Grunge towels

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Although I have the same grungy areas as the rest of you, I can't bring my self to use any of my MF towels for them.
What I have been doing is cutting my old cotton terry towels I used prior to MF into pieces about 12" x 12". When they get real grungy, rather than wash them, I just throw them away.

But, when I run out of the old terry towels to cut up. I think I have another option.
I was at Wally World today and noticed 12" x 12" cotton terry wash cloths. A pack of 18 for $3.92. For less than 22 cents each, a grunge cloth to use that I won't feel bad about getting dirty and throwing away.
That's probably less than I paid for the shop rags I have around.

Charles
 
I also keep a pack of those around. You can't beat the price. I also picked up a pack of the blue MF from Sams for $9.00, at a count of 25 that puts them at .36 a piece. I use the cotton towels for those dirty spots and the cheap MF for the windows. Both work great for the price.
 
That sounds like a very good score, Charles. It also sounds like a very good idea. I hate to ruin my mf towesl with grunge work. I do it but, this sounds like a more practical, economical, and useful idea.
 
CharlesW said:
Although I have the same grungy areas as the rest of you, I can't bring my self to use any of my MF towels for them.
What I have been doing is cutting my old cotton terry towels I used prior to MF into pieces about 12" x 12". When they get real grungy, rather than wash them, I just throw them away.

But, when I run out of the old terry towels to cut up. I think I have another option.
I was at Wally World today and noticed 12" x 12" cotton terry wash cloths. A pack of 18 for $3.92. For less than 22 cents each, a grunge cloth to use that I won't feel bad about getting dirty and throwing away.
That's probably less than I paid for the shop rags I have around.

Charles
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I also am using my cotton terry towels that i get from Costco. I actually use them for all kinds of things around the house. My wife however has discovered the advantage of using the MF around the house so i have lost a few of the lesser quality ones to the house for mirror cleaning etc. Only problme now is I have finally gotten down to the really nice plush terry towles and am not wanting to use them since they are so nice.

Richard
 
Poorboy's seconds work like a champ. I think it was like $20 for 20 of them. I get about 10-15 uses out of them on uglier areas, then I toss them.
 
Whatever I pull out of my towel bin is what I use. I don't worry about getting a "good" towel(micro) dirty.I have so many towels I have to use them on something.They're not doing me any good sitting in a bin folded up. I just wash them afterwards.
 
CharlesW said:
Although I have the same grungy areas as the rest of you, I can't bring my self to use any of my MF towels for them.
What I have been doing is cutting my old cotton terry towels I used prior to MF into pieces about 12" x 12". When they get real grungy, rather than wash them, I just throw them away.

But, when I run out of the old terry towels to cut up. I think I have another option.
I was at Wally World today and noticed 12" x 12" cotton terry wash cloths. A pack of 18 for $3.92. For less than 22 cents each, a grunge cloth to use that I won't feel bad about getting dirty and throwing away.
That's probably less than I paid for the shop rags I have around.

Charles
Click to expand...

I wish I remembered the price I paid Poorboy for the MF seconds I bought from him (maybe he'll chime in on this interesting thread). Anyway, the price was good enough that I bought 300 of them, and we love to get them dirty, over and over again, and then throw them away.
 
rabbi said:
Whatever I pull out of my towel bin is what I use. I don't worry about getting a "good" towel(micro) dirty.I have so many towels I have to use them on something.They're not doing me any good sitting in a bin folded up. I just wash them afterwards.
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What do you use to wash them? Once mine get grungy (from engine, tires & wheel wells), I've not been able to get them really clean again - so they end up being my designated "grunge" towels.
 
rabbi said:
Whatever I pull out of my towel bin is what I use. I don't worry about getting a "good" towel(micro) dirty.I have so many towels I have to use them on something.They're not doing me any good sitting in a bin folded up. I just wash them afterwards.
Click to expand...
My grunge towels wouldn't be put in my washing machine. :no:
And if I ever did, my wife would probably have a slightly negative reaction. :chair:
 
Cotton does not touch my car any where. IMO the best cotton towels you can get are not as nice as a cheap MF. I just buy the 20 packs at Sams and use them on my dirty areas. I don't want marring in my jambs or wheels or even the engine compartment paint. Cotton marrs so MF only for me. The price difference between cheap cotton towels in bulk and cheap MF in bulk makes this a no brainer for me. You might save a few cents per towel going cotton but it's not worth it.
 
Anthony A said:
Cotton does not touch my car any where. IMO the best cotton towels you can get are not as nice as a cheap MF.
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Everyone makes their own decisions, but good cotton towels would be no problem for me to use again. They worked pretty good for an awful long time.
MF towels are nice, but I can't say that they are something I couldn't polish or wax my vehicles without.

