TRC’s TWISTRESS Towel - Review & Comparison

[Angus]

Even though I’ve invested a small fortune in microfiber towels, I never seem to have enough them. Infact the largest part of my microfiber collection is the ones I use to dry my car. I’ve got large and small waffle towels for drying the paint. Low nap ones dedicated to door jams, gas cap area, trunk and hood channels. Glass towels of various weaves, and completely separate ones solely dedicated to rims and exhaust tips. And those are just the ones I use after a conventional 2-bucket wash! Nevermind towels for WW, or RW’s!!. There are so many options!!!

More recently I’ve been enjoying Griot`s Garage PFM terry weave towels. They’re great - I’m a fan! But command a premium price. So when I heard The Rag Company developed their own twisted loop weave towel as a contender to the PFM towel I had I get my hands on one STAT!



*Bias Review Disclaimer* The Rag Company sent me this item to use and review at no-charge. Ok, now that bit of housekeeping is out of the way… Onto my review!


Construction

Weighing in at 550GSM, this 70/30 blended towel measures 16” x 24” with rounded corners and a nice satin edge:



Close up of the “twisted loop weave”



For comparison`s sake: PFM (16X16) on top, Twistress in the middle, classic 25X36 waffle weave drying towel on the bottom:



In action

What impresses me the most about the TWISTRESS towel is how great of job a job it does absorbing rinse water w/o the need of a drying aid. It’s 16X24 size, when folded into quarters, is very easy to hold and use when drying flat and horizontal surfaces:

Driver’s side mirror:

Passenger’s side mirror:


Front bumper/headlight/fog lamp:


Rear bumper:


Windscreen:



All done!


Once saturated the Twistress is very easy to wring out.


Comparison to GG PFM towel

For drying GG offers their PFM towel in two sizes: 16” X 16” and 25” X 35” - I own both. And while I love using the 25” X 35” for drying large flat surfaces (hoods, roofs... etc) when fully saturated it gets heavy and is hard to wring out due to its large size. It’s also cumbersome to fold and hold while drying vertical surfaces. I need to use both hands to hold the towel - one to dry and the other to hold onto the extra material. And even then, I’m always slightly paranoid I’m going toloose my grip causing a corner to touch the ground. Because of this, I’ll typically switch to using the smaller 16” X 16” PFM towel to dry vertical surfaces.

TRC Twistress towel, on the other hand, is just big enough to dry larger horizontal surfaces while being small enough to hold with one hand for vertical surfaces. Pictures of all 3 towels:




The twisted loops look pretty similar, don`t they? In person, the loops on the PFM towel are slightly longer.

By the numbers:

Towel	Size	GSM	Blend	Cost*
GG PFM (large)	25” X 35”	860 GSM	80/20	$38.99
TRC Twistress	16” X 24”	550 GSM	70/30	$7.95
GG PFM (small)	16” X 16”	860 GSM	80/20	$19.99**

*Price found on respective companies websites as of August 2017
**Price for 2 pack



Conclusion

The Rag Companies Twistress towel is my new favorite drying towel. Not only is it inexpensive to purchase @ $7.95, (yes thats right SEVEN DOLLARS AND NINTY FIVE CENTS)!!! but it’s easy to use, and keep reusing following a 2B wash. Don’t get me wrong, PFM towels are great, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t buy them. But IMHO the Twistress towel is simply a better value for $$. I’m getting more - that’s for sure.



Hope you enjoyed this review!

[briarpatch]

Thanks for the review. I love the PFM`s too, but you`re right, they are expensive. For 7.95, this one is worth checking out.

[atgonzales]

Angus

GREAT review, very professional and super action vids, nicely done

[SGM2008]

Great Review .... I may have to order one to test out the next time I place a microfiber order with The Rag Company.

I have two 20" x 28" Griot`s PFM Towels and I think they`re awesome. I picked them up at Advance Auto Parts for $20/each on sale after reading a post in this forum. The Twistress looks like a great option, and probably better than some of the towels I`ve used previously (my Uber Waffle Weaves were the worst).

Given what I have invested in my car, the extra $12/towel won`t send me to the poor house ;-)

[nickclark08]

-Browsing Autopia
-"Hey! Angus has a review! Lets check out those sweet gifs!"
-Clicks link
-Not dissapointed

[gr8danefilms]

Aw man this was an awesome review! Thanks Angus!

[RaydiantDetail]

Nice review. I just saw a video by TRC on youtube that they added a larger size called the Twist and Shout. I was planning on getting it as its $25. Thats a pretty good price for such a large towel

https://www.theragcompany.com/twist-...-drying-towel/

[BadgerRivFan]

Thanks Angus for a great review .

Can you comment on how easy the TRC towel is to snag? My only complaint about the PFMs is that it does not take long to snag them on emblems and trim. Not that that hurts performance in anyway, but it is a little annoying. Was curious how the Twistress may compare...

[Angus]

Thanks Angus for a great review .

You bet man! It`s my pleasure.

Can you comment on how easy the TRC towel is to snag? My only complaint about the PFMs is that it does not take long to snag them on emblems and trim. Not that that hurts performance in anyway, but it is a little annoying. Was curious how the Twistress may compare...

Good question. So I`ve had the towel for 2 months and in the time using it I can`t recall it snagging on anything - yet. Maybe the shorter loops vs the longer loops on the PFM help?

[Angus]

Thanks for the review. I love the PFM`s too, but you`re right, they are expensive. For 7.95, this one is worth checking out.

Yeah man! I can`t get over how inexpensive TRC for microfibers. Really great stuff.

Angus

GREAT review, very professional and super action vids, nicely done

Thank you, Sir!

Great Review .... I may have to order one to test out the next time I place a microfiber order with The Rag Company.

I have two 20" x 28" Griot`s PFM Towels and I think they`re awesome. I picked them up at Advance Auto Parts for $20/each on sale after reading a post in this forum. The Twistress looks like a great option, and probably better than some of the towels I`ve used previously (my Uber Waffle Weaves were the worst).

Given what I have invested in my car, the extra $12/towel won`t send me to the poor house ;-)

Definitely add one to your next order. I think you`ll like using them just as much as the PFM towels.

-Browsing Autopia
-"Hey! Angus has a review! Lets check out those sweet gifs!"
-Clicks link
-Not dissapointed

Ha! Thank you, Sir. The gif`s are fun to use - I`m glad you like them so much

Aw man this was an awesome review! Thanks Angus!

Thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed it.

[Angus]

Nice review. I just saw a video by TRC on youtube that they added a larger size called the Twist and Shout. I was planning on getting it as its $25. Thats a pretty good price for such a large towel

https://www.theragcompany.com/twist-...-drying-towel/

Thanks! I just noticed the Twist & Shout too. Maybe I`ll pick one up and see how it does vs the large PFM towel for blot drying horizontal panels after a WW. I haven`t tried the Twistress post WW yet, but I`m leaning towards the PFM as a better option given how plush it is.

[Marc08EX]

AMAZING review Angus!! Very detailed and thorough.

I love the PFM towels too but like you said, it`s too expensive. If these perform similar to PFM at a fraction of the cost, I`m sold!

[atgonzales]

Angus...now I willl have try this towel...

[Ronkh]

American Express thanks you.
Me, well I`ll let you know after I get em and try em.

[LEDetailng]

Awesome review and the gifs are perfect for this review.