Your Opinion Needed: Wash Mitt vs Multiple Towels

1953hogan

1953hogan

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Hi guys,

With spring approaching, I'm looking forward to getting outside, getting out the hose, and giving my car a thorough wash again.

I've been reading about wash mitt preferences on several sites and saw where Garry Dean posted a method where he doesn't use a mitt but uses several MF towels in his wash bucket (with a foamy wash solution, not rinseless like his other videos). I won't call it the Garry Dean Wash Method but let's just call this the Multi-Towel Wash Method:

  1. Rinse Car
  2. Foam gun soap an dwell
  3. Rinse again
  4. Single bucket with your favorite soap and multiple MF towels in the soap.
  5. Use the towels once then put in the laundry.

Seems to me this might work great and be a time saver. No need to clean and maintain a wool mitt, for instance.

What does everyone think about this approach? Do you think there be more potential for marring with this method vs. the wash mitt method?

Thanks for giving your opinion.
 
1953hogan said:
With spring approaching, I'm looking forward to getting outside, getting out the hose, and giving my car a thorough wash again.

^^^Me Too!!^^^

  1. Rinse Car
  2. Foam gun soap an dwell
  3. Rinse again
  4. Single bucket with your favorite soap and multiple MF towels/wash-mitts in the soap.
  5. Use the towels/wash-mitts once then: Use another grit-guarded rinse bucket to remove as many
    contaminates as possible from these once-used MF towels/wash-mitts...Before they're:
  6. put in the laundry.

Seems to me this might work great and be a time saver. No need to clean and maintain a wool mitt, for instance.

^^^True^^^
(Although I personally find it difficult to not use a wash-mitt with a traditional hose car washing session.)

What does everyone think about this approach? Do you think there be more potential for marring with this method vs. the wash mitt method?

^^^IMHO...It still comes down to an individual's prowess at car-washing-techniques^^^
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity...

-Where in your car-washing sequential-list would:
Degreasing/bug & tar removing/road-film-removal processes occur?
And by what:
"Most safe" for: Vehicle-surface areas...ways/means, if necessary?


-Actual, enclosed trailered "Show Cars" may not have the presence of any of these contaminates...
But you can bet your bottom-dollar that DD's, as well as some "Garage Queens", actually will.


Thanks.


:)

Bob
 
I thinks it's great, except:

1. I'm thinking of going with multiple mits, instead of towels. The Cobra chenilles are on BOGO, and I already have some. 10 mits would give me 20 clean surfaces. My cars are washed frequently and have no bonded contaminates. When I "clay" or IronX I get nothing.

2. You have to be careful to not "over stretch" you towel/mit. When its done, its done. A do a very good pre-rinse, and rarely see any "dirt" or dark spots on my towels. Before going to the GDWM for rinseless, I used to waste so much time cleaning the mit. First I would hose it out. Then grit guard it in a rinse bucket, them repeat in a wash bucket. It really took a lot of time.

At first the thought of using a ton of towels seemed like a huge waste. But in reality, I'd rather have the washing machine do the work of cleaning a towel, then me do it on each panel. It's a huge time saver.

Also, I plan on trying a zero bucket wash method. By using a bunch of mits/towels (a new one each time) and a foam cannon - you can eliminate both buckets all together, and just use your foam cannon to dispense soap. Then, when your done, just put your 5 or 6 mits in the washer, and let IT do the cleaning/rinsing. No filling/cleaning/dragging around the car buckets or dealing with grit guards. For smaller areas (or extra dirty) you can just use the appropriate microfiber towel.

Of course, wheels & wells still require somewhat conventional cleaning methods to get them clean.
 
I have not tried Gary's method for regular wash but I do like his similar method for rinseless wash and I use it all the time. I would assume this would work too. However, I recently purchased a CarPro Merino wool glove and it cost something like $20. Expensive for sure but I like it a lot! This mitt is used only on "fairly" clean surfaces where the dirt and grime is not too heavy. For those really dirty areas I use other mitts and sponges. I will use that CarPro wool glove for my shampoos until it wears out!!
 
