Wash Mitt

[rlmccarty2000]

Good thread. I’ve used pretty much everything listed and my least favorite is the sheep skin type due to the matting. The “dreadlock” type can get heavy depending on the type of dreads. Too heavy can make me more prone to drop the dang thing. The microfiber bone sponge is pretty nice especially if you have road film you are trying to remove as it lends to scrubbing and has a good grip. I haven’t made my mind up on the Microfiber Madness type. I think they lend theirselves to rinseless washing better than two buckets. I do rinseless washes often but still am not certain about the encapsulation properties of the wash media to prevent scratches.

Advice: buy a bunch and see what works best for you!

[kajunman]

Why not use the Garry Dean Method and be and be done with it. Less worry about dirty wash media. I use 500 GSM double plush Korean towels from Shineys Detail. Luxury Microfiber also has some of the absolute best towels. If you want something less expensive try the double plush Minx Towels from the Rag Company. I use 15 double plush towels which is essentially 30 towels.

[rlmccarty2000]

Why not use the Garry Dean Method and be and be done with it. Less worry about dirty wash media. I use 500 GSM double plush Korean towels from Shineys Detail. Luxury Microfiber also has some of the absolute best towels. If you want something less expensive try the double plush Minx Towels from the Rag Company. I use 15 double plush towels which is essentially 30 towels.

I can’t use the Garry Dean method on my car all the time. When it gets driven down a wet dirt road or just long wet interstate driving only a two bucket wash will do. I do rinseless washes only on lightly soiled vehicles. I’ve seen it done (YouTube) on more dirty vehicles but I still am concerned with instilling damage. Everyone should be able to do both rinseless and two bucket based on the job at hand.

[Bill D]

I don’t use a bucket at all. I use a foam gun with Accumulator’s extreme wash method. Absolutely no marring by using it.

[John U]

I`m guessing nobody uses *cotton* chenille mitts any more..the ones from Viking are fine IME, but I hardly ever use them any more.

Still my favorite. I find them at Ace Hardware stores. Soft and sized good for my hand.

[SWETM]

I use the Gyeon Smoothie kind of mf wash mitts and also the pads. Have around 8-9 I`m not sure as some been dowbgraded LOL. Just 1 load with car soap solution and then rinse out in the rinse bucket and leave it there. And take a fresh one and keep going. The use of the rinse bucket even if I don`t use the mitt again. Is that I think that if I aggitate on the grit board the little dirt I have picked up if any. Releases easier this way and then after the wash wring them out and rinse them in the sink to get all of the car soap out of it before tossing it in the washer.

If I would be able to wash more often and had a marring sensitive paint. I would get me some Carpro Sheepskin mitts which is of a high quality and like the size and the pocket to hold it in. The mf mitt or pad how you describe the shape of it the Carpro mf wash mitt is a great one too. Gets you an awesome controlled feel when I wash with it. Don`t hold as much wash solution as other mf wash mitt and wash pads but not so bad either and just use more of them or reload with wash solution often.

The chenille wash mitt is good. But I think that they are sloppy when washing and don`t get me the control from it that I want on the vertical panels mostly and the lower parts especially. Think also that I get the most cleaning ability from the Gyeon Smoothie kind of mf wash mitts. 1-2 gently swipes and no pressure gets me a clean paint.

[mc2hill]

Good thread. I’ve used pretty much everything listed and my least favorite is the sheep skin type due to the matting. The “dreadlock” type can get heavy depending on the type of dreads. Too heavy can make me more prone to drop the dang thing. The microfiber bone sponge is pretty nice especially if you have road film you are trying to remove as it lends to scrubbing and has a good grip. I haven’t made my mind up on the Microfiber Madness type. I think they lend theirselves to rinseless washing better than two buckets. I do rinseless washes often but still am not certain about the encapsulation properties of the wash media to prevent scratches.

Advice: buy a bunch and see what works best for you!

I have been using the Microfiber Madness mitt for rinseless washing, TRC Creature Edgeless 420 for damp wiping, and a Griots or TRC twisted loop 16x16 for drying on our 2017 Accord. Got the car without the dealer touching it, and it is still swirl-free after 2 years of washing. I have only used a 2MB wash a few times, but rarely drive anything but paved, unsalted roads.

Why not use the Garry Dean Method and be and be done with it. Less worry about dirty wash media. I use 500 GSM double plush Korean towels from Shineys Detail. Luxury Microfiber also has some of the absolute best towels. If you want something less expensive try the double plush Minx Towels from the Rag Company. I use 15 double plush towels which is essentially 30 towels.

Garry`s method takes too many towels for most washes, so I use a MM mitt mentioned above. I will use it occasionally for special cars, and have towels set aside for them.

[rlmccarty2000]

I don’t use a bucket at all. I use a foam gun with Accumulator’s extreme wash method. Absolutely no marring by using it.

