Microfibers linting heavily

[Don]

I`m sure this is a 90% ME issue, and a 5% microfiber towel issue and a 5% glossy as all get-out BLACK CAR issue, but I`ve noticed, particularly when removing a spray sealant, that there is micro-lint over large portions of my Camaro. I`m using the Turtle Wax Spray Waxes, primarily the Ceramic Spray Coating and the Flex Wax. Both of which recommend a damp-wipe before a dry-buff removal, which is when the linting is appearing (the dry buff).

I`m sure that a good portion of the reason is because being on a fixed income (now that I`m retired and a WIFE-controlled income before I retired), I can`t just run out and get the `Best of the Best` microfiber towels. But up until recently, when I really upped the gloss and clarity of the Camaro (the only car I`ve really noticed it on), the Walmart 40-pack towels were working great, but now...

I have a washer/dryer combo unit and when I wash my towels, it`s usually only a medium sized load, with ONE detergent pod (Tide - NO fabric Softener). I set the machine to a heavy wash - but no dry cycle, and when it`s done, I set it for a second washing cycle with no soap. To make sure all the soap residue is removed. THEN I set them to dry, but not completely. They are "damp-dry" coming out of the machine and they air-dry the rest of the way.

Since the sealant has been primarily removed by the damp-wipe, the 2nd microfiber is picking up mostly water and very little (if any wax residue), I was wondering if using a glass-specific microfiber would be advisable, since I know they don`t lint?

[Lonnie]

Walmart 40 pack microfibers??
Yes, some lesser microfibers will lint.
I bought some fluffy Turtle Wax microfibers that are lint-city for me when used for wipeoff.
Ended up as rinsing-water rags for daily driver trucks when using ONR as a rinseless wash.
Sorry to bust your bubble, but sometimes it is the microfiber and not you.
By the way, on washing your microfibers, do you add white vinegar to the beginning of the rise cycle?
I do think it helps soften them, and yes, I do a double rinse cycle.

[Don]

Walmart 40 pack microfibers??
Yes, some lesser microfibers will lint.
I bought some fluffy Turtle Wax microfibers that are lint-city for me when used for wipeoff.
Ended up as rinsing-water rags for daily driver trucks when using ONR as a rinseless wash.
Sorry to bust your bubble, but sometimes it is the microfiber and not you.
By the way, on washing your microfibers, do you add white vinegar to the beginning of the rise cycle?
I do think it helps soften them, and yes, I do a double rinse cycle.

Never tried white vinegar - YET, but looks like I`m going to in the near future.

[Setec Astronomy]

As far as window-specific towels not linting--I`ve bought plenty of those that lint A LOT. I think some of it is towel quality, some is age, some is how you are using the towel; dry wipes definitely are more likely to pull fibers from the towel. Of course dry-wiping a slippery sealant surface is not something you would think would pull the fibers loose, but I think you have said the TW stuff is grabby, and also you may be generating static that doesn`t help.

It seems the PFM/loop/twist style towels lint less, but even the Griot`s competitors seem to have gotten very expensive on those. Generally speaking (for me) waffle weaves tend to not lint very much, but I doubt you want to use that for buffing sealant. The flat weave (seems to be called pearl now) also was supposed to be low-linting, although I`m not 100% sure I`ve found that to be true.

Anyway, you might want to look at a step up from your Walmart towels to maybe something like the Autofiber all-purpose edgeless 300gsm, or The Rag Company Edgeless 300. Those are $15-17 for a 10-pack, without shipping, looks like you may be able to get the TRC ones at Amazon for about the same price with free Prime shipping. I can`t speak to those towels in their current incarnation, but I have something similar from MFT (Autofiber) from years ago that was always a decent towel for me.

I personally don`t think your linting problem has anything to do with your wash regimen, vinegar, etc. As Lonnie hinted at, those bulk package towels generally wouldn`t be expected to be very good regarding linting.

[Lonnie]

Don:
I really think you need to stay with a traditional weave "fluffy-type" microfiber for wipe off TW spray coatings, both the Max Wax and the HS Spray Coating
I am using The Rag Company`s 350 gms Eagle Edgeless Lavender (light purple to me!) for this purpose, BUT they are so new and only have been washed MAYBE three times, so it is hard judge their "lintlessness". I do like Setec`s suggestion of using a lighter 300 gms microfiber for this particular (HS) coating spray.

OR you can try a window cleaning microfiber cloth and let us know if that works.

Still need another suggestion? Go to AutoZone or O`Reilly`s and see if you can find Griot`s Garage grey Microfiber Edgeless Towels in a 6-pack. It will set you back about $25.00 It`s an over-the-counter idea and I do think GG offers quality towels, albeit a little pricey. I know you are on a retirement fix income budget AND the wife still likes to know your expenditures, but maybe you could forego a few beers or going out to eat and buy some new microfibers (how you explain that to the wife is up yo you! The response is usually, "WHAT?! More detailing supplies? Why can`t you use what you already have!" Been there, heard that....)

