Microfiber Towels - How many?

[njarmstrong81]

I am racking my brain trying to determine how many towels and what types I should be purchasing. I am checking a bunch of different sites with different options and am just confusing the issue. I know this will be very subjective, but what I want to do with them is the following:

- General purpose cloths - Different colours for interior, misc paint (door jambs, under hood, trunk), glass, wheels, engine bay.
- Washing
- Polish & wax removal
- No rinse/Waterless wash
- Detail sprays or similar products

I've check probably a dozen different sites to try and find deals and keep coming back to just getting them from AG as it works out to around the same cost when shipping is factored in - Going to Canada.

Any suggestions on quantities or types is appreciated. Becoming very frustrated with all the choices, I don't want to select the wrong ones.

[Just02896]

I use only three types since I only do traditional washes and don't use towels to dry. Cheapies for GP (interior, jambs, etc, soft / medium knapp for compound and polish removal, and ultra plush / long knapp for sealant or wax removal. I prefer 16x16 towels for all except glass which I like to use 16x24 white waffle weaves. As far how many you need....it's hard to say since you never said whether you do detailing as a business or as a hobby.

[Mike Phillips]

If you want to wash them separately from one another as in divided by chemicals/process then the amount you want for each "type" is enough to do a small wash load which is about 10 to 12 each.


How many microfiber polishing cloths do I need to detail my car?


Often times on discussion forums, the question comes up,

"How many microfiber polishing cloths do I need to detail my car?"

Usually this is from the perspective of detailing a car, as in a Saturday detailing session.

I would just interject that instead of approaching this from the point of view of,

"How many microfiber polishing cloths do I need to detail my car?"


Instead, look at it from the point of view of,

How many microfiber polishing towels do I need in order to make one, small dedicated wash load in my washing machine?


You see, it's best to not wash microfiber towels with other types of towels like cotton towels or a load of jeans and t-shirts, so ideally you want to only wash microfiber polishing cloths together in a dedicated microfiber wash load.

Thinking about how many microfibers you need from this perspective, you want enough microfiber polishing cloths to run at least a small load through your washer and dryer.

Something about making a wash and dry load with only 4 items for example always seems kind of wasteful. So instead of stocking up on enough microfiber polishing cloths for a single detailing session, stock up on enough microfiber polishing cloths to at least make a small wash load when you're ready to wash and dry your microfiber polishing cloths.


How many do I need?
At least a dozen microfiber towels. 12 average size microfiber polishing cloths makes for a good small wash load in most washing machines. So use that as a target number to shoot for when building up your supply for microfiber polishing cloths.


Here's two more tips...

Dedicated Clothes Hamper
Swing by a store like Target or Walmart and pick up a small clothes hamper for the garage and dedicate this for just microfiber polishing cloths. It's vitally important that your microfiber polishing cloths don't get contaminated with dirt and other abrasive particles.

Seems like the wind always blows leaves into our garage and when they dry out and get crinkly and then get on microfiber it's almost impossible to get all the dried leave particles out of the nap of the microfiber nap and in this case washing it with other microfibers will contaminate them also.

So invest in enough microfiber polishing cloths to make a small wash load and invest in a dedicated clothes hamper for the garage to keep them from getting dirty and contaminated. Then when you have enough dirty microfiber polishing cloths to make a wash load, wash them, dry them and then store them in a place where they wont' get dirty.


Enclosed Storage Cabinet
Another thing to look for at Target and Walmart that will help you are these roll around plastic cabinets with 4-5 drawers. You can fold your microfiber polishing cloths and place them in the drawers and this will keep them clean so they're always ready to use. It's self-defeating to to carefully store your dirty microfiber polishing cloths and wash them in dedicated loads if you don't have a clean place to store them for future use.

Washing and Drying
Another question that comes up all the time is how to properly wash and dry microfiber polishing cloths. It's best to keep this process simple and uncomplicated.

Washing
Wash your microfiber polishing cloths in the warm or hot temperature setting with a quality detergent on the normal or heavy duty setting. Choose between these options by how dirty your microfiber polishing cloths are; if they are really dirty with lots of polish and wax residue then use the hot temperature setting, on the heavy duty wash cycle. If your washer has an optional secondary or extra rinse cycle you can use this option to insure all the detergent is rinsed out before drying.

