Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt  Yea, I noticed that, but it says that he "patted" the tire down rather than rubbed it. I'm not sure if it has the same effect on controlling gloss, but I guess it does. |
I'm never sure how D.O. people want to get but here's the deal,
Patting Technique
Patting draws off any excess residues left on the surface without smearing it over the tire, it leaves a very uniform, matte finish.
Wiping Technique
Wiping will remove any excess residue off the surface but it tends to streak it over the surface and then you have to wipe off the streaks.
Both ways work but patting any excess residue off the surface just seems to work better for me. This brings up the topic of
wiping cloths.
The 4 minimum categories of wiping cloths
Wiping cloths
Just as important as any product or tool in your detailing arsenal are your wiping cloths. You can use the best compound, the best polish, the best LSP and of course the best buffing pads and top of the line polishers but if you're using any type of wiping cloth that is in some way, shape or form contaminated then you risk putting swirls and scratches into your car's finish. For this reason it's important to separate your wiping cloths into dedicated categories and have some type of labeling system so that you or others know what a collection of wiping cloths can be used on safely.
The ultimate goal is to have confidence that when you go to remove your LSP of a finish you've toiled over all day long, that the end results will giddy with glee, not because the paint looks fabulous, not loathsome and infuriated because you just instilled scratches back into the paint you've worked on so hard.
More than that, you want friends, family and even employees to be enabled to choose the right cloth in case they're are to perform any kind of detailing task with or without your supervision. For example, you're gone, a bird leaves a bird dropping on the hood of your girlfriend or wife's car and in their attempt to remove the bird dropping you don't want them grabbing the wrong microfiber polishing cloth and remove the bird dropping but create a new Saturday Detailing Project for you in the process.
4 Categories Minimum
Everyone should have at least 4 types of wiping cloths, some of you may have more categories like a dedicated collection of glass wiping cloths, or wiping cloths dedicated towards leather and vinyl dressings. These are the minimum, feel free to separate your wiping cloths as much as you like and places like Target offer plastic roll-around bins with drawers that you can label and store your different groups of wiping cloths. It's important to separate any cloth deemed worthing of wiping a high gloss finish from all the rest.
Good Microfiber Polishing Cloths
You can 'touch' paint with microfiber polishing cloths from this collection. These are the microfiber polishing cloths in your collection that are new or you have washed and dried and you trust them to be safe on a high gloss, polished finish.
Tatty Microfiber Polishing Cloths
These are washed, dried and clean, but their quality has fallen to a level that you have deemed them not worthing of touching a high gloss, polished finish. You don't throw them away because they still have value for wiping spray detailers or cleaner/waxes out places like door jambs, chrome wheels or bumpers, a roll bar, the paint on a boat trailer, or some components in the engine compartment. You might even keep them around for checking the oil or wiping grease off your hands after changing the oil. The point is they are still great at removing residue, just not off a swirl-free, scratch-free, high gloss surface.
Good Cotton Towels
While microfiber is superior at removing polishes, waxes and paint sealants off paint, and especially trace residues off smooth, high gloss finishes, there's still a place for good quality cotton towels. For example, cleaning you pad on the fly. Cotton towels with a large nap work better than microfiber towels. Some people prefer a cotton towel with a large nap to remove compounds because they offer a more aggressive bit but then switch over to microfiber for removing polishes and LSP's. Your good cotton towels should be clean and soft and worthing of working on paint in good condition or better.
Tatty Cotton Towels
Tatty Cotton Towels are cotton towels that are washed and dried but for whatever the reason, their quality is fallen off to far from what's acceptable to touch paint in good condition or better. They still have value however for mundane tasks like wiping excess tired dressing off the face of a tire, applying or wiping cleaners and dressings in the fenderwell area, applying or removing cleaners, dressings or cleaner/waxes in the trunk area or door jambs and engine compartments. The have value because they are absorbent, clean and ready to use and paid for. After some projects you might be better of discarding them versus trying to clean them well enough that they can be used again.
For patting down the tires in this review, I used a clean, dry towel from my Tatty Cotton Towel collection. I also used a good quality microfiber polishing cloth but there are no pictures from when I used it.
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