Eliot Ness
Active member
Here's my take on the subject. You want a towel with a little bit of bite to remove polishes and at least the initial layer of some waxes/sealants. Case in point are the DF Towels. They used to be a lot softer than they are now, but they didn't perform as well to remove waxes and polishes so they are now manufactured with more grip. When used properly they won't scratch your paint, but they are now better at removing waxes and polishes. This is what DFT wrote when I asked about the difference in softness between their old and new towels: "We are always striving to improve our fabric but it's a fine balance between perceived softness and actual performance." I'm not 100% sure that you'd class the DF Towel as cotton, but it is a natural fabric (unlike most 80/20 and 70/30 blends that we usually think of when talking about MF's).superstring said:
I still like to use a very soft towel to final buff, remove most glazes, QD, etc., and I love the super soft and absorbent WW's for drying a car. A lot of the MF's out there today have a short nap on one side for removing polishes and a fluffier nap on the other side for final buffing. One of the softest towels I have laid hands on recently is the Monster Fluffy..... that is one thick and fluffy MF.
I would also recommend that instead of depending on your sense of feel for how soft a towel is that you perform the CD test to make sure that it won't mar you paint in actual use. If I can remove a QD, wax, or polish w/o marring a CD then I usually consider it safe to use on my paint. Just my 2 cents.... YMMV....