Charles
 
Anthony A said:
Cotton does not touch my car any where. IMO the best cotton towels you can get are not as nice as a cheap MF. I just buy the 20 packs at Sams and use them on my dirty areas. I don't want marring in my jambs or wheels or even the engine compartment paint. Cotton marrs so MF only for me. The price difference between cheap cotton towels in bulk and cheap MF in bulk makes this a no brainer for me. You might save a few cents per towel going cotton but it's not worth it.
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A quality terry cotten towel will not scratch or put spiderwebbing in your paint. Its what is on the paint and gets caught up in the rag that causes damage. What do you think detailers used back in the day before the whole MF craze started???



As far as the topic goes i do use grunge rags. I buy bundles (100) of those red shop rags that you see mechanics use. A bundle costs me 10 bucks. And they are perfect for inside jambs, engine bays,etc.
 
CharlesW said:
My grunge towels wouldn't be put in my washing machine. :no:
And if I ever did, my wife would probably have a slightly negative reaction. :chair:
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You mean you don't like that black ring it leaves at the top of the washer? :lol:

As for cotton towels. I would not hesitate to use the Costco ones on my truck and in fact used them for years prior to MF they are extremely plush and very very soft.

Richard
 
I use whatever detergent my wife buys. My wife doesn't care about my laundry being put in the washer.
 
TrueDetailer said:
A quality terry cotten towel will not scratch or put spiderwebbing in your paint. Its what is on the paint and gets caught up in the rag that causes damage. What do you think detailers used back in the day before the whole MF craze started???
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Pull out a CD and do a side by side comparison. I have countless times. Cotton scratches the CD and I mean badly. Some of the cheaper MF do to but not as bad as cotton. My DF Towels even scratch CDs with very little pressure applied. Now just because something scratches a CD doesn't mean it will scratch paint. Many thing that fail the CD test do not scratch my paint. But it is a good test to compare the aggressiveness of the towel. In my tests at this MF wins every time. some cheap MF very lightly scratches and my quality MF do not. ALL cotton towels I have ever tested scratched the CD with very little pressure. So considering this I can not justify using a cotton towel just for the few cents per towel I would save.

As for the comment about the use of cotton towels before MF was invented. You used what was available and was the best at the time. MF is huge improvement thats why they are so popular. I personally could not maintain the marring free finish that I do as long as I do if I had to use cotton to buff and dry. If you asked most people what the biggest change in detailing has been in the last decade they would probably say MF or clay bars. Just because cotton was used before MF came out doesn't mean it's a good choice.
Now if you were saving $10 a towel buying cotton for grunge work because cheap bulk MF was not availble than it would make sense. For pennys a towel in savings it's not worth it. To each his own I guess. Don't spend all those pennys you save all in one store.
 
Anthony A said:
Pull out a CD and do a side by side comparison. I have countless times. Cotton scratches the CD and I mean badly. Some of the cheaper MF do to but not as bad as cotton. My DF Towels even scratch CDs with very little pressure applied. Now just because something scratches a CD doesn't mean it will scratch paint. Many thing that fail the CD test do not scratch my paint. But it is a good test to compare the aggressiveness of the towel. In my tests at this MF wins every time. some cheap MF very lightly scratches and my quality MF do not. ALL cotton towels I have ever tested scratched the CD with very little pressure. So considering this I can not justify using a cotton towel just for the few cents per towel I would save.

As for the comment about the use of cotton towels before MF was invented. You used what was available and was the best at the time. MF is huge improvement thats why they are so popular. I personally could not maintain the marring free finish that I do as long as I do if I had to use cotton to buff and dry. If you asked most people what the biggest change in detailing has been in the last decade they would probably say MF or clay bars. Just because cotton was used before MF came out doesn't mean it's a good choice.
Now if you were saving $10 a towel buying cotton for grunge work because cheap bulk MF was not availble than it would make sense. For pennys a towel in savings it's not worth it. To each his own I guess. Don't spend all those pennys you save all in one store.
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Interesting about the CD test.
This morning I did a little different test.
I cleaned up the Montana using S&W and some of my old cotton towels.
The windows were also cleaned with Invisible Glass and cotton towels.
No problems with either process. No streaks, no visible marring.
The only thing I really noticed different was the need for more cotton towels than if I had used my usual MF towels.

Before you lump cotton into the "bad category, check out DF Towels Micro Fiber. They are 100% cotton.
The site is here.

One reason I don't have any interest in cheap MF towels is having to sort the "good" ones from the cheapies.
FWIW, my cotton towels were costing a lot more than you pay for a good MF today.

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
Before you lump cotton into the "bad category, check out DF Towels Micro Fiber. They are 100% cotton.
The site is here.
Charles
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Charles re-read my previous post. I tested the DF Towels as well. They scratched the CD much worse than a synthetic MF. Having said that they have not marred my paint. Even so they are more likely to do so compared to synthetic MF based on my CD test. I use my DF Towels on windows. They are excellent for that. Even though they scratch a CD much more than a synthetic MF I find they have no bite when it comes to removing LSP. As a result I have to apply more pressure to completely remove product and that increases my chance of marring so I use them on glass now.
 
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