So when your car is super dirty you don’t feel the need to rinse out the mitt? I’ve done the foam and wash method on moderately dirty cars and didn’t feel the need to rinse, but when the dirt is heavy I always go 2 BM. I just feel the need to rinse out my mitt just in case I’ve picked up a wad of clay or something.


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[Bill D]

So when your car is super dirty you don’t feel the need to rinse out the mitt? I’ve done the foam and wash method on moderately dirty cars and didn’t feel the need to rinse, but when the dirt is heavy I always go 2 BM. I just feel the need to rinse out my mitt just in case I’ve picked up a wad of clay or something.


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I’ve never washed a super dirty car and I’ve always never had to rinse off a mitt. I just switch to a new one. If I were washing a really dirty car I would have a bucket of soapy solution to rinse the mitt with before switching to a new one but I’ve just never had to do that.

[Accumulator]

John U- Hey, I`m glad you posted that! They do work fine, huh? Decent cotton, at least when soaked in Wash Solution, is autopaint-safe IME.

I guess I quit using mine when I quit doing the "mitt balloon" technique with the foamguns (oh what a PIA that was, but it did work pretty well). I do like the way the Wash Solution seeps through the cotton mitts, much more/faster than with the sheepskin. If I didn`t have the foamguns I might go back to using the cotton mitts for that reason, though I`d need a lot of them.

BUT...it sounds like you`re wearing yours "like a glove" Hey, not flaming, genuinely glad that works for you...maybe just envious again about how others don`t have to go to the crazy lengths that I do

Glad to know that Ace has them, you just don`t see them around the way you used to.

I don’t use a bucket at all. I use a foam gun with Accumulator’s extreme wash method. Absolutely no marring by using it.

I really only use my Wash Buckets as repositories for my Wash Media. I do use Rinse Buckets, but the water in those never really gets dirty (that`s my "how did I do this time?" test, dirt in the Rinse Buckets = FAIL). If I were using multiple mitts the way you do I bet I could do without those too, or even if I just rinsed out my Wash Media with the (rinse) hose.

[Accumulator]

So when your car is super dirty you don’t feel the need to rinse out the mitt?

I wash vehicles that are "what color is that thing?!?"-dirty, and I`m not exaggerating! I can`t do it marring-free with just mitts unless I go nutso-overboard (I was once using far more mitts than Bill D!) even if I pressure washer rinse first. To be remotely reasonable, I simply *must* do the initial passes with the foamgun + BHB combo to get the big stuff off.

But then, for that matter, I need the foamgun spraying output at the point of wash medium-to-paint contact at all times no matter which Wash Medium I`m using. The foamgun not only provides constant lubrication and flushing of the surface being cleaned, but also (at least with my boosted water pressure) flushes my Wash Medium clean while it`s moving across the panel. With a BHB it`s simply amazing how well that works; before I got the pressure washer I did OK by just repeating the foamgun + BHB step numerous times (very *very* carefully).

If I were not using the BHBs, I would *NEVER* attempt to wash an entire panel at a time. The "self-rinsing" action of the foamgun works well enough for cars as nice as Bill D washes, but not for ones as dirty as mine. Same ol` same ol`...once the Wash Medium picks up some dirt, I consider it sandpaper.

Same as with my previous post on this thread, IMO dirty rinse water = FAIL, even when washing an utterly filthy vehicle. To me, it indicates that I was dragging dirty Wash Media across the paint, and I believe that`s the primary cause of wash-induced marring.

[kajunman]

I still think thr GDM would mar your paint less than a 2 bucket wash. Look at how dirty your rinse water is in your rinse bucket. Your wash mitt is never clean. The secret to the GDM is to use a lot of towels as I do. No rinsed still dirty mitt is going back on the paint with the GDM. Kkj

[Bill D]

I wash the same way as the GDM, I just use mitts instead of MFs. I’ve been using multiple mitts even before my foam gun; for at least 15 years now.

[Accumulator]

The Lonn Cleaning Gun, spraying IUDJ at about 120psi, supercharges the GDM something fierce He uses a paintgun, but that Lonn really blasts stuff clean in a way that sure looks better than what I`ve seen in his video (yeah..I did actually watch a Detailing video ).

I simply don`t understand how anybody can wash something that`s dirty with abrasive [stuff] using just a RW or the TBM no matter how they do it, but OK..plenty of people can do stuff that I can`t do (and vice-versa too ).

[Dan]

I still think thr GDM would mar your paint less than a 2 bucket wash. Look at how dirty your rinse water is in your rinse bucket. Your wash mitt is never clean. The secret to the GDM is to use a lot of towels as I do. No rinsed still dirty mitt is going back on the paint with the GDM. Kkj

I use a pressure washer as my pre-rinse. I can honestly say I could wash all four cars in my driveway and probably run out of water before my single bucket is visibly dirty (I quit doing 2 bucket over a decade ago). The water only gets really dirty if I let my wheels get dirty one of my cars with the old school euro pads.

These days, for traditional washing, I like the CG Chenile mf mits or Mother`s Wool. Niether is perfect but both work well enough for me.