Help me with washing/drying/polishing! Towel question.
 

What does everyone use to wash, dry and remove polish.

I'm using a microfiber mitt I got from Target for the washing, Zaino's cotton pads for applying the polish and some 100% cotton towels i bought from Macy's for everything else. Are there better options that won't scratch out there? I'm not sure I trust the microfiber mitt. I don't mind paying a little extra to have something a bit safer.

I never buy my towels or wash mitt from Target/Walmart/Kmart because they are made in China and are not made of pure 100% cotton or microfiber. This has been spreading in the detailing community for quite some time now so I buy my stuff from detailing supply stores. Although there's no way to prove that the towels or wash mitts are really 100%, it's better to be safe than sorry.

I use real lambs wool wash mitt and got them from eBay (MEGUIAR'S WOOL WASH MITT *CHEAPEST ON EBAY*(GET 1 FREE): eBay Motors (item 220604688769 end time May-22-10 06:46:00 PDT))

I also use Chemical Guy's 100% cotton towel which I got from another forum.

No matter what I use to dry: microfiber, shamis, terry cloth they all leave cloth fibers on my car?

The zaino 100% Cotten towels are so soft. Pricy but worth it. I will never use store bought towels again.

I've got these items from Adam's:
A washing pad to wash (holds lots of water and real soft), a drying towel to dry (is big and takes up a lot of water in one go) and microfibers for the polish (very soft and made in Korea).

Waffle weave MicroFiber from detailed image.

Three things I do for drying. I am OCD when it comes to my car, though. The key is to minimize the amount of drying you have to do with a towel.

1) Sheeting technique. - Junkman has a you tube video on this
2) Use a leaf blower to get water out of cracks, lights, seams. You can get a toro for $30 bucks at lowes / home depot. I have a dedicated leaf blower for my car.
3) At this point the car should be almost dry - remove remaining water gently with waffle weave microfiber towel. Invest in good towels. If you have done things correctly you should be able to dry your entire car with only one towel.

Towel cleaning tips.
1) only use liquid detergent without any perfume - get the free, clear unscented laundry stuff
2) putting a little of white distilled vinegar in the rinse cycle will make the towels plush and soft again.
3) Dont just toss clean towels on a shelve in your garage. Put them in large zip lock bags when they are clean.
4) only use towels for one purpose-mark them with a sharpie in a corner so you remember
Here is the legend I use
HP - Heavy Polish
FP - Fine Polish
G - glass
D - Drying
QD - Quick Detailing
V - Vynil Trim
L - Leather
W - Wheel
T - Tire Dressing



I hope this helps. Good luck.

Anybody else notice that those microfiber towels disappear over time?

I just got some microfiber drying towels for work and I love them. They are the brand Sonus der Wunder. They are a waffle design and as of yet they dry great and don't scratch. I don't know about longevity yet. I got them online. I am actually going to completely change over the terry towels I was using to these.

In all reality you should be able to dry a car the size of the Z with one quality waffle weave towel if you're using the proper method.

FINAL RINSE - Use the 'pooling' or 'sheeting' method. Simply take the nozzle off the end of the hose, turn the water down to a low trickle and let the water do the work. By using this method to push all the beaded water off of the surfaces there won't be much left to dry. This also cuts down significantly on water spots as there are less water beads left behind. Junkman has an excellent video demonstrating this technique: YouTube - The Pooling Rinse Process

COMPRESSED AIR, LEAF BLOWER, ETC - Use one if you've got one. Nothings more annoying than drying a car then as soon as you close a door a bunch more runs out of the trim. We sell a little compact blower by Metro called the BLASTER SIDEKICK that is excellent for this. It heats the air as well so thats a nice touch. The only thing to be cautious of - DO NOT STIR UP DIRT FROM THE GROUND!! Keep the flow of air in a horizontal or slightly upward direction... if you stir up dust and debris its going to redeposit on the paint, you rub, swirls appear... no bueno!! Also pay close attention to the water you're blowing out of the trim and gaps... if water is hiding there dust/dirt/grit/etc is hiding there too. Make sure to use a drying agent to lubricate and protect the paint so you don't introduce new swirls.

DRYING AGENTS - Using a Detail Spray or Waterless Wash to aid in drying makes a HUGE difference. It will add another level of protection to the drying process by lubricating the surface and helping to encapsulate any of the debris I mentioned above. It also seems to make drying easier. By using Detail Spray you'll also get a marginal amount of gloss added to the surface while you're drying, excellent if you're not planning on doing any waxing afterwards. Also helps prevent water spotting.

PICK A GOOD TOWEL - you want a HIGH QUALITY waffle weave microfiber. Ours is just about the softest you'll find, plus its a very thirsty towel. You'd be amazed at how much water one Great White Drying Towel will suck up. We chose to go undyed (no dye = fibers that will hold more water as they're not clogged up with color) and its a good size. Using the other methods I mentioned above I can dry my truck (2009 Avalanche) with ONE TOWEL.

I love my Mr.Clean AutoDry Carwash system,no more water spots no matter the temperature outside or how sunny its is,rinse and walk away , no toweling/shammie needed,water molecules wont stick together to puddle and leave spots,gotta love modern technology.

Using the above methods and that same (great white) towel I can easily dry my 370Z without having to even wring the towel once.

More info on this? Like do you just spray down the areas you are about to dry with some detail spray and then wipe it off with your microfiber?

What is the border made out of for the Great White towel? I hope it isn't nylon, like some other microfiber towels use.

What do you guys use for removing polish? I'm just using cotton towels, but is there better/safer options?

Yes... just mist it over the panels as you go. The product adds lubricity to the surface which lowers the chances of causing any swirls... just an extra layer of protection. Also, if you choose the detail spray over the waterless wash you'll get a little extra gloss as the product has a gloss enhancer in it.

Microfiber... just straight spun microfiber. Same with the center stitching that bonds the 2 sides.

Microfiber... its the only material that touches any of my painted surfaces... and only high quality stuff... none of the cheap-o garbage from the local wally world or autoparts store.