waffle weave drying towel questions

[Eldorado2k]

@Finick. I understand where you're coming from. No worries.

My gripe is more so with the people who have been lead to believe this so called detailing insiders tip involving pre soaking a towel in order for it to dry better...

Last night I did a quik search on YT in attempt to try and find out when this pre soaking drying towel stuff started, or who was responsible for spreading such a myth. Lol.

I didn't spend too much time on it, but I did watch this dudes video and couldn't help but SMH at the thought that there's probably thousands of people out there who think he's giving good advice...

Those particular waffle weave towels he's using in that vid are among my favorite WW towels.

And I can tell you without a doubt that I'd rank them right at the top next to any towel Until that dreaded point where they cross the line and become damp/saturated. Once they do it's time to do yourself a favor and switch to another towel because they won't dry once they're wet and wringing them out doesn't fix their situation. But that clown in the video is recommending to pre soak them. #*facepalm*

 

[SWETM]

It is a problem for me to downgrade microfibertowels of all sorts since I am to stingy(Is it the right for it). But I have been much better to do it since I see what damage a bad towel do to my car. I often take a empty cdr or dvdr disc and test my towels on and see how much it will scratch them. Even the new microfibertowels I do this with to see the quality of them.

If you want the microfibercloth damped just lay it down on the area of the car were its the most water on for example the roof or the hood and pad it down lift and lay it to a new area and pad dry it. Then you get the small benefit of two worlds you soke up and get it dryed on the same time.
Looking forward to what you think of your new WW :-D

 

[Finick]

I have some pictures up close of the nap on each of these towels, and you can see a pretty huge difference. If I can ever figure out how to insert large pictures like eldorado did up there, I'll start posting a lot more pictures that I take. The thumbnails are just useless because they're so small.

I've read the guides on how to upload photos, but I honestly can't even remember how I managed to upload the one photo I do have uploaded, because even when i try to follow the guide, I simply don't get the welcome bar where it says to upload photos.

 

[Eldorado2k]

I have some pictures up close of the nap on each of these towels, and you can see a pretty huge difference. If I can ever figure out how to insert large pictures like eldorado did up there, I'll start posting a lot more pictures that I take. The thumbnails are just useless because they're so small.

iPhone + Tapatalk. It's so simple even a noob like me can do it.

 

[Finick]

iPhone + Tapatalk. It's so simple even a noob like me can do it.

I'll look into this now, I generally like to stick to using my computer because my banana hands have such a hard time using the itty bitty keyboards, but if it'll get the bigger pictures gosh darn it it'll be worth it

 

[Finick]

New towel. Smooth, soft, and luxurious looking, right?

My very (maybe 10 years, can’t be certain) old water magnet. Pretty visible difference between the towels. I can’t be 100% sure that the water magnet didn’t always look that way, but it feels as rough as it looks.

edit: holy crap that app is wonderful. Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[Eldorado2k]

edit: holy crap that app is wonderful. Thank you for the recommendation.

Man that was Fast!!! Right on!

 

[DetailZeus]

I wasn't aiming for people to get into the debate of whether starting off with a damp towel was good or bad, simply pondering if it was a technique i had overlooked.

https://youtu.be/w0hzJImmvNU?t=340

This was the video that I got the idea from. Obviously he's not using a waffle weave towel, and he's using a drying aid, but his remarks about the water absorbency of MF aren't specific to his towel or the use of a drying aid, so I assume it could be applied to other towels as well. If i'm wrong about that, then my mistake.

Anecdotally, with my old microfiber towels I am talking about, as I work my way around the car, they honestly seem to wick the water up better as they become a little bit damp. I'm not talking about dunking them and wringing them out, but the amount of water they collect from simply drying my rinseless panels. The fibers on these towels are pretty stiff and clearly worn out, I'm not sure if that plays any role in this happening.

That being said, I'm not trying to say that I really think a wet towel will dry better than a completely dry one, assuming the same quality. I recently got in a waffle weave towel from a place that had them on sale (yet to try this or the new water magnet) and it's safe to say I had forgotten how soft a fresh new waffle weave towel really is. Comparing it to my old water magnet, it's a pretty significant difference. to the point where I questioned why I was rubbing that old thing across my paint in the first place.

I'm going to be washing my car tomorrow, and I'll obviously report back and (fingers crossed) surely end up talking about how nicely the new towels work.

The type of towel makes difference. Those are little 300gsm terry towels in the video. They're pretty easy to wring out once saturated. I've tried the same thing with a 24"x36" waffle and it's much harder to wring to the right amount of dampness. The drying aid you use makes a difference too; you need one that "flashes" well. Using a waxy drying aid will likely leave streaks without a final dry buff.

You'll notice you'll always have little streaks of water that evaporate when you use a damp towel. If this bothers you, I've found a two-pass drying method works very well. First pass with a damp, plush, wrung out microfiber then a light second pass with a dry waffle. I wring the plush microfiber out as I go, while the waffle never really gets damp.

 

[Klasse Act]

Not pertinent to the conversation here but lately I've been using my medium Big Blue and just throw it on the roof, where the water is beading like crazy, and drag it towards me. I then hit all the Windows,,not caring if it's bone dry but it's pretty dry at this point and continue around the car till BB is pretty wet. At this point the car is almost dry and then the Griot's PFM comes in and turns the cars paint bone dry and it's barely damp....

....dropping the mic

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

 

[Eldorado2k]

Not pertinent to the conversation here but lately I've been using my medium Big Blue and just throw it on the roof, where the water is beading like crazy, and drag it towards me. I then hit all the Windows,,not caring if it's bone dry but it's pretty dry at this point and continue around the car till BB is pretty wet. At this point the car is almost dry and then the Griot's PFM comes in and turns the cars paint bone dry and it's barely damp....

....dropping the mic

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk

My paint drying towels never touch the windows... Even after a bucket wash there's a high probability of them winding up with gunk & grit around the windows, especially with the rubber window trim. My Big Blue aint going anywhere near that situation!

My process, with any towel on any vehicle starts off with me folding the towel in half and holding it with my thumb and forefinger in both hands and quikly making a pass along the passenger side, then following up and making sure that whole side is bone dry [which takes less than a min. total] Then I do the same for the drivers side. Next I lay the towel on the hood and drag it down the panel, then wipe across any remaining water to leave it bone dry. Drag along the trunk and quikly wipe the rear but making sure not to reach too low near the bumper. Roof is next... And final step is to grab my Meguiars Water Magnet and Master Blaster Sidekick for spot check and any possible grime areas such as bumpers and rocker panels.

Total drying time, not including the 2nd step using the blower is less than 5min. Drying has gotten even better now that I finally bought another male quik connection and I'm finally able to sheet rinse once again.

I did a final sheet rinse on a 40' RV a couple of days ago and it was amazing the difference it made.

 

[WaxMaster1]

My paint drying towels never touch the windows... Even after a bucket wash there's a high probability of them winding up with gunk & grit around the windows, especially with the rubber window trim. My Big Blue aint going anywhere near that situation!

Great tip!

 

[Finick]

Update: Some nasty (hot) weather and RL things kept me from giving my car a wash, but I did a quick rinseless wash earlier today, and the new waffle weave towel really did a great job.

I think two would probably be ideal to dry as best as possible, as it's just 16x24. Nice to know my old towels are just worn out, although I did find out they do an acceptable job drying the inside of my windows, so at least they still have a use!