Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

[Andrew C.]

I used a supreme shine microfiber today for the first time. Before this, I had just been using the ADS microfibers. What seemed odd to me is that the plusher side of the SS didn't seem as plush as the ADS one. I used the SS to apply UQW, and it didn't seem like the towel was anything better than the ADS towels.

What are your guys opinions on this? Is there any difference other than size with these two, is one better?


Thanks, Andrew

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

The two towels I use are Meguiar's SS, and ADS (99% of the time). I have hundreds of these two types alone. (Ask Rick, he shipped them to me 100 at a time haha).

I used the ADS towels before I ever tried a SS towel, and when I got the SS my first reaction was the same: "why does the cheap ADS towel have a plusher side than the SS?"

Then I tried the towel out. I realized that (at least for me) using the medium plushness (more uniform than the ADS) of the SS towel for product removal seemed to give me the best, easiest results. I realized that the plush side on the ADS towels seemed to cause the towel to bunch up and grab rather than remove dried product. One of the more obvious places to test this would be with removal of #7 put on a little too thickly, or maybe #16 left on a hair too long. You will also notice it if you try and wax too much of the car between removal and find it drying on you.

Then, I found the fact that the SS is longer (16x24 vs 16x16) very handy, that extra real estate is very useful. I can do a full wipe-down on my entire car with a single SS towel two different times by simply folding it in quarters and rotating the towel. With the ADS towel I really only get 1 usually.

I prefer the short side of the ADS towels for windows, and I also use them for general use, interior cleaning, and wheels. the ADS towels are a great value. I personally prefer the SS for product removal and paint work.

My suggesting would be to do some side by side testing and see what feels better to you. In the end, both are great towels IMO, and I think it probably comes down to personal opinion- you really can't go wrong with either.

[Alex C.]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

To me they seem about the same in quality. I've never even bothered to look, but are the SS 70/30? I know the ADS mf's are. But yeah, more towel seems to be the main difference here.

Both are great in my opinion

[Andrew C.]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

The two towels I use are Meguiar's SS, and ADS (99% of the time). I have hundreds of these two types alone. (Ask Rick, he shipped them to me 100 at a time haha).

I used the ADS towels before I ever tried a SS towel, and when I got the SS my first reaction was the same: "why does the cheap ADS towel have a plusher side than the SS?"

Then I tried the towel out. I realized that (at least for me) using the medium plushness (more uniform than the ADS) of the SS towel for product removal seemed to give me the best, easiest results. I realized that the plush side on the ADS towels seemed to cause the towel to bunch up and grab rather than remove dried product. One of the more obvious places to test this would be with removal of #7 put on a little too thickly, or maybe #16 left on a hair too long. You will also notice it if you try and wax too much of the car between removal and find it drying on you.

Then, I found the fact that the SS is longer (16x24 vs 16x16) very handy, that extra real estate is very useful. I can do a full wipe-down on my entire car with a single SS towel two different times by simply folding it in quarters and rotating the towel. With the ADS towel I really only get 1 usually.

I prefer the short side of the ADS towels for windows, and I also use them for general use, interior cleaning, and wheels. the ADS towels are a great value. I personally prefer the SS for product removal and paint work.

My suggesting would be to do some side by side testing and see what feels better to you. In the end, both are great towels IMO, and I think it probably comes down to personal opinion- you really can't go wrong with either.

Here is why I am wondering this, I am going to purchase some more towels from ADS soon and want to know what to buy. You have found the SS to be better for removing products compared to the ADS, but what about removing liquids and things such as quick detailing. I thought that I would buy some ultimate wipes to do product removal and get SS to wipe away QD etc, but now I am thinking I may want to just get some more ADS towels rather than the SS. What would be a reason to go for the SS over the ADS in this case since I would be using the UW for product removal which I have heard works best.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

Here is why I am wondering this, I am going to purchase some more towels from ADS soon and want to know what to buy. You have found the SS to be better for removing products compared to the ADS, but what about removing liquids and things such as quick detailing. I thought that I would buy some ultimate wipes to do product removal and get SS to wipe away QD etc, but now I am thinking I may want to just get some more ADS towels rather than the SS. What would be a reason to go for the SS over the ADS in this case since I would be using the UW for product removal which I have heard works best.

I use the SS for all QD and product removal on paint. Why? I found that the ultra thick side of the ADS towels could sometimes (Not always. If you buy enough of them you will notice a fairly wide range in thickness from towel to towel) be too thick, and actually be harder to use for QD or product removal.

To further explain what I mean, once folded into a square, when I went to push the ADS towel it would sometimes grab and unfold. The SS doesn't do it as easily or often for me.

Before I switched to the SS for paint work, I actually found myself digging through my selection of ADS towels for the ones with a medium shag, as opposed to the ultra thick ones I once thought were better (due to the microfiber craze on a certain site where people pay $8-15 for a single towel...I too did that, and now I don't even use them).

Then, I found the thinner side of the towel too thin to trust for paint product removal duties. So, I was basically left with half as many usable surfaces compared to the SS towel. THEN factor in the longer dimension of the SS and you have more than twice the usable real estate for product removal and QD duties.

I do from time to time reach for my especially plush towels when I am going to do QDing on a car that is beyond what should be QD'd and I need an especially large amount of nap in the towel to hide the dirt it picks up.

Hope that helps.

Oh, as for the order... my advice would be to have a dozen of quality, clean, paint safe SS towels on hand at all times. Go for the ADS towels for the other duties if you are trying to save a little dough.

[Andrew C.]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

Oh, as for the order... my advice would be to have a dozen of quality, clean, paint safe SS towels on hand at all times. Go for the ADS towels for the other duties if you are trying to save a little dough.

Thanks Mark, I know what you mean with the ADS towels and their inconsistency, especially the few that I have which are shaped like a parallelogram

Do you think I should pick up any ultimate wipes? Have you had any experiences with those?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Supreme Shine vs ADS Microfibers

Thanks Mark, I know what you mean with the ADS towels and their inconsistency, especially the few that I have which are shaped like a parallelogram

Do you think I should pick up any ultimate wipes? Have you had any experiences with those?

I only have 2, and I only tried them maybe twice. They were not for me.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I just really like the SS towels.

I just went out and did a full UQD wipedown, followed by a UQW wipedown on my Fiesta and the towel is still half unused. Not too shabby...