Well for as long as ive owned my cars ive hand washed them which meant hand drying them as well. Ive used everything from my dads ancient animal hide chamois to the magical super absorbent drying towels that work so well (yah right). My favorite was the natural chamois but it had to be rung out so often it was annoying and it left fibers on the car.

So after learning from experience and talking to many others and reading uber info I slowly learned the "right way" to clean my car. And I soon found out that the "right way" involved microfiber. From cleaning to buffing its the way to go.

So finally I decided to try one of the waffle weave microfiber drying towels and WOW! I mean WOW! 1 panel done, no streaks, no lent, no swirls, and the towel hardly felt damp. I tried wringing it out several times but nothing would ever come out, it just held everything. After being very satisfied and 90% done with drying i rang it out and only got a shot glass full of water.

You can even use the corners to stick in lug nut holes and pesky areas that hold water like the bottom corners of the rear windows on these cobalts and it almost sucks the water right out.

So to any of you still using a terry cloth towel, chamois, super towel or anything else just give the microfiber waffle weave towel a try, you wont regret it.

 

where did you get it?

 

Autozone. I have it too and it works wonders.

It's blue by the way. I also got the orange polishing cloth and the green windshield & glass cloth.

Microfiber ftw!

 

I agree, microfiber is awsome! I would never go back to chamois.

 

Yup, autozone and its pretty good quality

 

whats the brand name???????????????

 

Don't forget to tear off any wash tags on the MF/WW towels! They can cause micro-marring if you are not careful.


Autozone sells Viking products, they have some pretty good quality microfiber towels.

 

thanks,I using mf for detailing and the obsorber for drying,I'll give this a try.

 

Does it dry if perfectly or does it leave residual water?

 

I go over the car one body panel at a time. For each one I go over it several times (GENTLY) until it is smooth as silk and there is NO water left. Its a really great feeling once you have completely eliminated all surface particles. Very smooth.

To answer your question: Maybe not perfect, but to the naked eye it is spotless.

 

It all depends on what point during the drying process you use it. If you use only the MF towel to dry the whole vehicle right after washing it will eventually get water soaked and leave residual water.

The method I use when detailing vehicles is the following:

After washing I unhook any attachments and use just the open hose and completely cover the car. Reason being is when you use just the water flowing from the hose it will cause a vast majortiy of the water to sheet off the vehicle rather than spraying water from a nozzle. Once I am done with that I use an obsorber to soak up and standing water left over. I take a leaf blower with a filter screen under the blade to keep foreign objects from getting flung at the vehicle afterwards to get water out of the grilles and crevices. From there I follow up with a high quality micro fiber waffle weave to clean the rest up for a streak free and dry surface. This method sounds like a lot of work but it minimizes swirls and micromarring.

 

I started off using natural animal hide chamois' and then went over to the "Absorber"....it works good but I'll sure as h*ll give this a try if I come across one

 

Gotta get myself an absorber (assuming a giant soft sponge) and a leaf blower. I like the sound of that Tofu. The leaf blower should really help when doing the front and rear bumpers.

 

yah leaf blower or air compressor work great. And getting the water to sheet off is key to clean, quick, drying. Pick a good car wash and you will get better sheeting.

 

if you really want a nice shine ...ge tthe ones that have a permanent wax in them.....leaves the car lookin like it does from the first day you pick it up at the dealership( assuming they clean it...)

 

I personally have never liked the wax in wash type products. I personally like to wash the car and wax it separately for that nice deep finish look.

 

Ive been using my leaf blower since i got my car , really helps the back bumper bottom slots , side mirrors and trunk /window/door creases.

Oh and the wheels too , blows the water right out of the lug holes , and drys the tires faster so you can put your tire shine on .

 

Those are the only towels I use. I have all 3 and by far are the best. I noticed after you wash them once they want to leave fibers behind.

 

lol i had to wash mine once so that it wouldnt shed fibers
What wash settings are you using ?

 

I think I washed them in hot water with surf and NO fabric softer.

 

hmmm well as long as you air dry them they should be ok, i dunno

 

when washing them they should be washed in cold water. becase hot will mess up the fabric. also do not use fabric softner and use liquid detergint not powder it will stick in the cloth

 

yup microfiber towels all the way.

 

Go to http://www.microfiber.org for some great prices.

 

it says to wash in warm water and so do several auto detailing sites