100% Cotton Towel Inquiry

[sawacs]

The product I use for wiping polish off recommends I use a 100% cotton towel to buff the product off. However, over the years, my towels have become worn out and I need new towels.

What would you guys recommend for a nice white 100% cotton towel with cotton stitches for buffing the product (Zaino) off?

Thank you..

[Eric@CherryOnTop]

Back in "the day," Zaino told people to use high quality Egyptian cotton bath towels to wipe off their products.

In the future (today) people generally use microfiber towels for this job since they are softer and do not scratch the paint. (rub your face with a dry bath towel and note how abrasive it feels) There are TONS of quality microfiber towels available that are sure to suit your fancy 8-)

[Rsurfer]

Didn't Zaino (Sal) change his tune on using miro towels since they now sell mf towels?

[Jowillie]

There are still some manufacturers (none sold here) that say use cotton towels instead of microfiber as they say the microfiber may remove too much of the product. Mostly their wax products.
:confused::confused:

[sawacs]

There are still some manufacturers (none sold here) that say use cotton towels instead of microfiber as they say the microfiber may remove too much of the product. Mostly their wax products.
:confused::confused:

That is exactly why I use 100% cotton towels for removing Zaino:dblthumb2: Microfiber towels have their place and I do utilize them often. However, after using the 100% cotton towels since 2000, I am stuck in my ways:cheers:

Thanks,

Sawacs

[Setec Astronomy]

Didn't Zaino (Sal) change his tune on using miro towels since they now sell mf towels?

No, the "towel guidelines" still say 100% cotton, just like pretty much nothing else has changed there in 10 years...the most recent "what's new" is from Feb. 2007 when Z-CS came out.

[Eldorado2k]

I'd love to see a real life demo of someone using cotton towels to remove compound/polish or wax residue off paint without leaving micro swirls. I'm curious as to what those towels would feel like and where I could get them.

[Belair]

^^ That's funny Setec, didn't know that.

[Setec Astronomy]

I'd love to see a real life demo of someone using cotton towels to remove compound/polish or wax residue off paint without leaving micro swirls. I'm curious as to what those towels would feel like and where I could get them.

Well, there used to be DF Concours towels, which were created by a towel/car guy and were endorsed by Sal, but they are long gone.

[Mike Phillips]

Well, there used to be DF Concours towels, which were created by a towel/car guy and were endorsed by Sal, but they are long gone.




Whatever happened to the guy behind the DF towels? He used to have a website and promote microfiber cotton towels.


:dunno:

[Mike Phillips]

The product I use for wiping polish off recommends I use a 100% cotton towel to buff the product off.




Most companies that sell car detailing supplies or are seen as experts in this field also tell everyone when washing a car,



Start at the top and work your way down


I'd day the people that write this kind of expertise don't wash a lot of car or are not paint focused.


Just a guess....


:)

[MattPersman]

Since your old field crest or cannon made is USA towels are worn lol. With the edges cut off. Ahh I remember those days.

Anyways since they are worn out buy a pack or two of the PFM by Griot's and see how you like them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike Phillips]

There are still some manufacturers (none sold here) that say use cotton towels instead of microfiber as they say the microfiber may remove too much of the product.




There is some truth to this.


When I worked for Meguiar's I was in charge of all the writing for the Velocity line products.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/2VelocitySystem.jpg


These were a line of product for manufacturing where molds are used to create parts, for example a boat or a kitchen sink made out of fiberglas.


When writing the label directions, Application Bulletins and even the Flow Chart, I was instructed by R&D to list 100% cotton and not microfiber because microfiber does too good of a job REMOVING and when the goal is to leave behind a layer of release agent on the surface you don't want to work against your self by removing it when wiping off the excess.


That said, generally speaking microfiber or miniaturized polyester and nylon fibers are more gentle to scratch-sensitive clearcoats paints as compared to the more stout cotton fibers that normally make up most cotton terrycloth towels.

Cotton terrycloth towels are good for wiping off old school caveman compounds because of the stoutness of the fibers but most quality compounds on the market today wipe of a LOT easier than the old archic compounds of yesteryear making cotton towels less functional for paint polishing work in the present.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Since your old field crest or cannon made is USA towels are worn lol. With the edges cut off. Ahh I remember those days.



