Leather Chamois - Safe???

[Dr. T]

I stopped using these since I've heard that they can "scratch" the paint. Any truth to this?

I was told this by a guru at Mother's Inc...that recommended the fluffiest terry cloth/towel available because they will carry off any remaining dirt after washing and hold a lot more water than a chammy...

I've now actually moved to using the Meguirs Microfiber rag that I think does an even better job...any comments?

 

[highmiler]

I also switched to microfiber towels. Costo will sell you a package of 12 for about $8.
I believe they are much better that a leather chamois.

 

[bretfraz]

Microfiber towels are revolutionizing car detailing. They are definitely the way to go.

A chamois (natural or man made) does not have a nap which can hold small pieces of dirt and grit. If you get a bit of grease or oil on the chamois, you will end up with small grease smudges all over your car unless you notice it and clean it off ASAP.

When I first started detailing I used a natural chamois. I switched to The Absorber as its easier to clean, easier to store, and cheaper to replace. About 2 years ago I switched to microfiber and will never go back to the others.

Microfiber towels are 7X more absorbent than cotton terry and softer than human hair. What you want to dry your car is a large waffle weave microfiber towel. Not available in retail store AFAIK, you can get them online at places like autofiber.com and pakshak.com, two excellent sources of microfiber products.

Use the small 16"x16" microfiber towels for removing wax, cleaning glass, polishing, etc. A microfiber towel and a quality glass cleaner (i.e. not Windex) will give you the cleanest, clearest windows ever. Trust me, I searched for the Holy Grail of glass cleaning for 20 years and have found it with microfiber and an automotive glass cleaner like Stoner Invisible Glass, Sprayway, and Eagle One 20/20.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

i use the absorber...its rubber...but nice....never had a problem with dirt scratching..just make sure there is no DIRT ON THE CAR U KNO!

 

[theguru]

Just bought one of the Meguiars microfibre chamios, absorbs much more than the natural chamois and doesn't need any prep. Good investment.

 

[Arved]

quote:

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Originally posted by bretfraz:
A chamois (natural or man made) does not have a nap which can hold small pieces of dirt and grit. If you get a bit of grease or oil on the chamois, you will end up with small grease smudges all over your car unless you notice it and clean it off ASAP.

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Doesn't this happen with microfiber cloths, too? Once grease gets on it, it's just as bad a stain as on a regular cloth or chamois, and just as difficult to remove.

Usually most of the oils themselves can be washed off, but whatever's left that stains the cloth still has me worried. Is the stain "clean dirt?"

- Arved

[ October 08, 2003, 02:11 PM: Message edited by: Arved ]

 

[bretfraz]

quote:

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Originally posted by Arved:

quote:

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Originally posted by bretfraz:
A chamois (natural or man made) does not have a nap which can hold small pieces of dirt and grit. If you get a bit of grease or oil on the chamois, you will end up with small grease smudges all over your car unless you notice it and clean it off ASAP.

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Doesn't this happen with microfiber cloths, too? Once grease gets on it, it's just as bad a stain as on a regular cloth or chamois, and just as difficult to remove.

Usually most of the oils themselves can be washed off, but whatever's left that stains the cloth still has me worried. Is the stain "clean dirt?"

- Arved

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You're right to an extent. Grease on a towel will smear as it would on a chamois. The benefit of a towel is that a nap will help hold the grease and it works better than a chamois folded. Most people have several towels on hand but not too many have several chamois in case one gets grimey. So for most folks towels are more practical.

Personally I don't worry too much about embedded stains. I get them out as best as I can and reuse the towel. No different than getting a shirt or pair of pants greasy - do you wash them and wear again or toss them out and buy a new one?