Wash Mitt Clarification

[JoeyRoland82]

Hello,
Over the years, I've accumulated several car products after reading or watching one thing or another and deciding whatever I was just fed was "the" best solution for whatever task I was interested in at the time. As a result, I have a good bit of unopened supplies.
I'm going through a lot of my stuff this spring and want a fresh start. And I'm beginning with the basics: wash mitts.

I currently have 3 different types unopened :
Microfiber Chenille (the noodle kind)
Microfiber (just regular mf)
Sheepskin

I understand manufactures are different, but as a general rule, how do these rank for overall use and/or specific use scenarios?

Assuming durability isn't a concern, is there a preference on least likely to scratch vs best on removing dirt, best on well-maintained /garage kept cars vs best on wheels and so on? A lot of what I've read online seems to omit sheepskin. Growing up, I only remember sheepskin. Then several years back, I began seeing these chenille styles pop up. Now they're everywhere. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Eldorado2k]

Out of those 3 kind, I prefer the microfiber mitt, even without knowing which specific type it is I’d still choose it over the sheepskin for the reason you mentioned. I’d also choose it over the chenile noodle mitt because IME most of the noodle mitts tend to become really heavy yet for some reason don’t glide across the paint as smooth as you would expect, which doesn’t translate to a very good user experience.

Oddly enough the noodle mitts that I do use came from the 99 cent store and I use them to wash the rocker panels & oddball parts of vehicles i.e. windshield cowls etc. but those particular mitts don’t become heavy like the other noodle mitts I’ve come across.

I can’t really think of a microfiber washmitt that wasn’t acceptable to use, but my favorite ones are these kind. You’ll find different variations of this same style of mitt for sale online from fairly inexpensive to wildy overpriced. I suggest going with more of the bargain ones as long as you have a good eye and know how to spot a good deal vs. flat out crap ones that are too cheap & thin examples.

Once you find the right balance of bargain & quality I suggest buying several of them if you like to do a multiple mitt bucket wash and they’ll last for years. I have like 12-14 of these mitts in total.

These mitts absorb tons of soapy water from your bucket and glide across the paint smoother than any mitt you’ve ever used. They’re surprisingly great when you try them for the 1st time.

 

[opie]

I used to use the chenelle mitt. I now only use 400gsm mf towels, and i have some autofiber flat out pads that i use as well. I use the boars hair brush on wheels.

My opinion is, most important things about not scratching paint is how you touch it. I presoak and pressure wash off paint before i do any contact wash. Also using multiple wash media when performing a contact wash. This method has been verified to work for me beacuse when i switched to it now 2 full years ago at last paint correction, any scratches or marring has all basically disappeared to my naked eye. Since i own a straight black daily driver i get to see the results of the method change.

This is my opinon. Ymmv

 

[JoeyRoland82]

Oh no - "A New Challenger Appears!"

Thank you for the detailed response! I fear this is exactly how things played out before and I wound up with all these products. I didn't even see that MF style. The one I was referring to, (and assumed most of the internet as well ), was one of these guys:
Meguiar's X3002

The napping on that Meguiar is certainly a far cry from what you referenced. Or maybe it's just the color that's throwing me off...?

 

[Desertnate]

These mitts absorb tons of soapy water from your bucket and glide across the paint smoother than any mitt you’ve ever used. They’re surprisingly great when you try them for the 1st time.

This is what I use after converting from the chennile/noodle type a few years ago. I too have found them much softer than other media and they clean really well and as Eldo mentioned, they just glide across the paint.

I still have a couple of the chenille ones in my cabinet, but I can't remember the last time I used one. Honestly, I don't think there is anything wrong with them, but there are better options today.

 

[Big DaveBig Dave is verified member.]

I have a bunch of wash mitts/pads, probably around 10, most are MF noodle mitts, with a couple of chenille, 1 of which is a big wash pad I've only used a couple of times as I find it too big to use comfortably, I always feel like I'm going to drop it, the other chenille mitt I just haven't used yet. Of the noodle mitts I have 1 that's incredibly soft, and that's the one I use on our Nissan, as it's a dark colour and the paint seems soft, and I don't use it on anything else. For my Toyota FJ Cruiser, which has much harder paint, I use the other MF noodle mitts, and also a Meguiar's lambswool mitt with the mesh on the other side, which I use on the black trim and to remove bugs from the windshield. So it sometimes depends on how dirty the FJ as to which mitt I use. One thing about all my mitts though, none of them have ever touched the ground, if they do, they're no longer in use.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Oh no - "A New Challenger Appears!"

Thank you for the detailed response! I fear this is exactly how things played out before and I wound up with all these products. I didn't even see that MF style. The one I was referring to, (and assumed most of the internet as well ), was one of these guys:
Meguiar's X3002

The napping on that Meguiar is certainly a far cry from what you referenced. Or maybe it's just the color that's throwing me off...?

Those Meguiars microfiber mitts are tried & true good solid mitts. I still use 4-5 of them in my rotation. However you have to watch out for the cheapies that are sold sometimes because I wound up with 2 very different variations of them.

1 is original & the other seems to come from China [they probably both come from China] but some of them are super thin & cheap! For a while they somehow started selling Meguiars Supreme Shine yellow microfiber towels 3pk. at the 99 cent store but they were knockoff cheap towels. I believe the same thing happened with the mitts for a while and I wound up with a couple lame ones.

The original quality on the right> cheap knockoff on the <left.

In this pic you can clearly see the difference in size & thickness. The good news is I think they’ve stopped the bootleg ones or at least I haven’t seen them for sale for a while which is a good thing because they don’t compare.

 

[Eldorado2k]

I use the other MF noodle mitts, and also a Meguiar's lambswool mitt with the mesh on the other side, which I use on the black trim and to remove bugs from the windshield.

