Speed Master “The Notorious Dry” towel 1st impression…

[Eldorado2k]

My PFM towels as well as the my other twisted loop drying towels all work as they did on day one. I never use any type of drying aid either.

I think that’s the deciding factor.

I on the other hand, tend to use more than less of everything.. For example, when I use Beadmaker as a drying aid I’ll spray 1 side of my car between 12-14 times then quickly wipedown with my drying towel.

As good as it felt to dry my car with this towel today, I don’t think I’ll be using any drying aids with any of my new towels going forward. BeadMaker on a dried vehicle from now on.


-And just to clarify, my old drying towels work ok if I use them with a drying aid, but when used by themselves, bone dry on a wet vehicle they cannot dry the panel. They leave a streaks. It’s not until they become damp that they’re able to work somewhat effectively.

This new towel left the entire car bone dry from start to finish the way it should be.

[acuRAS82]

I think that’s the deciding factor.

I on the other hand, tend to use more than less of everything.. For example, when I use Beadmaker as a drying aid I’ll spray 1 side of my car between 12-14 times then quickly wipedown with my drying towel.

As good as it felt to dry my car with this towel today, I don’t think I’ll be using any drying aids with any of my new towels going forward. BeadMaker on a dried vehicle from now on.


-And just to clarify, my old drying towels work ok if I use them with a drying aid, but when used by themselves, bone dry on a wet vehicle they cannot dry the panel. They leave a streaks. It’s not until they become damp that they’re able to work somewhat effectively.

This new towel left the entire car bone dry from start to finish the way it should be.

Great review and discussion.

I agree that PFMs or any drying towels can remain ‘like new’ as long as they are not used with drying aids. I purposely use 90% of my PFMs with no drying aids, and I use a couple with. Those couple don’t work as well after a yea or two but they are still reasonably ok.

When I use drying aids I generally use old drying towels (waffle weaves, some heavy MFs, and the 4 PFMs designated fit drying aids) which have always been used only for drying but definitely don’t dry great on their own anymore. They do good enough once drying aid juice gets soaked in.

[Coatingsarecrack]

Yeah i use my pluffles normally if using any sort of sealant to dry.

I’ll use QD’s and Hydrate exclusively with my twisted loop drying towels.

Funny about YMMV. I haven’t seen any towels better than a PFM including the Suckers. Alot of them on par.

All my twisted loops seam to leave paint bone dry.


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[Eldorado2k]

What about when it comes to washing them? Is it ok to wash them together? Or is it better to keep them separate? What do you guys do?

[Coatingsarecrack]

I don’t separate any. Wash them together. If something is used for lsp i try to presoak. Two+ years and drying towels still good.

Again no strong Lsp drying aids for my pfm’s.


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[Eldorado2k]

I don’t separate any. Wash them together. If something is used for lsp i try to presoak. Two+ years and drying towels still good.

Again no strong Lsp drying aids for my pfm’s.


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But I don’t pre soak anything.. So in my case I’d have for example some PFM’s [4 small, 1 large] going in the wash that are loaded with Beadmaker, about 3 large waffle weaves loaded with glass cleaner, and the rest of the 7-10 random drying towels usually with Beadmaker on them… Along with my 2 new virgin drying towels.

My gut tells me it might be a good idea to wash them separately.

[Coatingsarecrack]

But I don’t pre soak anything.. So in my case I’d have for example some PFM’s [4 small, 1 large] going in the wash that are loaded with Beadmaker, about 3 large waffle weaves loaded with glass cleaner, and the rest of the 7-10 random drying towels usually with Beadmaker on them… Along with my 2 new virgin drying towels.

My gut tells me it might be a good idea to wash them separately.

That definitely is what is preached on here. I’m not worried about absorbency of any towels except drying.

I wash all including towels used with sio2 sealants and no affect to my drying towels yet.

But in all honesty it is being lazy. I just don’t do enough that when i finish one car i just wash all the towels together.


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[PaulMys]

Great review and discussion.

I agree that PFMs or any drying towels can remain ‘like new’ as long as they are not used with drying aids. I purposely use 90% of my PFMs with no drying aids, and I use a couple with. Those couple don’t work as well after a yea or two but they are still reasonably ok.

When I use drying aids I generally use old drying towels (waffle weaves, some heavy MFs, and the 4 PFMs designated fit drying aids) which have always been used only for drying but definitely don’t dry great on their own anymore. They do good enough once drying aid juice gets soaked in.

I went back and forth as a newbie trying to decide on wether or not to use a drying aid. Half of guys said "You HAVE to" and half said "I never use one".

Well all these years later, I am firmly in the "I never use one" camp.

Just a PITA step when I am trying to dry as quickly as possible, and I (personally) have never seen a benefit to using one.

After reading the last handful of posts in this thread, I'm thinking Ric's PFM's were slowly dying of "Bead Maker Poisoning"...........

[acuRAS82]

But I don’t pre soak anything.. So in my case I’d have for example some PFM’s [4 small, 1 large] going in the wash that are loaded with Beadmaker, about 3 large waffle weaves loaded with glass cleaner, and the rest of the 7-10 random drying towels usually with Beadmaker on them… Along with my 2 new virgin drying towels.

My gut tells me it might be a good idea to wash them separately.

Not that anyone should emulate me, but I do separate loads that are specific for PFM towels. I let them pile up in their own hamper and wash when I see fit. No pre-soak needed since these are only touching clean paint and H2O.

Towels used for drying aids, I pre-soak these if the drying aid is substantial (I won’t presoak if I only used a light QD or something during drying aid). And it goes into my laundry hamper with all other spray wax/QD/WW/RW towels, which are also pre-soaked and rinsed 90% of the time. So I end up with somewhat clean, but still residue towels in this collection and then wash warm or hot.

Unrelated but in case anyone is wondering where they fit in, wash mitts get washed together. They are not presoaked but are heavily rinsed prior. Then double rinsed (or more) with the laundry cycle. I don’t wash after every car wash, but usually after every 3rd or 4th wash do the load size is about 20-25 mitts.

And then of course anything that touches wheels get washed separate as well.

[oneheadlite]

I've got a mix of PFM's of various size and age, and unfortunately I think some of them have been hindered by using drying aids. For a while I was using OptiSeal as a drying aid, and since then some of them just aren't like I remember.

The trouble is I can never remember which ones are good and which ones are compromised. I'm too lazy to figure out a way to mark them, so it ends up being a roll of the dice if you grab one of the good ones vs a disappointing one.

I wash all my stuff with Griot's MF cleaner and free/clear detergent, then lately I've been doing an additional short cycle with just vinegar. Nice towels are one batch, "dirty" towels another (wheel/jam/interior towels), window towels are another. Always did clean load/dirty load, but recently segregated window towels after some seemed to have picked up stray microfiber lint from being washed.

At some point I'll try picking up some RtoR and just wash all my PFMs and see if they end up any better.