Liquid or Powder Wash Detergents
There are people that will argue that only a liquid detergent should be used for washing microfiber polishing cloths to reduce the potential for any undissolved powder particles to somehow attach to the nap of the microfiber cloth and remain their, (undissolved), through both the wash cycle and the drying cycle. Personally I've never had a problem using powder style washing detergent. The polish and wax used on this truck was wiped off using microfiber polishing cloths washed using Tide Powder Detergent.

Here's a tip... <-- Important
When using a powder type laundry detergent. Before you add your microfiber polishing cloths, first start by filling the wash tub with water and then add your laundry soap, (both powder or liquid), and let the laundry detergent fully mix with the water to create a uniform soapy water solution to then add your polishing cloths. With a powder type laundry detergent, the violent mixing action by the agitator will allow the powder particles to fully dissolve, thus used correctly a powder type laundry detergent is a liquid.

If you add your polishing cloths first, then pour the powdered laundry detergent on top of them and then start the load, the powder particles will have to work they're way through all the polishing cloths in order to mix and dissolve in the water. So create your soapy detergent solution first and then add your polishing cloths.

Another tip...
If you're making a large load, mix your laundry soap using only the small or medium size wash load first, then after mixing and dissolving the laundry detergent, add your microfiber polishing cloths and then re-set the size selector to large or extra large setting, (whatever you're using), and start the timer/cycle switch at the beginning. The tub will then fill with water to the correct level and wash the microfiber polishing cloths for the full cycle in completely uniform solution of soapy water.



The paint on the below 1956 Ford F150 is a single stage urethane and was easily scratched if you were not careful.






2006 Mosler with an easily scratched clear coat finish



1954 Corvette - Single Stage black Lacquer Paint



Steve Radigan's 1960 Corvette - Single Stage Black Lacquer Paint



Both of these below cars were wiped using microfiber polishing cloths that were washed using powdered Tide laundry soap

Chip Foose's Challenging Challenger



Steve Metz Panic Parrot




And during this detail session, the microfiber polishing cloths used were washed using powdered Tide laundry soap


Nate Truman's 1966 Batmobile





Drying
Dry your microfiber polishing cloths alone on the warm to hot setting. Don't use a fabric softener like Bounce Dryer Sheets. It's recommended to use a fabric softener when washing or drying cotton towels but not microfiber materials.

[c8n]

With MF towels, more the merrier. I don' think I can have enough MF towels.

In my personally experience, when in doubt, just buy a bunch of the Meguiars Supreme Shine towels. I am not saying they are the best but they do everything reasonably well and they are not expensive at all.

I think you just have to experiment to be honest because i think it really depends on the length of the nap and fiber content. For example, I have this 500GSM towel that I initially thought would be great as a wash towel. It does hold tons of liquid and actually is great for washing but it does not like to release debris even when washed. Because of this reason I don't like using this as wash towels. Instead, I found that it's great for applying spray wax.

If I had to put out my personal guideline on MF towel, I would simply say long nap to apply and short to medium nap to wipe off liquid. When waxing and polishing, I just use the softest I have regardless of nap.

I would start from Meg's Supreme Shine as a base and build from here.

[CDot]

I'm just a hobbyist (e.g. I only wash my own cars), but this is my set-up for towels:

Wal-Mart
(15) cheap color-coded MF towel pack for general cleaning (green for exterior, yellow for interior, blue for glass)
AutoGeek
(3) Gold Plush Jr's, best all-around towel you can buy. I use mine for QD's and Spray Wax
(2) Clean & Buff MF's for polish
Chemical Guys
(2) Blue Monsters I use for Liquid/paste wax
(6) El Gordo Fatty Limes as claying towels, interior protectant towels, and as my backups for the Gold Plush Jr's--they are nearly identical
(1) Gray Matter Waffle Weave for drying
Dispensable
(3) fairly old MF towels for my wheels

I've covered the basis for everything I've ever needed with that set-up. I use Micro-Chenille mitts for 2BM washing/rinseless washing, but you can use Gold Plush Jr's or the Rolled Edges towels for that as well. Just soak them in the solution well before using.

