Review: The Notorious D.R.Y. Towel

[Mike Phillips]

Review: The Notorious D.R.Y. Towel


The Notorious D.R.Y. Towels






What is it?

A microfiber car drying towel. This would replace an old-school leather drying chamois.


What does it do?

Absorbs water off your car to help you avoid water spots and stains.


When do I use it?

After first washing and rinsing your car.


Why should I use it?

The gargantuan 1400 GSM or Grams per Square Meter is off the charts! This means it's a very heavy, THICK and plush microfiber towel.



From the manufacturer

The Speed Master Notorious D.R.Y. Towel is made with a dual pile, twisted microfiber, meaning it’s not only capable of handling any drying job, but it also won't cause any damage to your paint. The edges are rolled and sean so there is no actual edge. I weighs in at 1400 GSM making it completely capable of holding up to 3 times it's weight in water.



Real-world testing

I had a couple of 2015 Z28 Camaros to detail. These cars were both dirty and swirled-out. Before I could do any paint correction, they both had to be washed. Washing these cars provided me the opportunity to use both sizes of this Speed Master The Speed Master Notorious D.R.Y. Towel is made with a dual pile, twisted microfiber, meaning it’s not only capable of handling any drying job, but it also won't cause any damage to your paint..

Here's the car wet in the background, patiently waiting for me. Out front on the roll-around tool car are the two Speed Master Notorious D.R.Y. Towels.





Both towels are thick and soft.





You can feel the plushness and the heavy GSM simply by grabbing and holding either of the towels.





Here's the smaller 20" by 32" towel laid out flat on the hood.





BOOM!

Here's the larger 26" by 36" towel laid out flat on the hood. It's freaking HUGE!





Here's a wet Z28 that I'll dry with the larger towel.








This is called...

Stretching

It's after you've dried the outside of the car you open all the doors, hood and trunk lid so you can wipe all the jambs down.







Review

2 words...

Super Absorbent

I used the larger version to dry all the water off this black 2015 Z28 Camaro and then a few days later I used the smaller version to dry all the water off this car's Kissing Cousin, a red 2015 Z28 Camaro.

Both towels removed 100% of the water with zero effort on my part except moving the towel over each body panel. The smaller, even though smaller, had no problem sucking up all the water off the car and there was still plenty of dry towel left if there would have been more water, for example a LARGE SUV.

The nap is soft like you expect microfiber to be and due to the thickness of the towel, it's a substantial to hold and mover over body panels but not so heavy to make it unusable.



My personal recommendation?

If you have a car with perfect paint, or close to perfect paint, be it waxed, sealanted or coated, then these towels are a super fast and SAFE way to remove all the standing water off your car.

BUT - here's my caveat... due to the deep loop nap design, you really need to have your towel storing, washing, folding, inspecting and then back to storing process dialed-in. If you don't know what I mean by this then you're probably new to this forum or my articles and that's okay. For those that might not know what I'm talking about, in order to maintain a swirl and scratch free finish on your car - EVERYTHING that touches the paint must be,

1. Clean
2. Soft
3. Un-Contaminated <-- this is key

It's Number #3 where most people fail.

All microfiber towels can become contaminated if you drop them on the ground or store them dirty, or clean in a place that's not clean. So if you already have a system in place to keep your clean towels clean and also keep your DIRTY towels clean until you get to washing and drying them, then you're good to go. If you don't have a dialed-in process to keep your microfiber towels and microfiber products, (that could include microfiber wash mitts), then read this article.

How, why & when to inspect your microfiber towels when detailing cars


So yeah, this is a great microfiber drying towel that as long as you keep it clean it will keep your car looking amazing. I think for most people, just ONE of the smaller towels will be more than enough to dry most passenger size cars and even mid-size SUVs. For larger SUVs and large trucks and vans, you might want to get a 2-pack of the small towels. The large towels are just that - LARGE. They work great but are more towel to manage than I think the average person needs.




On Autogeek.com


Speed Master The Notorious D.R.Y. Towel - 20" x 32"

Speed Master The Notorious D.R.Y. Towel - 26" x 36"

[Mike Phillips]

One more thing...

I was impressed enough with this towel that I'm going to re-take pictures and updated this article to include these towels.

Things you need to wash a ceramic coated car by Mike Phillips


I love and use flat weave waffle drying towels like the Guzzlers you see on the cart below.






But if you're serious about taking care of the finish on your car and you're smart enough to know that keeping ALL your microfiber products that TOUCH the paint clean and uncontaminated - then the Notorious D.R.Y. Towels would be a safer option due to the plush, thick nap. They will also hold more water.


If you're kind of a slob when it comes to taking care of you car AND your microfiber products - then stick with the Guzzlers.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the other Z28 I dried using the larger towel after washing.


