waffle weave towels....what my problem?

E

Envious Eric

New member
every single time I use my waffle weave towels I scratch the hell out of my car/other cars that i am polishing out. I wash all my MF towels with laundry detergent only, no fabric softener. i wash the car and when I go to dry, I use the waffle weave towels and drag them across the surface of the paint ever so lightly....and it still scratches like i am pressing really really hard with a rough towel....whats going on?
 
i stopped using ww's for a while now (one of the reasons being your's) and use a nice large thick mf drying towel (why not use mf to dry, right? we use them to qd, remove polish/wax, etc.. anyway), and haven't looked back. i sometimes mist some qd to each panel as i dry and that seems to work pretty well. everyone has their preference though, there is no wrong or right as long as it works for you.



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I highly reccomend using 2 high qaulity ww towels to BLOT dry. Also spray some QD prior to blotting to give some extra lubrication. First blot the panel with the first towel and finish off with the second towel. I have had great success really limiting/eliminating marring caused by dragging the towel on the paint surface.



Greg
 
I've had no troubles with my WW.



I get them from Scott @ Specialty Motoring.



Even on black cars...no problems.



Maybe you have dried soap in your towels? Or maybe just streaking?
 
yeah its not streaking because I can wipe the car with my finger and the "streaks" dont go away, they are scratches....



i'll try some drying towels next because I have the meguiars and pakshack towels and they are not working out just right for me....
 
I've been using my PB ww for over three months now. Got it from Bob at Danase and have had no issues with it whatsoever. Whether drying after shampooing or using ONR, it works flawlessly on my red paint. WW's absorbency is tough to beat, IMO. Hard as I try, I can't get a single drop out of it after doing the entire car with ONR.
 
Have you noticed at other times that your paint is especially soft? Maybe its just cuz my car is getting painted now, but first thing that occurs to me is whether your car was repainted and waxed too soon so it never finished curing.
 
If you bought your WW towels from Pak, then they are high quality towels and are not scratching your car. I have been using MF towels from Pak on my black Lexus for 5 or 6 years with no problems.



A good MF towel, whether WW or not, will not scratch by itself. There has to be some grit somewhere.
 
Some WWs are a *lot* softer than others. The softest of mine don't mar my Jag's soft lacquer but my "regular" ones (like the BBT) will.



And sometimes WWs (and other textiles) get less-than-soft over time. Try washing them numerous times with *no* detergent, just plain water. Then put some distilled white vinegar in the last rinse cycle. If that doesn't work, maybe try one of the "microfiber specific" detergents. While I can't for the life of me understand *why*, those detergents do better on my MFs than any others I've tried, and I've tried a lot of different ones.



[Insert Accumulator's acknowledgement that there is no apparent reason why the MF-detergents should work so well ;) I've heard all the arguments but, in practice, those detergents just plain *work dramatically better* for me..]
 
joyriiide1113 said:
Are you using a powder or liquid laundry detergent?



If its liquid, I guess all I can suggest is get better ones?
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And if it's powder, stop using it :) Some particles of powder detergent may stay on your towel and potentially scratch the paint.
 
no its liquid tide....and I use an extra rinse cycle too....ill try no detergent just some apc and hot water next time and see if that helps...



i went to give an estimate on a black lexus the other day...it was kind of dirty so I used QEW and went to dry it with a WW and it scratched the paint (granted it looked like it was already scratched, but I could tell where I just wiped was more scratched)



I also used them to dry a brand new black ford and it slightly scratched the paint there too....i'll give it one more shot, but after that, I am over the WW craze
 
toyotaguy said:
no its liquid tide....and I use an extra rinse cycle too....ill try no detergent just some apc and hot water next time and see if that helps....i'll give it one more shot, but after that, I am over the WW craze
Click to expand...



I wouldn't give up on WWMFs entirely, maybe just the ones you have.



When doing the no-detergent washes, do a few with *only* water. Look inside during the wash cycle and see if there are any suds (there shouldn't be). And try the MF detergent, it brought my BBTs back to where I can use them on most of our vehicles.
 
Just my $.02, but waffle weave is a weave pattern - In order to understand the abrasiveness of a towel, you need to look at the fibers used - not all marketed micro fiber is created the same. On this forum recently was what seemed like a good deal for waffle weave MF towels at Walmart. Marketed as Mainstay Kitchen towels, these towels just didn't feel all that soft to me - at 70% polyester, I question how suitable they would be on the painted finish - great towel for other things, but not the painted finish.

(Polyester is pound for pound stronger than steel. Small fibers may seem soft, but just like bath towels with polyester thread, they can scratch a fine painted surface.)



Buyer beware.
 
Abbeysdad, a question: You mentioned that 70% polyester/30% polyamide will scratch the finish. However, all of the MF's and WW's (top-notch high quality ones) have at least 70% polyester and 30% polyamide, if not more polyester and less polyamide. I don't think that the 70% polyester is the cause for the scratching.
 
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