Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

[Mongoose]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

I've got some replacements on the way but after reading about all the issues with the towels I'm taking a serious look at Cobra and other alternatives.

[Scoobie]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue


Just got a call from Brian in customer care, thanks for contacting me Brian. I conveyed my feelings about the SS towels to Brian, and he took the time to listen to what I had to say. Brian agreed that something is askew with these towels, and guaranteed that this issue will be directed toward the proper channels, which is one of the purposes of this thread.

So, we'll just have to see how this evolves.



Thanks Brian
Tony

[imacarnut]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

I've got some replacements on the way but after reading about all the issues with the towels I'm taking a serious look at Cobra and other alternatives.

The cobra towels IME have linted and for the price that they are, not worth it. Check around as there are plenty of online retailers to purchase microfiber towels from.

[ColonelCash]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

The cobra towels IME have linted and for the price that they are, not worth it. Check around as there are plenty of online retailers to purchase microfiber towels from.

Don't think this qualifies as bashing the competition, but....I'm 0 for 2 with Cobra. Both sets were premium towels, out of 12 I ordered I can maybe use 6 of them. The other 6 fell apart.

[CieraSL]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

The cobra towels IME have linted and for the price that they are, not worth it. Check around as there are plenty of online retailers to purchase microfiber towels from.

Don't think this qualifies as bashing the competition, but....I'm 0 for 2 with Cobra. Both sets were premium towels, out of 12 I ordered I can maybe use 6 of them. The other 6 fell apart.

I'm not sure why this is, and why it seems to vary from user to user. I have about two dozen assorted Cobra towels, and I haven't had any linting problems with any of them.

[mb911]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

Hi mb911, Acccording to Rick, with whom I just spoke to, Rick says that the thickness does not matter in the least in terms of towel performance. Rick also stated that the towels being out of square, will also not affect performance. I fold my towels during use. When you look at the pics, it's obvious that they cannot be properly folded.

I wish we could get to the top of Meguiar's or whatever Chinese company makes the towels for them.

I wish they had the passion we have, to get this sorted.

Telling us that they function great when they are newspaper thin, or the shape of spilled ketchup is word games.

It feels as though they don't believe us too. I'm glad you had a picture to prove the shape.

Sadly, despite buying hundreds of these towels, they do not believe me about the thickness. Funny that other towels advertise "deep piles," to collect the debris and keep it away from the paint. I think I've even heard Barry mention this.

Again, I'd pay more for the Supreme Shines rather than have the quality go down as they have.

I tried to guess Barry's email address, but it didn't work. I might send a paper letter and hope it gets to him.

I love the company otherwise!!!

[roushstage2]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

Speaking of thickness...Super Fly towels FTW.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

I wish we could get to the top of Meguiar's or whatever Chinese company makes the towels for them.

I wish they had the passion we have, to get this sorted.

Telling us that they function great when they are newspaper thin, or the shape of spilled ketchup is word games.

It feels as though they don't believe us too. I'm glad you had a picture to prove the shape.

Sadly, despite buying hundreds of these towels, they do not believe me about the thickness. Funny that other towels advertise "deep piles," to collect the debris and keep it away from the paint. I think I've even heard Barry mention this.

Again, I'd pay more for the Supreme Shines rather than have the quality go down as they have.

I tried to guess Barry's email address, but it didn't work. I might send a paper letter and hope it gets to him.

I love the company otherwise!!!

First of all, be advised that you are closing approaching violations of rules 3, 4 and 11 of our Forum Rules. There's a right way and a wrong way to complain about a product, and to say that we lack the passion you have or that we're just playing word games is really stepping over the line. You will not find a company more passionate about this hobby, or a company more passionate about their own products, and certainly not one more passionate about their customers, than Meguiar's.

You have to understand, however, that any fix of any possible production issue is not something achieved in a few days. We have already stated that we are having QC samples pulled, are looking into possible production errors, etc - but this does not happen over night. And, in the event we do find a serious QC issue, we obviously can't have every single instance of a "problem" product pulled from the market before it lands in a customers hands. It's one thing if there is a problem batch of a liquid product as we can track the batch code and alert any distributors who may have received part of that batch. Imagine, though, if that distributor had already sold a fair amount of their allotment of that batch - tracking down product beyond that is virtually impossible. If it's a random issue, which would be a more likely scenario with an incorrectly cut towel than with a large mix of a liquid product, trying to track down every instance of that production error becomes virtually impossible. But since we stand behind every product we make, should any oddball issue arise - ie, should you purchase a bottle of product from a batch that was subsequently discovered to have an issue - we will gladly replace it for you at no cost. Heck, that holds true even if you simply didn't care for a product, for any reason, even if the product was manufactured exactly as it should be.