The cheap noodle mitts I use that came from the 99 cent store have that mesh on 1 side and I like that. They’re not too big so they’re light and I can put these mitts through hell & back and they’ve lasted. The mesh is good for cleaning step rails on trucks and wheel well lips if I need to and even tail pipes, etc.

 

[BLM]

I have 10-12 of the Chenille mitts that i use for washing wheels and several of the Rag Company Cyclone mitts that i use on the paint. I prefer the mitts to the pads as i use the cuff to hang them up to dry.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[yakky]

If you properly rinse off all the dirt from your paint, the mit doesn't really matter much from a swirl perspective, it comes down to convenience. Don't get me started on the muti bucket craze.

I like the MF mitts with all the fingers because they get into all the panel gaps. A well polished car with dirt between the panels looks really bad.

 

[Eldorado2k]

If you properly rinse off all the dirt from your paint, the mit doesn't really matter much from a swirl perspective, it comes down to convenience. Don't get me started on the muti bucket craze.

Is this Yvans burner account?lol.

We’ve been pre rinsing our cars before washing since the beginning of time, it never made much of a difference one way or another, so why should it now?

As far as mitts? Convenience? Of course that’s what were talking about. Nobody’s instilling swirls during a wash here regardless.

 

[JoeyRoland82]

This is some helpful stuff right here! Kind of repeating myself, but I grew up with sheepskin (or is it woolskin?), then I started seeing the chenille microfiber stuff cropping up and touted as the better alternative. On a random price slash on Amazon, I picked up the Meguiar's microfiber. If I were to use only one on a garage queen (very little miles and paint not terrible), who would rank 1st as the safest? And conversely, on a daily driver, who would be the preference on cleaning ability?
These are all silly questions acting like the prerinse, soap, road debris is identical, but trying to finally get these things in circulation and settle on a preference by the end of the season. All without swirling the heck out of my paint.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

The reason that sheepskin has fallen off the radar is they were (as a natural product) inconsistent, and are difficult to maintain compared to a microfiber product. The chenille/noodle/muppet head (my term) ones work, as you can see, some people don't like them, some do.

The Meguiar's mitts use a "non-split" microfiber which is different than that used in towels, which I have used for years on microfiber wash pads. At the end of the day I think the consensus is the best product is the shaggy microfiber which is sold as the Cyclone by The Rag Company, the Dragon by Autofiber, and the Incredimitt by Microfiber Madness.

However, since you don't have any of those, and to answer your question, I would probably use the sheepskin on the garage queen and the microfibers (either one) on the daily driver. I'll give you a sheepskin mitt tip "invented" by my wife; after you rinse it out, put it over a water bottle to dry. Of course hanging them works too, if you have a place to do that.

 

[Eldorado2k]

I'll give you a sheepskin mitt tip "invented" by my wife; after you rinse it out, put it over a water bottle to dry. Of course hanging them works too, if you have a place to do that.

That’s what I do whenever I use my synthetic claymitt. [haven’t used it in a while]
It’s usually soaking wet afterwards so I’ll put it over a filled 32oz. spray bottle and let it dip dry, otherwise it might develop mold.

 

[JoeyRoland82]

Judging by some 9f the responses, and this is risking veering off topic, how do you all clean your mitts? Hand wash, dry naturally or in a machine? I'm wondering how much of a factor the cleanup plays into preference regarding all the various styles.

 

[Big DaveBig Dave is verified member.]

I hose them and ring them out a couple of times when I've finished washing, then hang them to dry inside the garage. While it is harder to ring out the wash pads, I don't think that's why I don't use them.

I did forget about one piece of specialised was media I have, it's a small black MF noodle wash sponge that's got mesh on one side and noodles on the other, it's meant for wheels, exhausts and the low down black trim, and I also use it on my bullbar.

 

[DFB]

Judging by some 9f the responses, and this is risking veering off topic, how do you all clean your mitts? Hand wash, dry naturally or in a machine? I'm wondering how much of a factor the cleanup plays into preference regarding all the various styles.

Washing machine with microfiber detergent, then into the dryer on low heat.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Judging by some 9f the responses, and this is risking veering off topic, how do you all clean your mitts? Hand wash, dry naturally or in a machine? I'm wondering how much of a factor the cleanup plays into preference regarding all the various styles.

As I noted before, the beauty of microfiber media is you can just throw it in the washing machine, while the sheepskin mitts require more careful handling. At least I don't think I used to put my sheepskin in the washing machine, it's been so long I can't be sure anymore.

 

[BLM]

T Judging by some 9f the responses, and this is risking veering off topic, how do you all clean your mitts? Hand wash, dry naturally or in a machine? I'm wondering how much of a factor the cleanup plays into preference regarding all the various styles.

This may be too much detail. Have a dozen of the Chenille mitts that I use on wheels. Use one per wash. Afterwards I rinse out and hang to dry. After dry toss them in a bucket. After I've used all dozen mitts I do a separate load for those dozen mitts only. After washing hang them to dry. After dry put them back into circulation.
Have six of the Cyclone mitts that I use on paint. After use I rinse out and hang to dry. After dry toss them in a bin that has used drying towels and any microfibers that were not used with any drying aids, waxes, sealants,etc. I wash all those in that bin as one load. Put all those in the dryer on low heat with the exception of the Cyclone mitts which I hang up to dry.
For any microfibers that were used with anything other than soap such as sealants/drying aids or heavily soiled towels I soak them in a bucket with an APC. After soaking I hang them to dry. After dry toss them in a separate bin. When I have a full load, which is 30 towels give or take I do a load with everything in that bin.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

BLM, that all sounds very sensible. If Chef Wong comes around you are going to get an earful from him.