Me too. I use to have a huge collection of cotton terrycloth towels as I would get them from the lost and found at the pool where I worked out. (good friends with the pool maintenance guy). This would be the Albany Community Pool and in the boiler room there was a mountain of towels that were left by kids that came to swim there. I would go through the pile and pick out the softest towels and then cut off the edges and then cut them into smaller towels.





Anyways since they are worn out buy a pack or two of the PFM by Griot's and see how you like them.




The Griot's PFM is very close to feel and performance of cotton terry cloth.


In fact, one of the things I did in my review of these towels was to share a little information on the topic of stout or stoutness.


Review: Griot's Garage PFM or Pure Freakin Magic Wax Removal Towel! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/new-car-care-products/102533-review-griots-garage-pfm-pure-freakin-magic-wax-removal-towel.html)





Here's my best effort at getting a SIDE shot of the nap of the PFM towels, here you can make out the loops of fiber.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/watermark.php?file=106504


The Stoutness Factor

The feel of the towels to my hand are soft but the loops offer a level of stoutness you simply don't find in microfiber towels. The word stout means thick and strong and that's the feature I like about the nap of these Griot's PFM towels. Sometimes you want a towel that's soft as silk but other times you want a towel that is stout.

When it comes to wiping off compounds I like a stout towel. In the past the only stout towels available were normal, household hand towels made out of cotton terrycloth. The stoutness these types of towels offer help you to wipe off compound residue faster and easier than if you were to use your finest and softest towel reserved for the final wipe after removing the majority of a coat of wax just applied to a car's finish. The issue with cotton terrycloth is it's not as gentle to delicate, scratch-sensitive surfaces like modern clearcoat paints. That's where this new Griot's PFM Towel really shines. It's stout enough to make wiping compounds and polishes off fast and easy without leaving toweling marks like old cotton towels.

As soon as I felt the stoutness of this new microfiber towel I instantly knew it was the towel I've been searching for all these years for use when restoring antique single stage paint using the #7 Rub Down Technique. More to come on this perfect match-up in the future.


The Wax Factor
So while I like this towel for the stoutness factor Griot's claims its intended use if for removing waxes, sealants, spray waxes and spray detailers. Towels for these steps need to be very soft so as not to induce any toweling scratches as these step are normally performed to perfect paint. While the towels have a heavier weight to them than most super plush microfiber towels you would normally associate with wiping off waxes these towels are microfiber and the characteristic about microfiber (as compared to what we used to use in the old day, terrycloth, teeshirts and diapers), is that it's strong but gentle to scratch-sensitive surfaces.



The Wipe-off Factor
Another benefit touted by Griot's for this new towel is the one-pass wipe-off ability it offers. That is, supposedly you can make one pass with one side and this one pass will have removed the majority of the wax so that you can simply flip the towel to the other side to make the final wipe leaving a residue free surface. I pretty much already trusted and believed this to be true about this towel without even using it BECAUSE that's the characteristic of a true nap. The word nap means tiny loop of material. Again in the old days it meant cotton terrycloth. Just look closely at a bath towel or a beach towel sometime and you'll see the surface is made up of tiny loops of cotton. These new Griot's towels offers a true nap, that is tiny loops of microfiber with both stoutness and softness at the same time.


What can tiny loops of microfiber do for you?

I know some of you are reading this and wondering,

What's the big deal about the nap or the tiny [closed] loops of microfiber?

Well here's the big deal..

The loops (unlike open ended fiber strands), with their stoutness, when pushed against a layer of wax or any film residue, will SLICE into the film breaking it up and making it easier (and safer) to wipe-off.


That's what the big deal is and the cool feature to these Griot's PFM towels. Of course, all of the above is just talk what's really important is the real deal and that means waxing a car and then removing the wax.





Half my work on the forum is simply remembering what I've written and then locating it...


Guess I should go share the above on FB today...


:laughing:

[FUNX650]

I use a 100% cotton towel to buff...
I need new towels.

Big Ass Towels sells made in
the USA 100% Cotton Towels.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/IMG_25941.JPG



Bob