The larger towel had PLENTY of room for more water even after drying a full size GM car.




And "no" the paint, wheels and tires did NOT look like you see above after just washing. There were a few other things done to it after washing and drying.


But yeah, I used both sizes of these new towels and I give them the Mike Phillips approval for whatever that's worth to you.

[57Rambler]

This is called...

Stretching

It's after you've dried the outside of the car you open all the doors, hood and trunk lid so you can wipe all the jambs down.

Been doing this all my life, didn't know there was a name for it.

[Dr Oldz]

These look awesome. Thank you for the review, Mike!! I prefer this style of towel for drying. As noted tho, it can be a magnet for contaminants. I have separate containers for these types of drying towels for both clean and “dirty”. I never like the guzzler style towel. Nothing against the towel but just a personal preference.

To me the extra care is worth it as the performance of this type of towel provides superior performance!


These will be on my next order.

[xabo]

How difficult are they to "wring out"?

[bob m]

Mike,

How would you compare them to the Griot's PFM?

[Bill D]

That’s the million dollar question

[Mike Phillips]

I prefer this style of towel for drying. As noted tho, it can be a magnet for contaminants.

And thus the reason I took the time to type out very specific information and real-world experience with microfiber towels.

Here's the deal... like you, I've been in the car world all my life now. I would say about 97% of the car guys that I've met, when I look behind the seat of their "Cool Car" or in the trunk of their cool car, what I see are scrappy looking, highly contaminated microfiber towels. And these are the towels these guys are wiping paint with. MOST people, even car guys that you would think would "get it", simply don't get it or don't care and this is why almost all the cars you see at a cruise-in, or a "Cars & Coffee", or a car show have paint that looks like crap. It's all swirled out and filled with scratches and as I've been saying for years,

How your car's paint looks all comes down to how and WHAT you TOUCH it with.

Fact.


So as you pointed out as did I, these are superior towels for getting water off the car without at the same time marring the paint but ONLY if the person using them is PRO-ACTIVE to ensure the towels do not become contaminated.

But when 97% of the car guys I meet have scrappy looking rags to wipe there car's paint - well these guys should stick with Guzzlers due to the flat weave.

I have separate containers for these types of drying towels for both clean and “dirty”.

Yup. It's as simple as being pro-active. Have a CLEAN place to put your DIRTY TOWELS so they stay uncontaminated. Then wash and dry, have a CLEAN place to fold them and a clean place to store them. Then repeat the cycle over and over again. I'm proud to say, the majority of the towels in the Autogeek Garage - be they flat weave or fluffy towels - the majority of them are contaminant-free.

When I do find contaminated towels - if I cannot pick the contaminants out of the weave then I set them aside for jobs where they will not touch paint. Like wiping motor oil that dripped off an engine, off the floor.

I also save my tatting towels to wipe out the Washing Machine as some things I wash leave a BLACK GOO on the side of the tub and on the agitator. It doesn't do any good to wash towels in a contaminated washing machine.

I never like the guzzler style towel. Nothing against the towel but just a personal preference.

Yup. I know a lot of people don't like the flat waffle weave type towels for drying cars and that's what's so great about having lots of options. Something for everyone.

I like them for PREP WASHES. That is for drying a car after washing that NEXT I'm going to clay and do paint correction. The towels shown in this thread are much better for MAINTENANCE WASHES. That is washing and drying a car that has already been detailed. BUT - only for people that understand the concept of keeping their fluffy weave microfiber towels (tools), clean and uncontaminated.

To me the extra care is worth it as the performance of this type of towel provides superior performance!

Copy that and I totally agree. In fact, I will take a new picture of the Grit Guard Detailing Cart seen above with these towels instead of the Guzzler because I'm going to recommend this set-up for washing his 1963 Porsche I machine wetsanded and ceramic coated over the weekend.

These will be on my next order.

Thank you for your business Jim. Let us know what you think...

[Mike Phillips]

Mike,

How would you compare them to the Griot's PFM?

That’s the million dollar question

Great questions.


Here's the Million Dollar Answer!



The regular Griot's towel is 25" by 35" and 1120 GSM

The regular size Speed Master towel is 20" by 32" and 1400 GSM


The extra large Griot's towel is 29" by 36" and 1120 GSM

The extra large Speed Master towel is 26" by 36" and 1400 GSM


So similar twisted loop, rolled edge microfiber towel just a small difference in size and a much bigger difference in GSM


I've used both and I would recommend both for people that care about taking care of their car's finish and can wrap their brain around the concept Dr. Olds and I were discussing above. That is - because BOTH of these towels have large or long looped nap - you MUST avoid getting them contaminated.


Great question, thank you for asking.