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-   -   Trouble with a drying towel.... (https://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=14276)

The_Laird 21st June 2018 04:49 PM

Trouble with a drying towel....
 
2 Attachment(s)
....and more cleaning woes!

After watching the cleaning demo at the Annual Meet, I asked my girls for a drying towel, as used by Bert himself (he was kind enough to send me a link the the one he used), for Fathers' Day.

So, new towels in hand (the girls bought me two, bless them) I set about a full clean of the S8. Then the pressure washer packed in, needing a new on/off pressure switch. So I ordered a new one and fixed it. Then it packed in again, needing new brushes. Fixed it again. +++

Then finally got the car cleaned and started to dry it - the towel is really worth every penny, making drying very quick and getting the car really dry, so less risk of swirl marks and drying spots.

But, as you can see from the photos, I'm not the only fan of the new towel! :(

Adrian E 21st June 2018 06:20 PM

The colour will attract them, unfortunately. Never had that issue with mine, but then I don't live in one of the midge capitals of the UK :D

MikkiJayne 21st June 2018 08:58 PM

Well that was unexpected!

I need to get one of those towels. I was very impressed how well it worked compared to my current ones.

The_Laird 21st June 2018 10:00 PM

The towel is brilliant and, BTW, I don’t live in a midge capital anymore and these aren’t midges (which are much smaller). I think these are known locally as thunderflies and are common in the East Midlands in warm weather, often ahead of thunder storms. Usually very short lived, thankfully. :)

DailyMike 25th March 2019 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Laird (Post 143082)
....and more cleaning woes!

After watching the cleaning demo at the Annual Meet, I asked my girls for a drying towel, as used by Bert himself (he was kind enough to send me a link the the one he used), for Fathers' Day.

So, new towels in hand (the girls bought me two, bless them) I set about a full clean of the S8. Then the pressure washer packed in, needing a new on/off pressure switch. So I ordered a new one and fixed it. Then it packed in again, needing new brushes. Fixed it again. +++

Then finally got the car cleaned and started to dry it - the towel is really worth every penny, making drying very quick and getting the car really dry, so less risk of swirl marks and drying spots.

But, as you can see from the photos, I'm not the only fan of the new towel! :(

Hi.

Where can I get a couple of these towels from please?

Could you kindly post the link you were directed to?

Cheers,

DailyMike.

The_Laird 25th March 2019 09:10 PM

Here you go:

https://carpro.uk.com/collections/mi...e-drying-towel

The_Laird 25th March 2019 09:20 PM

But The Master of Fibes towel gets really good reviews, so I also bought one of them.

https://waxpack.co.uk/store/shop/ext...-drying-towel/

DailyMike 25th March 2019 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Laird (Post 149093)

Thanks for this!

DailyMike.

sarg 26th March 2019 01:11 AM

I use Gyeon drying towels, never found anything better to dry well maintained paint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28o8WCf8h_8

Have also just bought one of these as I had some Halfrauds vouchers that needed using

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/ca...e-drying-towel

Only used it once so far so too early to say but seemed to do a decent job

DailyMike 26th March 2019 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Laird (Post 149094)
But The Master of Fibes towel gets really good reviews, so I also bought one of them.

https://waxpack.co.uk/store/shop/ext...-drying-towel/


...and thanks for THIS link, too!

Mike.

Conquistador 15th April 2019 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarg (Post 149098)
Have also just bought one of these as I had some Halfrauds vouchers that needed using

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/ca...e-drying-towel

That's the one I've got and can report that it's pretty good. It was on offer at Halfords a while ago. You simply show it some water and it hungrily slurps it up. Of course, keeping them fluffy and not wrecking the fibres has a lot to do with how they are washed and dried.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2nv5l6q.jpg

ainarssems 15th April 2019 11:11 PM

This may be a dumb question but how do you make them last? First I have to confess I never bought one for £20+ because they seem like single use items for me. Instead I have like a lot of small ones. I do know the basic rules not to use fabric conditioner and not to tumble dry and to use mild detergent ( whatever that means). As far as my experience goes cheap microfibre towels/cloths vary a lot in absorbency when they are new from pretty good to not good at all. I find the ones that are marketed for glass/windows to be best. but after single use they are either useless or very impaired.

