hal m

It may only be marketing crap, but the detailers all only use MF. AND there is a big difference in quality. The Griot's MF cloths are the softest I have felt. Of course they make a million different ones each for a specific purpose but the detailing ones are incredible.

The cheap ones may only be good for cleaning wheels. I would not use them on a the body of the car. They feel nasty.

I use a sham wow type product for a first pass of removing water. It is kind of a man made chamois. Then I use the waffle type cloth with Griot's Spray On Wax for a nice quick shiny finish.

With regard to a blower, it should be one with a filter. I once tried out my shop vac and it started shooting out bits of grit which would be like sandblasting you paint. Metro makes a beautiful blower/dryer but it is like $500.

goofballdeluxe

Dunno, never had them.

Wash my car about once every week or two, get it waxed/clayed once or twice a year. Drying with a blade and a clean 100% cotton towel. I don't rigorously scrub my paint, or CD-ROMs for that matter, with my towel. Just lightly use it to remove any remaining water.

Never had any problems.

Then again, I'm only slightly obsessive. Those who are completely OCD may lay awake at night over scratches that are invisible to the naked eye on a 15+ year old car. I don't think I fall into that category, though I suspect some on this board might be.

To each his own

Arena993

As I said earlier a blade to get rid of excess water and I use a blower fitting on my compressor to dry the rest. I love MF use them all the time. I have no scratches. Glaze the car once a year.

Mike

Vorsicht

"the Germans make good stuff...."

solomonschris

Here is what I use. uad is right, you have to keep it clean. The wiping edges are wafer thin silicone and very delicate. Once you have nicked the edges you will need to replace it. I attended the Hershey classic car meet as a young man. There were very big dollar cars there like Dusenberg, Buggati and such. I was surprised to see the cars being washed, not with lamb's wool mitts, but brushes with long soft bristles. The cars were not dried with chamois, but old cotton towels. Each owner had a big straw basket full of old ratty looking towels. I think the paint on those cars was one hell of a lot softer than what is on our cars.

Neil Perry

Hi
I have have a Gloss Black C2, I wash it with a big hand mit and rinse it off with water, then blow the water off with air, yes, that's right using a nozel to blow the water off.
Make sure you have some plastic, or heat shrink on the front of the nozel so you don'e scratch the paint.
This gives a perfect finish with no marks, plus it blows the water from the window rubbers.
Shammies and so on scratch the paint, I know with Gloss Black paint.

Good Luck

Cactus

I use the Absorber then a big blue waffle weave towel to dry. California Duster and Quick detailer when it is cold and no bugs. My car looks incredible in the sun or shade even 2 feet away but get in the right light or fluorescent and it looks like a horror movie.

JPP

Yes .. but with Big starz and great writing ...

TheOtherEric

So if you rubbed some test surface with both a microfiber towel and a cotton towel, and one of them creates scratches and one doesn't, then you're saying that we can't form any conclusions about which is more harsh. Brilliant.

As they say, you can't reason somebody out of a position that they didn't reason themselves into.

Ish993

+993

Cactus

LOL!

Quadcammer

you know you're preaching to the choir about people being **** when you talk to me, but you are absolutely 100% full of sh*t if you say you've never had a swirl mark

goofballdeluxe

Oh, sure we can. A CD-ROM is a totally different surface. It may, in fact, scratch if rubbed vigorously, compared to a painted car. Because it's a totally different surface. I guess I should add that I don't need to rub my 993 with vigor when I wash it, either. So it's not really relevant. Also, a reflective surface may show scratches that might not be visible to the naked eye on a painted car.

We could say that there are some surfaces, like, say, the Hubble Space Telescope mirror, that might scratch if used by a 100% cotton towel, that would be fine for a 993.

My 993 paint surface is very different than a CD-ROM.

So, yes, we can conclude that, on a CD-ROM, one should use a MF towel, and not a cotton one. Glad we got that settled

goofballdeluxe

Then let me rephrase: can't say I never have. Can say I haven't really noticed one.

As I said, the car is washed weekly and detailed twice a year. It looks great

kilodawg

Could be the first time I've ever agreed with Quad.

It's simply not possible to avoid swirl marks when you make repeated physical contact with your paint over time. It's physics. That's no matter what you use to dry it with. Even if the towel on it's own does not induce a mark (again over time highly unlikely) a stray particle of grit or dust between the towel and the paint will do the job.

That's why I dry as much as possible with the blow dryer. It's easy and fast if the finish has a good coat of quality wax or sealant. Any minor drops that remain I just blot dry, never wipe or drag the towel across the paint. You can call this OCD if you like but if it takes me the same time as traditional drying with better results it's just a better process.

In regards to blowing up dust and dirt on the car when using a blow dryer that notion has got to come from somebody whose either never used a blow dryer or is extremely uncoordinated. The ground under and around the car is wet (I mean you did just wash it right?) so there is no dust. Unless of course the technique used is blow drying the ground towards the car a from a few feet away.