As for thickness not being a direct indicator of quality, that's true - pure and simple. There are a lot of parameters to look at when it comes to judging overall quality of any item. With towels thickness may be part of it, but it may not be. Our own M9910 Ultimate Wipes are not thick at all, nor do they possess a lengthy nap, but they are among the most highly regarded microfiber towels on the market. Even in this thread there has been a negative review of a competing product (the product was not bashed, by the way, just an observation given of the performance experienced by the user - there's a huge difference), a product that is generally very highly regarded. There are towels on the market that are crazy thick and fluffy, but that alone doesn't make them the "best" towel on the market. No one single criteria is the definitive measure of quality with any product.

Yes, it may be inconvenient for some to have towels that are not cut square, as Scoobie has indicated in his original post that started this thread. To Scoobie it's kind of a big deal, and that's fine, we understand and are happy to replace the towels, with our apologies. Someone else might not care so much, as long as the towel does its intended job - removing product thoroughly and without damaging the paint. But thickness of a towel alone is no indication as to whether or not it will damage paint, evidence the M9910 Ultimate Wipes.

Rest assured we are looking into any potential issue with our Supreme Shine microfiber towels. We are indeed passionate about delivering consistent, quality products to you. We also appreciate it when people bring this sort of thing to our attention. We are not perfect, and things can go wrong. But in those rare cases when they do we have always stepped up and made them right. One customer at a time if we have to. And we will continue to do this, just as passionately as we always have.

[imacarnut]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

There are towels on the market that are crazy thick and fluffy, but that alone doesn't make them the "best" towel on the market.

Agreed and in fact, when they get too thick and fluffy, they do not have enough bite/grab when removing polishes, compounds, etc. Thicker does not always mean better when it comes to microfiber towels.

[Scoobie]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue


Update:

Ok, So Brian and I worked out a plan in which resulted in me getting nine towels to replace the nine towels shown in the pics. I actually recieved them last Monday, (fast) (thanks Brian) and am now taking the time to write this. From initial inspection, most of the nine towels were well within acceptable squareness. (I did not measure, I used the one fold method to determine squareness) Like I said, most of the nine were acceptable.

I hand washed all of them in my sink in hot water, (140-150 degree or so water) with just a tiny bit of Dawn. Before I washed them, I shook out the loose lint, (not very much lint at all) and whatever debris may have accumulated on the towels due to the material being exposed. I did find some foreign material (1-2 pieces on 2 towels) that was hard enough, to definitely have caused damage, had it not been removed. I had to remove the pieces with a pick. I did so without damaging the material. I actually used a magnifying glass to thoroughly inspect the material before I hand washed them.

Like I said, I didn't use very much soap, seeing as they are new, and have never been used, but I did soak them for a couple of hours in the hot water, as I do to ALL my microfibers, in order to loosen, and break down dirt/chemicals. I thoroughly rinsed the towels, and then put them in the dryer, just long enough to dry them. I always use a timer so I don't forget to check on the drying progress. Like I said, the towels were in the dryer just long enough to become fully dry and fluffy.

After removing the towels from the dryer, I utilized the one fold method to check for squareness. To my dismay, (the word dismay is a bit strong) I noticed that the towels had changed. The towels that were somewhat close to being within acceptably square, were now considerably way out of square. The measurements are as follows:

Out of Square by
3 1/2''
3''
1 1/2"
1 1/2"
1 1/2"
These are acceptably square
1/4'' - 1/2''
1/4" - 1/2"
1/4" - 1/2"
1/8"

So, I have four good towels, that I would consider acceptable, two towels that are horribly out of square, and 3 towels that are not as bad, but still unacceptable. I'll still use them for drying or something.

