what do u guys do with your used towels after wax, drying your car. they get so nasty do u guys was it or what? im really scared to reuse towels that have like dirt stains or what ever becasue i dont want to scrach my car up. please let me know i have like 20 dirty towels

 

Well, they shouldn't have dirt on them if you are using them to wax and dry your car, the car should be clean by then. I just toss em in the wash, once with detergent, and a second time just clean water to make sure they're all clean.

 

I hope your drying towels aren't coming back dirty and nasty after you've washed your car. If they are, there's something wrong here...

I use foam applicators for waxing (which get hand washed), and don't apply wax very heavily (it should only be a very thin coat or you're wasting it) so the dry residue that gets buffed off isn't that big of a deal.

I find the towels I use for other things such as wiping down the tires/wheels and doing interior work get dirtier than the ones I use on the paint.

 

you have to wash your car more thoroughly. there shouldn't be any dirt etc on the towel after the wash. I just throw my towels into the wash. comes out nice and clean.

 

throw them out in the garbage and go out and buy a new 12 pack of terry towels for a few bucks.

 

Yeah, and then use those to clean the engine bay. Those cheap bulk packs of so-called "100% cotton" terry towels made in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh/whatever are pure GARBAGE. I would definitely not let those things near my paint and would just use them for grunt work like wiping down the seats, engine bay, tires, etc.

For paint-safe towels you'll have to get the good stuff by buying domestic towels from the bathroom department or getting microfiber towels. If you get "detailing" cotton towels you're on your own as far as quality or what you're really getting is concerned, but a few places (like Zaino resellers) sell good cotton towels.

 

Are all micro-fiber towels created equal? I've seen some nice cheap ones on clearance at Wal-Mart and Zellers.

CM.

 

before MF cloths the cheese cloth and terry cloths everone swore by those things.. now all of the sudden they are the worst.. please now.. when it comes to the detail dpt. everyone thinks they know it all.

 

Well, really no, they're not. However, I've used some "cheap" microfiber towels and they seem alright. One thing you have to watch for are the edges of the towels. Some microfiber towels, even some of the pricier ones have melted corners or (maybe) polyester stitching, which can occasionally lead to trouble. Still, my personal opinion is that microfiber is still far superior to cotton because of it's gentleness as well as its absorbtion/cleaning ability. It buffs off wax or polish residue much easier.

I see you live in Canada. In that case, I've found the Turtle Wax Professional Cleaning Cloths sold at Zellers to be fantastic buys for the price. No melted corners either, and they're quite plush too. They currently make up about 90% or more of my current supplies. I highly recommend them (pull out the hard tags though).


BOZOnPJs I'm just trying to do everyone here a favour by warning them about bulk terry towels. Many people have had similar experiences with such towels, and not just myself. I don't know if they blend polyester in with it or what, but they're generally terrible. If I were to guess about the cheesecloth phenomenon (I remember hearing about that) I would guess that it was recommended in an attempt to get something 100% cotton. Pure 100% cotton is perfectly safe, but the problem with many cotton products is that it's hard to tell what you're exactly getting without conducting a burn test or something. People are often shocked to find out a "100% cotton" product is actually a polyester blend once they burn a chunk of it. Microfiber really is the way of the future as far as car detailing goes. NONE of this knowledge I've handily regurgitated is mine by the way. I've just had really good, wise teachers.

 

A lot of the folks I talk to use the Wal-Mart ones with some success.

 

I use 3M microfiber towels to take wax off and then a cloth that is t-shirt material to polish. I'll warn you, terry cloths will scratch cars and eventually overtime you will see the marks in darker paints. If you don't want microfiber than use old t-shirts that do not have graphics or writing that will scratch the car. You will see them eventually.

 

I personally wash my towels six times in distilled water from poland spring....Just kidding goy buy a few 12 packs from Walmart.

 

i just washed a few of my new MF cloths and they came out nice and clean.