From what I gather I wash car with a shampoo containing wax, dry it with microfibre cloth, most of this wax ends up in cloth and normal washing does not remove it so next time instead of being water absorbent it is water repellent.

Do you all use shampoos that does not contain wax? and then wax/polish after drying?

sarg 16th April 2019 11:12 AM

I use PH neutral shampoos - usually PoorBoys https://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/...r-shampoo.aspx

currently trialling UF's own brand, but will be going back to PoorBoys for next order

I don't think there is any wax in either of these.

I do not wax or polish afterwards as I have a ceramic coat, should not use anything mildly abrasive like polishes, quick detailer is adequate for a final product, am planning to try finishing with AG Extra Gloss Protection but first need to check for abrasives in the product.

My routine is:

1. Snowfoam applied on dry car (i.e. not pre-rinsed) and left to dwell for 10ish minutes.
2. During the 10 minutes, I use a detailing brush to clean grilles, badges, etc
3. Rinse off
4. Clean wheels - I use Valet Pro Bilberry https://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/...l-cleaner.aspx or a stronger IronX type product if they are especially dirty, then hand wash with small bucket of shampoo and wheel brushes, then rinse with jetwash
5. Apply 2nd snow foam
6. Without rinsing the 2nd foam, hand wash using two buckets with grit guards, PH neutral shampoo and wool wash mitt
7. Rinse
8. Dry horizontal surfaces and glass with the fluffy green towel in previous post
9. Buff same surfaces and dry vertical surfaces with Gyeon drying towel
10. Finish off with my BigBoi BlowR Pro - these are not cheap and not effective without a drying towel to assist.

My next investment will be in to a walter filter, which should mean I can skip the towel drying phase altogether and go straight to blow drying



All the above is for a maintenance wash, every 4-6 weeks I do a more detailed routine that would include de-tarring, ironX and a claymitt, though have to be careful not to affect the ceramic coat with this

Conquistador 16th April 2019 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ainarssems (Post 149762)
This may be a dumb question but how do you make them last? First I have to confess I never bought one for £20+ because they seem like single use items for me. Instead I have like a lot of small ones. I do know the basic rules not to use fabric conditioner and not to tumble dry and to use mild detergent ( whatever that means). As far as my experience goes cheap microfibre towels/cloths vary a lot in absorbency when they are new from pretty good to not good at all. I find the ones that are marketed for glass/windows to be best. but after single use they are either useless or very impaired.

From what I gather I wash car with a shampoo containing wax, dry it with microfibre cloth, most of this wax ends up in cloth and normal washing does not remove it so next time instead of being water absorbent it is water repellent.

Do you all use shampoos that does not contain wax? and then wax/polish after drying?

They never seem to be as fluffy as they are brand new, and it's advisable to wash them before first use but in reality, nobody ever does because they feel so big and fluffy out of the bag. It's best practice to wash them on their own and a splash of white vinegar in the drum doesn't hurt, but don't ever use bleach or washer powder.

There's a lot of polyester in the big microfibre towels which why it's not a good idea to tumble dry them using heat. Ideally you want to spin dry them in the washing machine but because they are so heavy when wet, it can unbalance a machine :ROFL:

A good way to tell if the microfibre cloth/towel is ruined is drip some water onto it. If the water gets absorbed then it's good, if the water runs down the towel then you might as well throw it away. If you drop the towel on the floor you should probably throw it away too, unless you're going to sit with some tweezers picking out every single particle of grit.

sarg 16th April 2019 06:39 PM

I wash my towels with a little non-bio washing powder.

I also nearly always run them through condenser drier, never heard before that might be an issue


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