It seems that the issue may have something to do with the way these towels are woven or something. I am by no means an expert on fabric, and Brian pretty much said the same thing. (he's not an expert on fabrics either) So, with the three towels from the original order of twelve that are very near square, thus very acceptable and the four towels that are pretty much square, which are very acceptable, that I just recieved from brian, I have a total of seven towels that I would consider perfect. The other 14 towels, I will use for drying, as I like like to use micro fiber for drying paint. Depending on how they are folded, they can also be used for dusting/instant detailing. Because they are soo out of square, only so many folds (a side) can be used without a major, major overlap. Whereas, the towels that are square, have more usable sides, because they are square, no overlap at all...period!
Brian agreed that there is an issue with these towels, and assured me that it will be directed toward the appropriate channels. My overall opinion of these towels...

There is definately an issue with quality.

Up to this point, I had been using 14" x 14" inch towels. I like the fact that the 16'' x 24" inch towels, after two folds, yield a side of about 8" x 12" inches versus 7" x 7" inches. The smaller 14" x 14" towels were inexpensive, and are of really nice quality.

As far as thickness is concerned, I do not see a problem with these towels. Brian told me that too thick a towel will hinder the removal of product, and I can relate to that. I will give an example. Guys that run DOT tires on the track will shave the tires down, to I think, 4/32nds of an inch of tread depth. The reason for this is, with full tread depth, the tread blocks/chucks will flex quite heavily, causing what is known as "tread squirm". The car will feel squirrelly, and will have a "lack" of grip. Too long of a knap could very well have the same effect when removing hardened product off of paint. Although, when it comes to light dusting (no bonded contaminates, no large foreign particles on surface) I would actually prefer a slightly thicker knap, as there is little, to no downward pressure, therefore, the over flexing of the knap is irrelevant.

Meguiars has been around for over 100 years. You don't stay in business for over 100 years by not doing things right. Meguiars has obviously done things right. I have always seen Meguiars as a chemical company. (waxes/compounds/polishes) Meguiars is one of the best out there, but, I don't think they hit the nail on the head with these towels. That's just my observation.

This thread has served it's purpose.






Tony

[CieraSL]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

Interesting. I wonder why this is? Hopefully Meguiar's will get to the bottom of it. I have every confidence in their ability to correct this.

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

When drying towels, I avoid using high heat. The towels will dry just fine on the low heat or air fluff (no heat) settings, although air fluffing does require almost double the time.

I use the low heat setting and have never had a problem with Supreme Shines losing their rectangular shape. I used to air dry them by draping them over my dining room chairs, but the low heat setting works even better for me.

[Scoobie]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue


I don't want to step out of bounds, but...it would seem as if a change in supplier is in order. There is definately something askew in which this fabric is woven. The overall quality is less than other brands/types of micro fiber. When you talk about a reputable 100 year old car care company such as Meguiars, I expect nothing but the best.

I realize that one of the purposes of Meguiars, is to market and sell top quality products, and to make money in the process. They might have to bite the bullet, and go with a different supplier, which may result in a slightly lower profit margin, but that is entirely up to corporate.

I hope I didn't step out of bounds.



Thanks



Tony

[Scoobie]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue


Btw, I used low heat, as well as moniter the towels during drying. I removed them promptly when they were dry. I have always dryed mico fiber towels in my dryer, and the SS towels are the only towels in my large collection that are out of square. As you can see in the pics...waaaay out of square.

It is something to do with the construction of the towels.


I have to go to work now.



Peace



Tony

[Andrew C.]

Re: Supreme Shine Quality Control Issue

I typically wash my microfibers in the washer and let them air dry. I don't throw them in the drier not because of the heat, but because with my normal laundry I use fabric softener sheets in the dryer, and even though I don't throw those in with my microfibers, there is still fabric softener residue on the walls of the drier.

I have never had a problem with my Supreme Shines becoming unsquare-like. Scooby perhaps it is your washing procedure.

When washing in the washing machine, the spin cycle tends to get most of the water out of the towels, leaving them damp. Perhaps since you are soaking them in the sink, they are pretty heavy with water, so when you put them in the washer, them being thrown around with the extra water weight could distort their shape. Or if you do wring them out, it could be the process of wringing the towel out which causes them to become unsquare.

I couldn't tell you for sure why yours are not square, but the general trend seems to be that more people have noticed a lack in thickness (which isn't an accurate quality measurement as we already established) rather than deformation in shape of the towel. So who knows, it could be your wash process, but it may not be.