With 10 mitts you get 20 sides but with 10 towels you get 40. I'm definitely going to be giving the method a try when it warms up, with the towels. Pretty easy to find 10 530 GSM towels for $30 on the internet too
 
FUNX725 said:
Out of curiosity...

-Where in your car-washing sequential-list would:
Degreasing/bug & tar removing/road-film-removal processes occur?
And by what:
Click to expand...

Your call on that, I guess. I was assuming a maintenance wash with paint in good condition, with the goal of not marring or adding swirls, but if I had to say, I'd probably do those either as first step or would inspect after the foam is rinsed off. Would be happy for any advice on that.
 
microfiber towels are designed to grab and hold... not something i'm keen to use on a dirty vehicle. I have always opted for multiple sheepskin mitts with heavy foam gun action providing lubrication.
 
swanicyouth said:
You have to be careful to not "over stretch" you towel/mit. When its done, its done.
Click to expand...

A good reminder for all of us, I think.

swanicyouth said:
At first the thought of using a ton of towels seemed like a huge waste. But in reality, I'd rather have the washing machine do the work of cleaning a towel, then me do it on each panel. It's a huge time saver.
Click to expand...

After instilling some swirls into my soft paint with rinseless washing using 2 buckets and a mitt, I'm ready to give this a try.

swanicyouth said:
Also, I plan on trying a zero bucket wash method.
Click to expand...

Ha! What are you gonna name that! I'd get right on that and trademark it before somebody beats you to it!
 
swanicyouth said:
1. I'm thinking of going with multiple mits, instead of towels. The Cobra chenilles are on BOGO, and I already have some. 10 mits would give me 20 clean surfaces. My cars are washed frequently and have no bonded contaminates. When I "clay" or IronX I get nothing.
Click to expand...
I have used up to 5 Meguiars MF mitts before. I had to rinse them 2-3 times through the rinse bucket. I also used 2 rinse buckets to clean 2 mitts at a time.
 
I thought about doing the gary dean method when I saw someone doing it on youtube then I saw another video with gary dean doing it and that turned me off to doing it that way. Does he have always film videos so close to his face and him always being a self promoter salesman?
 
Ok heres all you need. I do a lot of high end cars and never use MF towels to wash unless doing a rinseless wash.
Foam
Rinse
2 bucket wash/Meguiars X3002 Microfiber Wash Mitt
Rinse
 
I use the Meguiar's micro fiber mitt on my vehicles with the Meguiar's Gold Class soap and this works great for getting them clean. I have not tried using the MF towels for washing yet, so I may try this later.
 
Think he means grab and hold dirt, or whatever loose particlethe fibers come in contact with. That said I have found wool wash pads to be harder to get completely clean again once heavy dirt is in the fibers. Microfibers by nature actually release average dirt fairly well and can be used for years depending on the amount of usage and proper care.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using AG Online
 
When washing you always need to tailor the process to the actual situation. If it is especially dirty, you may need to change towels or mitts more often or shrink wash area no matter what method you use rather than stick to some rigid method.
 
I think the method proposed by the O/P would work fine for a maintenance wash but as others have stated you have to match the wash method to the vehicle and its condition.

I have different methods for my Mustang, Chevy Avalanche, and wife’s Chevy Equinox.

The Mustang never sees rain so it gets a waterless wash or detail spray only. I went three months between gas fill-ups - November 14th to February 14th since it rains so much in the Pacific Northwest.

The Avalanche truck is a daily driver that gets extremely dirty as it turns from a pearl white to a light brown! I use up to eight mitts and one wash bucket since the mitts are too dirty to come clean with a grit guard. When I’m finished with the mitt it goes into a rinse bucket then right to the washing machine in my shop. The washing machine drains into my utility sink so I can tell how much dirt comes out and it normally takes three washes before the mitts are clean.

The Equinox gets a standard two bucket wash with grit guards as the wife puts very miles on it.

Each vehicle is different as is each wash method.
 
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