What makes the difference with microfiber towels?

There was a great sale on some microfiber cleaning cloths for paint (towel style), polish (thinner suede style), and widows at the local Canadian tire. I bought a bunch of them.

What exactly is the difference between microfiber cloths that make some of them good for paints and others not - I bought some more expensive ones from eshine but I'm wondering if I can use these safely on my BMW paint without scratching..

Just case anyone else is interested they also had Simmonz Tire cleaner/shine on sale for $2 (from 8).

 

generally, well at least for me...
the ones I get from pakshak or excel, they last much longer, stays the same for much longer (doesn't get stiff). Haven't tried Eshine's products, but based on what I've read, they're good for paint.

 

You want a 70/30 microfiber towel from Korea- Pakshak carries these towels. The ones from China are of poor quality and I have found they do scratch/mar the surface of a vehicle.

 

This is a great topic. I'm looking at Chemicalguys Microfiber towels and they have so many and no clear lines of quality variation. The "Ultra Plus Super" and "Elite Deluxe Super" are priced precisely the same, yet the name would let on that maybe the Elite is better than the Ultra (or vice versa).. but there's nothing that tells you that.

Atleast with Pakshak (and others) you can sort of gauge what is what.

 

I guess I don't understand this. Why would the china ones be worse for the paint. They feel and look exactly the same.

 

Actually the Korean towels are of better quality, and like I said above the china towels are less quality. When I first started doing this I didn't think there is a difference but get a Cobra towel and compare it to a Pakshak towel. You will see there is a night and day difference, also the a 80/20 is not as soft as a 70/30towel this also going to come into play. Plus this has been discussed on other forums that the China towels are of less quality.

 

ya just from the look of cobra towels, it looks really thin and not plush at all. Pakshak towels are very plush on the other hand.

 

their super plush and jr towels are plush enough for QD jobs, but the problem I had with them was that they lint, even after multiple washes...
Pakshak towels are going strong...

 

You're telling me, two towels, both 70/30 with one from Korea and one from China - The one from China causes scratches and the one from Korea doesn't? I think this is case of not carefully inspecting any and all towels you ever use to ensure they were not contaminated with something from the factory. Polyester and Polyamide are the same in every country, and if they're all the same blend, there is no reason for this claim. I have towels from Korea and China and they're all the same. They all wash the same, they all buff off the same, they all hold up the same....Under intense lighting, neither scratches anything...

This sounds like a case of over analyzing something and making a bogus conclusion in attempt to sound like an expert. Not a personal attack, not intended to be at all, but with a claim like yours someone has to ask questions.

 

First of all I am not trying to over analyze anything nor am I making a bogus claim to look like an expert, that is an honest opinion. I am just relaying what I have found over the years about the quality of microfibers. If you dont like the information I have posted then no need to respond saying your not trying to personally attack when you really are. If you dont agree with it thats fine, no problem here. As far as paying attention to towels, that is not even in question, the towels were just junk. Just like there is different grades of quality of cotton towels, the same applies with microfibers. So if you are happy with your towels of lesser quality good for you, also not trying to personally attack either, but I prefer quality products and equipment.

 

Just because you have two MFs that are 70/30 in no way means they are the same because it all comes down to Quality Control and what is allowable and what is not. Like Asphalt said you can have different qualities of the same material and that in no way makes them identical.

 

As I already said :thumb:

Wolfpacker, just because one lazy worker in China let some contamination get by on an MF shouldn't conclude that all of the towels from China scratch. I'll bet both places have let stuff get by, but how many people actually speak up? Even on Autopia, I'll bet less than 20% of the towel's users post and even then, only about 5% know what they're talking about. In short, inspect your own towels, wash them before use/re-use, and re-inspect each one again. Regardless of a towel's origin, you will find both good and bad towels from both.

 

just thought i would say got a few towels from chemical guys very plush nice feeling towels, stickers on them saying
made in china

 

I am not trying to over analyze, who moi :gasp:


Micro fibre:
Micro fibre by definition (very small; involving minute quantities or variations) is not a fabric; but a yarn, that’s spun into thread, which is then used to weave a terry fabric. These ultra-fine yarns (2X as fine as silk and 100X finer than a human hair) are made form various sources, they can be made from many different materials, such as a 70% Polyester 30% Polyamide or a natural material such as cellulose, a plant carbohydrate.

There are currently two countries that manufacture and export Micro fibre towels, Korea and China, the quality of these products is dependant upon the quality assurance (if any) programs employed. More so than many car care products - you'll (usually) get the quality you pay for. Purchasing them from a reliable vendor is the safest bet

The first material used to produce Micro fibre was a combination of two DuPont fibres, polyester and polyamide, which is used as the core and polyester as the outer fibre, No matter how soft it feels polyester, being a plastic will scratch a paint surface on a microscopic level, which show up as towelling marks, which are longer scratches than the usual small swirl marks or micro marring, to check for polyester content see burn test

Keep in mind that the nature of this yarn is that it is an adsorbent; the reason polyester appears to absorb liquids is the many thousands of micro-fibres that collectively are encapsulating a lot of water. Once they become coated with detergent, polish or fabric softener, etc they loose there ability to be an absorbent.

The smaller the diameter of the yarn, the softer the fabric will feel, however this does not mean that its non-abrasive and will not cause scratches (this softness can also be chemically induced)

Because the label says Micro fibre is no assurance that the material is safe to use or that it is non-abrasive.The most important criteria for any fabric used on a vehicle surface is its quality and scratch resistance.

Micofiber Chart - Cobra Microfiber Towels Comparison Chart

 

I like the fluffers from Chemical guys and also the towels detailersdomain has.