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Microfiber Towels
15 years after a debut in Sweden and success throughout Europe, microfibercleaning textiles should have replaced most of the household chemicals that smear,powder, spray, and infuse almost every inch of the American home.Microfiber cleans surfaces mechanically, not chemically, by scraping them with microscopicprecision. And you don’t throw the productsaway, but keep renewing them with machineor hand washing.“It’s one of the greenest products out there.From the research we’ve done, microfibercleans and removes dirt and bacteria withwater alone. You do not need chemicals,”says Judy Klein, director of retail cleaning forNewell Rubbermaid, the $6.4 billionCorporation that in 2007 introduced aconsumer line of microfiber cleaning products.For the most part, though, disbelief has stunted microfiber’s proliferation. Theclaims of chemical-free cleaning are too vast to trust and too complex tounderstand for the average consumer and the products are too expensive to risktaking the chance. Because the term “microfiber or Microfiber” is not regulated,quality products share the same labeling with much lesser quality ones,exacerbating the problem of trust.
Microfiber definition
Microfiber by definition (very small; involving minute quantities or variations) is nota fabric; but a yarn, that’s spun into thread, which is then used to weave a terryfabric. These ultra-fine yarns (twice as fine as silk and 100 times finer than a humanhair) are made from various sources, they can be made from many differentmaterials, such as a 70% polyester/30% polyamide or a natural material such ascellulose, a plant carbohydrate. There are currently two countries that manufacture and export microfiber towels,Korea and China. The quality of these products is dependent upon the qualityassurance (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 thesafest bet. Its scratch resistance has a lot to do with the way the fibers areprocessed and spun, there are too many factors to be able to say conclusively thatnatural fibers will not cause scratches and artificial fibers will. However, naturalfibers are far less likely to scratch, flannel or cotton flannel is a very tight weave andit could scratch as it mats down easily, always try to stay with a terrycloth weave.
 
 The first material used to produce microfiber was a combination of two DuPontfibers, polyester and polyamide, which is used as the core and polyester as theouter fiber. No matter how soft it feels, polyester, being a plastic will scratch a paintsurface on a microscopic level, which shows up as toweling marks, longer scratchesthan the usual small swirl marks or micro marring (to check for polyester contentsee burn test below). The nature of this yarn is that it is an absorbent; the reasonpolyester appears to absorb liquids is the many thousands of microfibers thatcollectively are encapsulating a lot of water. Once they become coated withdetergent, polish or fabric softener, etc. they lose their absorbent ability. The smaller the diameter of the yarn, the softer the fabric will feel, however thisdoes not mean that it's non-abrasive and will not cause scratches (this softness canalso be chemically induced).Most microfiber that originates from Asia and the Far East is fabricated frompolyester or nylon by-products. Because the label says microfiber is no assurancethat the material is safe to use or that it is non-abrasive. The most important criteriafor any fabric used on a vehicle surface is its quality and scratch resistance.Regardless of material type or quality, a dirty microfiber, or a 100% cotton towel willboth scratch, microfiber has attractant properties (that is dirt, dust, and variousother substances cling to it), which is one of the reasons that it works so well, but itis also a reason why you need to be extra careful when using towels on your paint.Construction -microfiber towelboarders – the of the advantages of a silk/satinedging is that they won't unravel when washed several times like a non edged towelnor will they cause marring of the paint surface, it also means that they will notsnag.
Size
- available in various sizes 16 -inch x 16 / 18 / 24 -inch,drying towels25 -inchx 16 -inch being a usable size Towel density - is a measure of fibers per square inchof fabric. The range for quality microfiber is 90,000 to 225,000 fibers per squareinch. The higher the fiber count the more absorbent.Ratio - of polyester and polyamide blend; 80% polyester and 20% polyamide istypical (80/20) a 70/30 blend will absorb water faster. As polyamide is much moreexpensive than polyester, you can expect to pay more for a 70/30 blend. Things to look for in a microfiber towel - How many times the fibers are split - ahigher split ensures you get a more effective cleaning towel. Splitting the fiberscreates millions of edges that trap dirt and dust that bonds to the fibers and is notreleased until the towel is washed in hot water. Therefore, the dirt is not re-deposited on the paint surface. How many times can you wash your microfibertowel - the more times you can wash it the more durable the towel does the towelcome with a guarantee? - This says the company is prepared to stand by itsproduct. When choosing microfiber quality is very important, as a lack of qualityinspection will result in variable results i.e. towels that will cause surface scratches,
 
leave a trail of lint, etc. Microfiber quality is very often reflected in the purchaseprice, best advice, use only high quality microfiber towels from a reputable source.As with most things, you'll get what you pay for.A good quality towel may cost more, but it will last longer. The most important thingto remember is that a good quality microfiber towel will provide better cleaningresults that ordinary towels or cloth.
Types and Uses for Detailing Towels:
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General Purpose
- a microfiber towels with a standard terry cloth weave, amedium thick nap and an 80/20 blend of polyester and polyamide. Used forbuffing paint, glass, vinyl, plastic and leather. Ideal for quick detailing (QD)this will be the most frequently used towel.
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PolyFiber2
-DF Concours microfiber towels, are very soft while having morebite and polishing ability than traditional microfiber, it's 25% more absorbentusing a 80/20 Polyester/Nylon microfiber mix woven in Brazil with no genericpolyamide (typically referred to as a Nylon by-product).These towels arefinished and inspected in the USA under the strictest quality controlstandards.
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Glass
– microfiber towels that work well for polishing and glass cleaningseem to have similar characteristics. The towel ideally should be 100% lintfree; this means the weave is going to have a shorter nap than a generalpurpose towel. A decent glass towel needs scrubbing power to successfullyremove the residue that cause streaking, sharing the same characteristic thatmakes a good polishing cloth. This microfiber towel is so effective at cleaningglass that often a glass cleaner chemical isn't even necessary. It features avery low-pile cut in a zigzag pattern which literally attracts and removes off-gassing, residue, smudges and oily finger prints. Its efficient cleaning actionis truly a time saver.
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Drying
- There are two different microfiber towelingweaves that make good drying towels: terry cloth and Piquéor waffle weave. “ Piqué isn't more absorbent than terry butthe ridges act as hundreds of little squeegees which pushthe water up into the cups giving the fabric time to absorb."
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Waffle weave towels
-when they are wet they’re very soft andsuper absorbent, and glide easily over thesurface, the ‘pockets’ in the weave ‘hold’ anydirt or surface debris unlike some other superabsorbing products that trap dirt between thetowel and paint surface with the potential tocause serious scratches (never use it whenit’s dry as it can potentially scratch) That goes for whatever you use for
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