfiber, after the splitting process each microfiber in a microfiber towel looks like an asterisk if you’re looking at a cross section of the fiber. The open spaces in the microfiber created by the splitting process allow the microfiber cleaning cloth to pick up and hold dirt as well as absorbing liquid. If you don’t feel a “grab” from the towel it may not be split, if it’s not split it won’t be any more effective as a cleaning towel than a cotton rag.
Click to expand...

Is this information wrong??

I have chinchilla towels and super plush jr and they grab the imperfections on my hand but I just bought a "Dry me crazy drying towel" and it doesn't grab my hand.
 
ndcec said:
I tought it was the opposite, I read in an article called "Determining the quality of a microfiber towel" this:



Is this information wrong??

I have chinchilla towels and super plush jr and they grab the imperfections on my hand but I just bought a "Dry me crazy drying towel" and it doesn't grab my hand.
Click to expand...


I would say stop worrying about it, you have quality towels, they'll be fine. :dblthumb2:
 
I used to do the CD test but have stopped that practice once i started to source MF from only reputable vendors. That was the method of wiping the shiny side of a CD disk with about the same pressure you would on vehicle paint and then inspect the CD for scratches. If it scratched the CD it will scratch your paint.

Never heard of this hand test but did go out and try some of my towels and sure enough...they grab my manly yet delicate hands! But they still don't scratch my paint.
 
I think the hand test comes from "Junkman2000" on youtube. At least that was the first I have heard of the "hand test."
 
a lot of that grab is usually static, line dry instead of tumble dry and it disappears. i always tumble dry towels, but never cloths
 
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