One of the product ideas I like is that some detailing product manufacturer`s will include a microfiber with their product when you buy it. Not saying that it is a "good" cloth to use (Yeah, like who includes a quality $5 wholesale microfiber with a $15 retail product!) but some "better" (AKA more expensive) detailing products do, especially if they also sell that particular microfiber. I know that AutoGlym did this with their Ultra High-Definition Wax when it was sold at Walmart. Both the included red dense-foam applicators and red microfiber are top notch. I still use both, but the microfiber is pretty worn out and reduced to rim duty!

[Anthony Orosco]

There is a difference between towels from China and from Korea, the 2 largest sources of these towels. China towels I keep aside for the greasy, grimey stuff. The finer Korean towels, which will also lint but not as severe, I keep for the finer things, drying and product removal/application.

Windows I use only Korean waffle weave style towels or Korean PPF/window towels which leave behind zero lint. Water only, one damp and the other dry. No need for window cleaners.

Anthony

[Stokdgs]

There is a difference between towels from China and from Korea, the 2 largest sources of these towels. China towels I keep aside for the greasy, grimey stuff. The finer Korean towels, which will also lint but not as severe, I keep for the finer things, drying and product removal/application.

Windows I use only Korean waffle weave style towels or Korean PPF/window towels which leave behind zero lint. Water only, one damp and the other dry. No need for window cleaners.

Anthony

I totally agree with the above, regarding microfibers from Korea vs anywhere else... Decades ago, they started making them, and I tried them, and never looked back... And yes, the less fluffy ones seem to shed little to no lint, so that is what I also use...
The people in Santa Barbara, CA., have always sold me some great microfibers, and I never even think of or see any lint from any of them..
And yes, I use Distilled White Vinegar, with a little Persil soap, and a little more Distilled White Vinegar in the rinse cycle, and I have never had anything but very clean, soft, absorbent towels, and no lint...
Dan F

[Setec Astronomy]

Windows I use only Korean waffle weave style towels or Korean PPF/window towels which leave behind zero lint. Water only, one damp and the other dry. No need for window cleaners.

Anthony, what about cigarette tar or vinyl fog? Can you still remove that with water only, no window cleaner? Or are you talking about on the outside of the glass?

I do like Setec`s suggestion of using a lighter 300 gms microfiber

I was really just trying to recommend a towel that would be a step up in quality without spending too much of Don`s money. I think when I bought the towels I was referring to 15+ years ago, they were probably $3 each, so getting today`s equivalent for half that seems pretty good. MF`s have at the same time gotten more expensive and cheaper over the years, if you know what I mean--with all the fancy high-end expensive ones, the more pedestrian ones have gotten cheaper.

[Accumulator]

IME all MFs eventually lint no matter what. Even my WWs. Even my GG PFMs for Glass. Yes, I segregate them/use vinegar/etc. but sooner or later they all start to lint.

When a MF lints too much for use on paint, I retire it (at least for that purpose).

The only 100% Accumulator-proof way to avoid linting on glass is to use GG`s Polypropylene Window Wipes.

[Don]

Initially, I WAS just going to use Turtle Wax 3 in 1 Detailer and an application towel, then the glass towel to try and remove all the lint. BUT - my OCD got me and said: "It`s been a few days, why not put another coat of the Ceramic Spray Coating on the car? After all it`s about the same amount of work..."

So I went that route. The plan WAS to use a towel for application, a damp towel, then the glass towel for the final dry buff. But then I remembered I had a box of "Sham Wow" type towels in the basement, that had been given to my by my late father in law. They did NOT dry well (if they were dry) and I felt the "weave" of the compressed felt-like material was too tight for good wax/polish removal. But I thought - "If they were WET..." So I got one, soaked it really well and wrung it out. THEN it seemed like it would make for a good "damp-wipe towel" (which it ACTUALLY DID!).

So after applying the Ceramic Spray Coating, I used the wet sham-whatever towel for the damp wipe, and it actually worked great on the paint (and as a damp towel for glass as well). Then I used the glass-specific towel (don`t know the brand, but I bought it at Summit Racing Equipment) to dry buff the paint and windows.

Well, what do you know? No linting, none, nada, el zippo. The combination actually worked SO well, I had enough time to finish dressing my interior plastics and vinyl, and touch up the interior glass.

Now all I have to do is KEEP the car clean until Saturday, when my Camaro Club is having is "End of Summer" Party (catered with fireworks no less!).

[Anthony Orosco]

Anthony, what about cigarette tar or vinyl fog? Can you still remove that with water only, no window cleaner? Or are you talking about on the outside of the glass?

For VOC`s and similar residue I will cut the glass with a denatured alcohol and water mixture. 2 parts water to 1 part DA or a 3 to 1 mixture.

This mixture is safe for window tint as long as it`s not used every time the glass is cleaned. By far my favorite glass cleaner next to my squeegee method.

Anthony