The best drying towel competition

[cardaddy]

pound for pound rating gives you insight into "relative" absorption performance against mass.... I thought long and hard about putting this in.. had approximated all the values based on GSM (did comment on it a bit as well)

had this discussion a few times now.. As I was ultimately judging the "towels" performance not the relative mass performance... I choice to keep it simple... great observation though...

The reason I mentioned it, is that I`ve done comparisons before myself. Measuring size, thickness, and most importantly...... weight! Many towels will come with the specification, but as you know... all too many give you nothing, zip, nada, bumpkiss. It`s fairly easy however to measure the overall size, the calculate the GSM. Two VERY popular towels here in the US, both edgeless Korean split weave, one typically in orange, the other in gray (at least initially) are both said to be either 470 GSM or 500 GSM. (I believe both sellers make them in more than one color now.) The first one (the gray one) actually used to be a lighter weight towel, have a couple from that era. Now however, (for a couple years now) it`s still sold on the site as a 470 GSM, but in my experience it is both thicker and plusher (is that a word). The real kicker however is that it is EASILY well over a 500 GSM towel (513 last time I measured).

This is also a stat that would be interesting to add to the spreadsheet(s). Knowing that sellers will represent towels as something that they may indeed have quite a time living up to. (Good or bad.) I`ve in fact mentioned to Ian and Dan (and the woman that sometimes answers the phone, who`s name I can`t recall right now) on more than one occasion, that they should update their site to reflect that the "Korean 470 edgeless" is (at a bare minimum) a 500 GSM towel. Then of course there is the orange one from the other guys, and THAT one is known to not actually be as heavy as they first said it was, go figure. They`ve since updated their website to show a lighter weight (last time I looked).

So yeah... that`s why I said something in the first place about the true absorption rate, per square mm, cm, decameter, meter, inch, foot, whatever. BEeeeeeCAUSE........ once we weigh, and calculate to know the REAL GSM of each towel, we also can know/calculate the weight of absorption per square `thing-a-ma-jig`.

[Swanicyouth]

I`m watching the video now on the TV. Props to this guy for making these videos. See videos look like they take a ton of effort to make - and I like that they are long.

Keep them coming. I like them, even though I`m not super interested in the specific subject (towels).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Lonnie]

Can anybody in the freakin usa make anything anymore.

Yes, USA workers can produce anything!!! BUT, are you willing to pay 3-6 times the price for a similar product you buy now that is produced overseas and sold here, whether it`s at a retail store (Wal-mart, Target) or online (Amazon)??

Example: Redwing shoes versus Caterpillar Shoes
Snap-on tools versus Harbor Freight tools
Cadillac versus Lexus
TVs and Calculators (OK, consumer TVs are being produced in Texas as of 2015)
The clothes you are wearing (maybe the underwear or blue jeans are made in the USA, but not the shirt or socks)

Enough ranting by a "Made in the USA" man hypocrite (me!)...... Back to car-drying microfibers!!

[JBM]

I wear red wings....

I suppose there is the devaluation of currency argument in there somewhere...

Optimum is made in Tenn and their stuff is on average cheaper then more boutique stuff.

I also think some of the foreign cars are made here moreso then the American autos lol..

[delboy828]

The reason I mentioned it, is that I`ve done comparisons before myself. Measuring size, thickness, and most importantly...... weight! Many towels will come with the specification, but as you know... all too many give you nothing, zip, nada, bumpkiss. It`s fairly easy however to measure the overall size, the calculate the GSM. Two VERY popular towels here in the US, both edgeless Korean split weave, one typically in orange, the other in gray (at least initially) are both said to be either 470 GSM or 500 GSM. (I believe both sellers make them in more than one color now.) The first one (the gray one) actually used to be a lighter weight towel, have a couple from that era. Now however, (for a couple years now) it`s still sold on the site as a 470 GSM, but in my experience it is both thicker and plusher (is that a word). The real kicker however is that it is EASILY well over a 500 GSM towel (513 last time I measured).

This is also a stat that would be interesting to add to the spreadsheet(s). Knowing that sellers will represent towels as something that they may indeed have quite a time living up to. (Good or bad.) I`ve in fact mentioned to Ian and Dan (and the woman that sometimes answers the phone, who`s name I can`t recall right now) on more than one occasion, that they should update their site to reflect that the "Korean 470 edgeless" is (at a bare minimum) a 500 GSM towel. Then of course there is the orange one from the other guys, and THAT one is known to not actually be as heavy as they first said it was, go figure. They`ve since updated their website to show a lighter weight (last time I looked).

So yeah... that`s why I said something in the first place about the true absorption rate, per square mm, cm, decameter, meter, inch, foot, whatever. BEeeeeeCAUSE........ once we weigh, and calculate to know the REAL GSM of each towel, we also can know/calculate the weight of absorption per square `thing-a-ma-jig`.

great stuff man, I agree totally. Id love to know what these towels are you are referring to because Im not too familiar with the USA sellers and offerings... cool to have a lot of USA focus on this forum. The USA detailing scene has a slightley different flavour to the UK scene.. both are cool

[Jabbar]

The video is really too long. But this towel really surprising,Amazing,

[rlmccarty2000]

delboy, how does the detailing scene differ in the UK compared to the USA? I have visited a few UK detailing sites and the only thing that stood out was the normal biting British humor.

[delboy828]

how does the UK detailing scene differ to the USA... awesome question.. Im not an expert on this... Im not a professional detailer and Ive only been to the US once (love new york with a passion)...

For me the main thing I see...

a) use of pressure washers in the UK is a basic requirement of detailing... In the US the snow foam guns which run at the US higher water mains pressure seem to be the standard. (we have lower water pressure over here)...

b) with a) we also use pre wash snow foams here almost as standard..

c) eco washing / waterless washing seems much more of a norm in the USA.. here thats a bit of a faux pas.. that might be some water availability thing?

d) USA seems to have more "sponges" as viable wash pads... Over here no one will use a sponge (or very very few)... maybe a lot in the USA wont use sponges either?

e) Wet coats seem a bit more popular over here...

f) product prices in the UK I think are higher...

g) bleeding reactive fallout removers big over here.. less so in the US? (chemical decons seem more popular as well)

h) UK seems more obsessed with hydrophobic qualities in sealants... beading etc...

I like the american scene theres a real heritage and car culture in the US.. and for sure you guys are just as "into" it as we are.. if not then more so...

[JBM]

Everytime I pop over onto the UK forum it seems they talk about waxes constantly lol.

[rlmccarty2000]

In the US detailing community (Autopia, Autogeek) some still use sponges, but many use wool mitts or microfiber mitts. Most of the detailers here will use Ironx or other product when doing a complete detail, otherwise normally just use an iron remover on wheels when very contaminated. Chemical decons are not big here unless the vehicle is extremely contaminated (to the point where nothing else could be done). Waterless washing is big due to water restriction or for "in between" full washes or when cars are not extremely dirty. The use of pressure washers here seem to be a matter of choice and those that do use a pressure washer use a foam lance attachment for soaping/foaming. Yes we are big on beading here too. Coatings are pretty big here (and may be overtaking sealants), especially on daily drivers, but garage queens still get a nice coat of wax. And we put a coat of wax over a sealant most of the time. If I`m not mistaken there are more garages in the US than the UK. I only spent a week in Hythe so I know very little about England except I didn`t much like driving on the left hand side. I`m sure the other forum members will chime in, others may have differing views on detailing in the US.