"DF" towels

[beefy z]

What's all this craze of late about "DF" towels. I did a search. many vendors are selling df towels. so what is a df towel? is it a 100% natural cotton microfiber towel without the usual 80/20 or 70/30 blend that microfibers usually are. is that the only standard or criteria for a df towel ? and even if they are "natural", i thought these df terrys can still scratch a clearcoat. so why in a rush to use them ? Can anyone set me straight here. thanks.

[kpagel]

I bought some last year. They're OK. The "drying" towel was absolutely terrible. I'm sticking with my Supreme Shines.

[DFTowel]

Originally posted by kpagel
I bought some last year. They're OK. The "drying" towel was absolutely terrible....

We don't make a "drying" towel, never did.

[RedSoxRacer]

Well, perhaps you could enlighten the forum?

[miked2]

Is a DF towel the (now discontinued) Meg's duo-fiber towel for glass? I bought a couple. I really like them for glass. But they are the only towel that when I wash with everything else (I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do that) tends to pick up the grime from the "everything else."

[RedSoxRacer]

The DF towel is made by a completely different company, you can find their website pretty easily if you want.

[Wired 24/7]

I'm very happy with DF towels. Very high quality, and I feel a little more comfortable with cotton compared to artificial-fiber (microfiber) towels.

They work great for drying too...

here is what I do:

get 2 towels, 1 in each hand.

Use one towel to soak up most of the water and then streak it across the paint.

Then use the other towel (almost totally dry) in a buffing motion to pick up the residual water from the first towel.

Using this method I never get water spots.

Hope this helps.

[Accumulator]

There seems to be an undercurrent of animosity flowing through this thread

I doubt that DF Towel is going to beat his own drum, let alone on a Meguiar's forum

His towels are superb (as are many others). DF towels will not scratch paint. Not soft single-stage and not clearcoat.

The DF towel is utterly different from 100% cotton "bath towels" in the same sense that a high-quality "MF" towel (such as one of those I bought from Meguiar's) is different from a scratchy polyester cloth.

The "microfiber" designation is a matter of the strands of material in the towel (micro= tiny, fine, so much so as to be functionally nonabrasive). We're just most accustomed to the synthetic ones that get the most attention so the term has become, strictly speaking, inaccurately applied in general parlance.

The DF towel is made of natural fibers instead of synthetic ones. I'm no expert on the material, but if you want more info go to his website (easy enough to find with any internet search engine). Get the info straight from the horse's mouth, he has a reputation for honesty and candor that is, IMO, well-deserved.

Lots of good detailing textiles out there, and the ones from DF Towels are among them.

[kpagel]

Originally posted by DFTowel
We don't make a "drying" towel, never did.

From your website regarding the 29.5" x 16" towel...

This is the workhorse of the DF™ Concours Towel line. This generous 29 x 16 inch towel is ideal for exterior use. With it you can dry your car after a washing better than any chamois on the market!

It may not be specifically labeld "OUR DRYING TOWEL" but you advertise it as such. This is the one I bought and I was completely unhappy with it as a drying towel. In my experience, it was not at all suited for drying.

Now, that is not to say they are not nice for other purposes. They're great for removing wax and other products and they're extremely soft. I moved on to Meguiar's towels because I have not had any problems with them and I can get three of them for the price of one of your 19.5"x19.5" towels. I have roughly 40 Supreme Shine towels, and it would not have been economical to spend $8.90 each for that many of your towels. That is why I said I will stick to my SS towels. For someone who can afford to pay that much, or if you only need a few towels, they might be perfect. In my case, I had no use for $9 towels.

BTW, is the Concours Buffing Towel that is sold on the Autopia store made by DF Towel?

[DFTowel]

"It may not be specifically labeld "OUR DRYING TOWEL" but you advertise it as such. This is the one I bought and I was completely unhappy with it as a drying towel. In my experience, it was not at all suited for drying."

I feel very uncomfortable talking about my products on another site like this so let me answer this as a general question which should help you decide on anyone's product.

All fabrics have two varying abilities when it comes to removing liquids from a surface. These are:
For most natural fibers such as cotton: Absorption and wicking rate
For artificial fibers such as polyester and nylon: Adsorption and wicking rate

Note the difference... natural fibers aBsorb liquids into the fibers and artificial fibers aDsorb which means the liquid adhers by surface tension to the outside of the fibers much like inserting a glass tube into a glass of water and having the water stick to the outside.

The properties of absorption and adsorption are not nearly as important as the wicking rate however.

The wicking rate refers to how fast a fiber can remove a liquid from the surface. If a fabric has a very high wicking rate then it may be good for drying but not much else, it will pull QD sprays or glass cleaners away from the surface before they have a chance to work. It will also not be very good for buffing and polishing. Conversely a fabric with a lower rate will be very good for QD, glass cleaning, buffing and polishing but not the best for drying.

A waffle weave towel is best suited for drying not because of any of these properties but because of the weave itself, look at all those hills and valleys... the hills act like hundreds of little squeegees pushing the water into the valleys allowing the fabric enough time to wick the water. This is also why a waffle weave is not the very best at buffing and polishing because there is less contact of the fibers with the surface.

That being understood (hopefully ) ... it stands to reason that technique plays a big role in QDing, glass cleaning, and drying. I always see people rubbing furiously to accomplish these tasks, this is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing. Try these techniques and see how much better your towels will work, no matter who you bought them from:
QD sprays: spray the product then wipe fairly quickly to spread the product evenly over the surface, fold the towel and wipe slowly to remove any excess and bring out the shine.
Glass cleaners: same technique, spray, wipe somewhat fast to spread, then wipe slowly to absorb excess and finish up.
Drying: wipe slowly! Use a consistent, even slow wipe and you will see how much faster you can dry a vehicle. Personally, however, I use a leaf blower then a towel to pick up any excess.

Hopefully this helps someone out there!

[miked2]

Guys, may I respectfully suggest that we tone down the rhetoric here . . . one of the things I've always liked about Mol is that while we are obviously all Meg's enthusiasts here, we don't bash other products. I am a big proponent of Meg's products -- my detailing repotrare (sp?) consists primarily of Meg's products -- but myself (and others) recognize that Meg's does not have a monopoly on good quality car-detailing products . . . . .

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by miked2
Guys, may I respectfully suggest that we tone down the rhetoric here . . .

one of the things I've always liked about MOL is that while we are obviously all Meg's enthusiasts here, we don't bash other products. I

Very well stated Mike. Thank you for chiming in and we appreciate your observation about our forum in that we don't allow member to bash other companies or other members. Luckily the type of people that hang out on MOL are typically a high caliber level of people to start with so ti's not really a problem a majority of the time.

Originally posted by DFTowel

I feel very uncomfortable talking about my products on another site like this so let me answer this as a general question which should help you decide on anyone's product.

Hi Leo,

Thank you for your candor and respect for this forum. We've known each other for a number of years now and I know you've always approached Meguiar's as a potential business partner and while to date nothing has ever come to fruition, we do appreciate your professionalism.

Also, thank you for explaining aDsorption, aBsorption, and Wicking, we discuss adsorption and absorption in our Saturday classes but in the past we have not discussed wicking, so thank you for sharing this valuable information on our forum with our community.

[SL1CK]

Originally posted by miked2
repotrare (sp?)

Repertoire

[miked2]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by miked2
repotrare (sp?)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Repertoire

That's what I was going for! I did a few google searches, but nothing came up with the correct spelling based on my spelling!

[DFTowel]

Repertoire... or as Curly would say... Re-pet-oree