howierd42

Ok, I know we have discussed this before but I could not find anything in the search. And since it is getting toward show season agian, I need to get the car showable.

In years past I just used the cotton terrycloth bath towels that were not fit to be used coming out of the shower any more. But now, my car is worth more to me than that.

Where is the best place to get microfiber towels and how many should one buy to wash/dry and Zaino one of our cars?

Poik

I think that Costco is the best place to get them for the best price. I think they are in the section with the rest of the cleaning stuff. I'm pretty sure it is 10 or 15 towels for about $10. At Shucks or other stores you will pay a LOT more than that.. I got some for Christmas and Costco is apparently the place to get them.

SeaHawk

iTrader: (1)

Fair warning -- on my black car I've seen that the Costco microfibers will leave slight scratches if any pressure at all is used (any pressure!). Very very slight, but then again my car is black.

I've had best results with the microfibers from Classic Motoring Accessories. As long as I keep them clean, I haven't seen a scratch yet. More expensive, but cheaper labor-wise, at least if you have a black car

Todd2001SS

How about micro fiber bonnets? Where can you buy those?

93TAWicked1

iTrader: (28)

autotopia.com I get the 6 pack of yellow ones pretty cheap and a couple of blue ones for finish they also have the bonnets I got one for my porter cable. Good thing is once you order something from them you get 15% codes everyonce in awhile...

also there is this place that is pretty cheap:

http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/s...etail&ct=29307

ram-it

Screw towels. They are for sissies. Get a BIG blower and stay off the paint.

HitmanLSX

hehe hell yeah.. I'm pickin up one of the black and decker 230mph ones next payday or two

Steve Goodwin

Learn something new everyday. I did not know that the blues one were for finishing. I have some from Meguiar's and like them as well also have the bonnet from Mequiar's. Using a bonnet with a clean pad on the P.C. to remove product is just okay, knocks the top off. I do like using the microfiber bonnet to apply the final product.

The Lake County pads for the P.C. are all the rage on the Appearance Forum, the black finishing pad does rock. But IMO the Mequiar's pads are much better.

Back to Howard's question, I do think there is a quality difference in towels and with a black car I would order good ones. Autiopia unlike Jegs ships fast and complete. Menzerna twins topped with Zanio is a great combo for a driver, look at Rick's Formula.

Steve Goodwin

Eric I tried this yesturday for the first time and it is does work really well.

Rookie get the Toro super blower, IMO much better blower than the B & D has a true variable speed not an air choke.

howierd42

Blowers would work great for drying the car or engine, but there is not one around with enough BTU's to pollish the Zaino off.

DrEvyl

iTrader: (5)

http://www.tropi-care.com sells them.

WAHUSKER

iTrader: (4)

Funny, I thought the blue ones were for general use, and the yellow ones were for finishing. Autotopia here....

93TAWicked1

iTrader: (28)

The blue ones I get are from Baxtors they are more expensive I think 18 for 3. But they seem to be alot better quality then the yellow ones and are ridiculously soft. Plus they take of Zaino and NXT very well. The yellow ones are great too especially for the price. I get some cheap green ones from Fred meyers for interior and glass. I must have about 20 Microfibor towels I'm always afraid to wash them in the machine

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

On the subject of Zaino........

We are going to do the 'daily driver' - its a super dark metallic blue, bought it in December and the paint is trashed (dog park and commuting).

1) Best outside temp?
2) Best humidity (highest max?)
3) How many coats in one sitting of Z2 & Z5?

I got bags full of towels that are *perfect* for detail for free from a tanning salon. They are the ones they use to clean the beds which are acrylic and they can't use ones that will scratch so they buy high end microfiber. When the bias fray's they throw them out, except I thought to ask them to save "some" for me and I ended up with a lawn trash bag full! We are set for years with towels...its using Zaino on new paint that has lots of swirl marks and some dog scraches from the mutt jumping in and out the back I'm not sure about.
Suggestions?

93TAWicked1

iTrader: (28)

Zaino will do little to fix the existing imperfections if anything. For slight swirl marks like those from a buffer it does wonders but for anything serious it will just make the car look better but not "fix" anything. Zaino IMHO is one of the best toppers there are but like all topper it requires good prep to look its best.

I always do it in a garage but I think anything 65-75 would be fine humidity will just make it take longer to set.

I do about 2-3 coats of each with Z6 before and after each one. After the car is prepped real good and zaino'd theoretically you can add more coats in a few months. but with my garaged kept cars I've never needed anymore than one coat of z5 and some z6.

Todd2001SS

I just blazed through buffing my Swift. I used meguires scratch x with a blue bonnet, then #2 meguires, then meguires polish #3, had this laying around. removed the scratch x with a terry cloth bonnet, all the rest done by hand.

After the scratch x, i was pretty impressed and a lot of hair scratched were pretty much gone but there were a lot there. Now after I added #2 & #3 it covered up almost everything, I was pretty impressed. Honestly it was hard to see almost any swirls...this is a car not kept up at all.

Scratch x is really abrasive.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

I already picked up the paper to do some wet-sanding, that I know is the only thing that will take out the dog scratches and even then there will be some marks. (don't freak, a detail shop owner showed me how to wet sand and would check my work with a damn microscope! 4 different grits depending on the softness of the paint).
There are some finer ones that will "fill" after a good strip job and coats of Zaino - we aren't too picky since it is a daily driver. Just not having to strip and wax it twice a month is the outcome we want.

We do the work in the garage but without it being insulated its about like working outside. Just no pollen or air contaminents falling on it while we are coating it after the strip so thats why I asked temp & humidity.

As for my Z...all it ever needs is z5 & 6. I got a much better cover for xmas while it sits in the garage, its reduced the smaller particles of dust seeping through.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

I used Mequires on my old truck, it had the hard paint and ultra durable top coat though - big difference.
The Z was 3M and Meguires but they changed to something cheap so I'm making the move to Zaino instead. I still have scratch X and was going to test a spot to see if that could be used for some of the sorta deep but not scratches on the dd. Its going to be a test of trial and hopefully not error.

I still like Mequires on my truck for in between hard core stripping and wax/protectant but I couldn't tell you what ones I use - over the years I just know which ones bring out the shine and reduce the finer scratches without a big fuss by the color of the bottle. Its a TRUCK, its supposed to look like it gets used like a TRUCK

ram-it

You'll never get me to use anything but Meguires and my leaf blower for drying her off. Scratch X is one hell of a product too.

GEARHED

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, I thought that as well considering I've been using nothing but Meguires since...well, some around here weren't even out of diapers yet.

I'm really curious to see how the commuter holds up with Zaino against the Meguires on the truck, neither of which we can garage right now.
Tree sap is a bitch to get off!