If I were to go "all AG" I'd probably get:

(6) Gold Plush Jr's
(2) Supreme 530 Jr's , Arctic White's, or Super Plush Jr's
(6) Green Super Soft Deluxe Rolled Edges - they are on sale at the moment
(1) 20x40 Guzzler Towel or the Guzzler Combo Kit

Then get the cheapy ones from wal-mart for wheels/doorjams/general stuff. It's easy to get overwhelmed or "towel-happy" and buy 100 of them--resist the urge or your wallet will feel the pain!

[njarmstrong81]

Thanks. And yes this is just for personal use, not a business. Would want to get enough to cover off our two vehicles if I was to do them back to back over the course of a couple of days.

I almost went all CG towels but the shipping was more than the order to Canada - shut that idea down pretty quickly.

Good info above, I'll keep searching thanks!

[Kacz]

I have ~130 various microfiber towels. (37 throwaway ones)

I don't do this for a living or a side job (a few paid details here and there if I feel like it), but I love having a bunch of towels.

IMO don't short yourself on quality of towels--this should be your main concern.

[Rmd]

I am also a certifiable towel-aholic; probably have 150+ and I only detail my own car. I'm always buying new types of towels to see how they perform for particular tasks. I have found it valuable to designate specific types of towels for specific uses. Having a variety of different towels and colors will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of towels by washing them in the groups you use them for and not cross-contaminating them or having the colors bleed from dark towels onto light ones. My advice for starting a well rounded collection based on my experiences with dozens of types of towels would be this:

Polish removal/wax removal - AG grey 530 and purple 600's. Use one type for polishes and one type for waxes/sealants. Doesn't really matter which. If budget is less of a concern, the Microfiber Madness crazy piles are the absolute best for wax/sealant removal. Depending on how often you polish or paint clean or wax/seal, a dozen of this category would be good.

Post-wash QD/spray wax/V7 type products - AG gold plush. Great towels for this and other minor paint related tasks. Good value for the quality you get. 6-12 of these would be a good starting number.

Wheels - I like using black towels for this. Don't need to be super high quality. I have about 6 that I got from car-pro, but many sellers have black.

General interior and all around - A good 350-360 gsm towel for this purpose. I have a bunch from MF Tech. Good value.

Rinseless - a fluffy 600 gsm towel is good here. I like the 600 greens from MF Tech. AG has the grey version of these called Chinchilla. Same as far as I can tell. I tend to use the 800 from Microfiber Madness, great performers, but again, not budget friendly.

Sacrificial towels - definitely pick up a 36 pack of Costco golds. These are perfect for messy jobs where you don't really care about what happens to the towels. Throw them away if you get them really dirty or stained.

Drying - A good korean waffle weave, cobra guzzler, or plush dryer like the CG Fatty Orange. I like both, but I go Microfiber Madness all the way. Worth the cost in this category.

A full setup like the above will run you some cash if you buy all at once, but you can scale up as you need. Towels last a long time if you care for them well. I have become a recent devotee of Wolfgang towel cleaner. Best i have used, and I have used several different kinds over the years. Get a gallon on sale, you will use it up eventually. Wash the different types in separate loads. As Mike said, if you have a group of each you can avoid having to wash only a couple towels to keep from cross-contaminating them. To echo Bkdazzle's post, towels are a good investment, and your best value is not found in the cheapest towels (other than Costco).

[RMM]

MFs are to a detail-guy what diamonds are to a girl: their best friend! And they are never enough!

Cobra has some nice towels:

Woobie Microfiber Towel, 3-Pack, buffing towel, edgeless polishing cloth
Gold Plush Jr. Microfiber Towel, gold detail cloth, buffing towel, microfiber buffing towel, micro fiber
Super Plush Junior Microfiber Towel, 16 x 16 inches (the one I like the most from the entire range)

But you should look into the Microfiber Madness brand: you simply can't beat them!

[cleanmycorolla]

Towels are the detailing product I purchase most. I easily have 100 assorted microfibers. It's insane.