What kind of towels do car washes use?

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First Time Using a Car Cleaning Towel? Keep These Things in Mind

Before we think about what kind of car wash towel you need to use to wash and dry your car, there are a few things you should know. An important one being that whatever car cleaning towel you use for one part of the car, shouldn’t be used in any other area.

That’s because the debris from the wheels could scratch your car body paint, and dead bugs and bird-dropping residue could contaminate your interior. Because you don’t want these running across the same surfaces, avoid washing them and storing them together too.

Finally—not all cars are painted equally. This means that a car cleaning towel that works well on one type of car finish, may be harmful to others. Pay attention to what kind your car is to help choose the best car towel or tool at each cleaning step.

Here’s A Different Towel For Each Step

We’ve put together the ultimate list of different towels to wash and dry your car with. Enjoy!

Detailing

A lot of car owners don’t realize that washing isn’t necessarily the first step of the car cleaning process. It could save you a lot of time and water to give your car a simple wipe-down before you wet it. This removes any loose dirt, dust, and other debris.

We recommend using our high-quality microfiber Dash Gear towel to remove all remnants of lint, fibers, and more from your vents, dashboard, and interior windows. For your exterior, try out our Buffing Ball. Attach it to the end of an electric or air drill and watch it buff out all your car’s stuck-on dirt and grime for a new car shine. Feel free to use it on chrome, aluminum, and painted surfaces as well as oxidized headlights or plastic windshields.

Washing

If you use just any old rag, sponge, or other car cleaning towel, you might regret it later when your car’s covered in tiny scratches and chips. Take our advice: if you have a dipped or matte-finish automotive, use DipRagz™. These are designed for washing matte-finish paint on cars so that—even though the surface isn’t smooth—our Ragz do not leave a residual material behind like a microfiber car washing towel or wash mitt.

For classic car paint, hardware, wheels and more, opt for our Premium Wash Mitt. Its special blend holds more water for fewer bucket dips and better cleaning. Don’t forget to use a separate one for each application.

Drying

Need a towel for drying your car? Don’t settle for anything less than The Absorber®. This amazing car cleaning towel is made from polyvinyl alcohol: a unique super-drying material that goes unmatched by our competitors. Not only is it soft on your car and hands, but it’s also resistant to mold, mildew, and chemicals. Best of all? It’s 100% machine-washable. Once it’s dried, store it away in its handy little tube so it’s ready for the next car wash.

We strongly recommend you use one towel for the body paint and a small one for drying the wheels. Never use one towel after a car wash to dry everything.

Detailing With the The Glosser®

Get a showroom shine in between car washes with The Glosser®. This 3-layer microfiber cloth gives you a beautiful glossy finish in just a swipe. Meanwhile, it also wipes up bird droppings, bugs, and road grime on the lower body area. It can do this for you because it’s made of two outer layers of cleaners and an inner layer of wax. Its most impressive feature has to be that it’s safe to use on all finishes as well as a range of applications such as door, hood, and trunk jams.

Our various car cleaning towel recommendations should ensure your care looks squeaky clean for longer. If you want some more ideas on what you can use to improve your car-cleaning experience, check out our full collection of high-quality, convenient products here.

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