MF confusion and detailing plan

P

pennoyer

New member
Hello all:



I have always been what I thought was someone who knew how to wash and detail a car at home, that is until I found this site. Boy was I missing out. ANyway I have read up on technique etc... and am ready to start, but I am still confused about MF towels. I ordered 3 Cobra detailing cloths, 1 Cobra glass cleanning cloth and 1 Cobra Miracle towel, can't figure out how/where to use each. Everything i have read seems to say to use the WW as a drying cloth not on the glass. Is this correct? Can anyone tell me what towels I need and what purpose they serve. Your personal choice, where you buy and how you use will help. I am not trying to start a debate on which product is better as I know that personl preference plays a role in your decision on towels.



Plan:



I have just been washing the car (only three weeks old) but now that I have recieved some supplies I am going to detail it this weekend. Plan is to use P21S shampoo (I also have Meguiars shampoo; not sure which I like better) in one bucket with a sheepskin mit and clean water in another, then dry with either a large terry cloth towel then remove lint with whatever MF towel yall say to use or just dry with the Cobra miracle towel; then apply AIO with a foam applicator; then buff with the Cobra detailing towel; then apply P21S Wax the next day and buff with another detailing towel.



The car is a new diamond black MB C230 S/S.



Any help would be appreciated thanks to all
 
You can use WW for windows if you like; it is really a matter of personal preference. I have used both WW and plush MF on windows, just make sure to use a quality towel that doesn't streak or lint. The WW seem to "grab" less so they do work well on windows.



As far as the AIO, you don't have to wait a day to apply the wax topper. You can AIO and apply topper in the same day if you like.
 
You're definately off to a good start. I dont have any personal experince with those particular towels, but from what I've read they seem to be mostly for buffing off products and for use on the interior. I suppose you *could* use the miracle towel for drying, it says it can be used wet or dry, so you might want to just try it once to find out. One of my favorite things to do is get out the leaf blower, get most of the water off, and just get the water out of the cracks with a towel.



I dont think you need to wait a day after the AIO, but I'm not an expert with it, so you might want to listen to someone else on that one. Other than that, sounds great, and Welcome!
 
I think ww mf's work well on glass. They also work well for drying. I think the ww pattern acts like little squeegees to push the water off, rather than having to absorb (adsorb?) all the water.



I haven't used AIO, so I can't help there. With the wax, though, go thin. The thicker you apply, the more you waste/have to buff off. Also, you don't have to wait for the wax to dry. You can apply, get your buffing cloth, and buff it off. Very easy wax to use.
 
I usually use the WW's for drying, glass cleaning, QD'ing, etc, and the others for buffing or QDing.
 
Pennoyer,



That waffle weave you have is a glass towel. IMO waffle weaves are great on glass. Waffle weaves are also great for drying the car but the ones made for drying are much larger than the one you have.



The Miracle Towel is an excellent MF for buffing and QDing but too small IMO to dry a car. I would order a large waffle weave for dryng.
 
Thanks for the help. Based on what I have now, do yall have a recommendation on a "bundle" of towels that I should purchase and from where? Also what about using large plush terry cloth towels to dry and then removing lint with MF? Finally, it looks at though I should order a couple more of the small WW towels for glass cleanning, agree? Thanks for all the help. Like I said, boy was I missing out on how to realy clean my vehicles
 
www.pakshak.com has excellent towels, as well as www.exceldetail.com. Excel has some packages you can buy, but buy according to your needs. You probably dont need more than a couple glass towels, but you may need several buffing towels. 1-2 large WW towels ought to do it for your drying needs. Hope this helps!
 
stevet said:
...Waffle weaves are also great for drying the car but the ones made for drying are much larger than the one you have...
Click to expand...
Depends on the car. I can dry my MINI with one 16"x16" ww mf. I think I did the Rodeo with three.





PC.
 
First off, let me thank you graciously for reading up and doing the research before posting. This helps the senior members greatly, and puts you off on the right foot! :xyxthumbs



Like the others have said, you can apply the P21S right after you've removed the AIO. Considering you have a relatively small car, it shouldn't take you but 2 hours at most to get it all, assuming you're doing it all by hand. Both products are very easy to use.



As for towels, a very underrated product from what I hear is the MF drying towel availiable at (surprise) Wal-Mart. I haven't used one, but I've heard good things. I've got a few brands of WW drying towels, and the one that always seems to do the best is actually the Purple Passion set. They're much more inexpensive than alot of other towels, too!



I placed an order (well, Mom did) for one of the kits from www.ExcelDetail.com . She bought me the Platinum kit which comes with I think 5/6 Blue buffing towels, 2/3 Polishing towels (awesome!), 5 yellow buffing towels, 2 WW drying towels, and 2 Sheepskin wash mitts. The price is something like $60. Not too bad.



Good luck. :wavey
 
I have the blue MF from Walmart. It was my first MF and I bought it before finding autopia. It's not bad for the price but my fav's for drying are my two WW's from pakshak. They're a bit thirtier than the Walmart towel and I just like the feel better.
 
I tried AIO for the first time last weekend. Great stuff. Like you I did it by hand. One tip I have is do it little sections at a time. Put it on real thin then buff any residue off right away, you don't have to wait for it to haze over. If you do a large section and let it haze it is a whole, whole lot more work buffing it off. In fact, it is a PITA. I used a damp micro fibre applicator pad and as I progressed it got easier to put on a thin coat as the pad got soaked. It took longer than I thought it would, but it was definately worth the effort. Apply a coat to your wheels as well, does a great job and really helps with keeping brake dust from building up. You don't have to wait to go to the next step, wax or sealant.
 
MG, I tried to figure out a plan and supplies first before confirming my thoughts with everyone.



I'll look into the towels offerred here as well as the other sites mentioned and if I end up with a few extra it's not that big a deal as I can always use a few extra. Since finding this site and purchasing this color for the car, I have kind of become a fanatic about wanting the car to look better than showroom. It is hard to beat the look of this color when clean, so, I can't wait to see what it looks like with a little extra time. Thanks again.
 
My only advice is, get enough MFs so that you can run a washer load with nothing else in there. Otherwise you'll be stuck washing them by hand individually.



The plush or terry MFs have zillions of small nooks and crannies, which pick up particles of dirt. The waffle weave MFs don't have so many crannies, but the yarns have zillions of tiny spaces between the microscopic fibers, which provides capillary action and makes them very absorbent. So I think the WW will work fine on glass if it's not too dusty. I think WW is less likely to leave lint behind on your glass than terry MFs.



It's impossible to tell from the advertising verbiage exactly what differentiates one type of "miraculous" towel from another. I'm personally not sure that there is any difference between any two towels of the same type (eg, terry) and fiber density (eg, 160,000 per sq inch).



I bought some top-quality, made in the USA cotton towels to use for buffing off wax, on the principle that I wouldn't need the superior cleaning capability of microfiber for a task as messy as wax removal. Partly I did it to save money, partly out of patriotism. But it was a false savings. Cotton terry doesn't work any better than MF terry for this task, and I can't wash the cotton ones together with the microfiber ones. Still hand washing!
 
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