What Are Your Most Used/Favorite Towels & What Do You Use Them For?

[Mikedakin]

Just curious what towels you guys use the most and what towel for what job?

Thanks in advance!

[pirahnah3]

I personally love the double softs, as they are about the best towel out there. 

 

As far as what I use the most, the borderless grey (or orange if you have some). I have come to use them for just about everything but glass. 

[Junior]

It's really difficult for me to pick a favorite. But if I could only have one towel it would be the doublesoft. I like it for Rinseless washing as well as LSP removal or Detail Spray wipe downs. It is so soft. My second favorite is probably the glass towel. No explanation needed as for use. Third is probably a tie between the GWDT and utility towel. All the towels play a role in various tasks. One towel is good for specific things where another towel may not work and vice versa. I started out with a bunch of single softs and now I have pretty much every towel on the site. Towels may be the most important part of a detailers Arsenal. A towel put to improper use or one that is low quality or in bad shape can ruin your finish or diminish the effectiveness of even the best wax/polish/detail spray etc. On the other hand, a high quality towel used properly for what it's intended will garner excellent results every time.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Junior

[Junior]

Oh and welcome to the forum!

[Audog]

Favorite is double soft, but most used are grey, and orange borderless and glass. I just don't have enough doubles offs to use them for everything yet.

[mdamore419]

My favorite towel to use is the double soft towel. It's so easy to use with h2o g&g. I use the Gray border less towels a lot too but when i do any glass, the waffle weave towels are the best pick for windows. 

[csikx]

Has anyone made a thread that explains what towels to use with what products... this is the most confusing thing to me.  Something like.

 

Rinseless Wash = Double Soft Towel, Edgeless Towel, etc.. ?

[stripesace]

If no ones already working on that... I might have time to do a write up based on my experience.

[Mikedakin]

It would deffinatley be nice if someone made a thread all about towels and there uses! Seems the double soft is a clear winner for a lot of aspects.

[butters]

I have to say I may actually like the edgeless gray/orange plush towels more than my double soft towels. The thicker nap is just amazing, such that I prefer it for LSP removal and getting that final shine without streaks after a wash. Plus the lack of edge is somehow... freeing. The double soft is probably equally good but it's pricey, the bulk takes up more room in my towel storage, and I prefer it for cushioning grit while doing rinseless wash as opposed to final wipedowns.

 

I also love the waffle towels for drying (waterless or GWDT), they feel very safe and grab a lot of water. I try to save my GWDT for when I do more than 1 car since it's so effective.

Edited January 26, 2016 by butters

[stripesace]

Something like this? 

Edited January 26, 2016 by stripesace

[csikx]

^ Awesome, bro!  Thanks.

[stripesace]

Let me see if we can't get TheWolf chime in as well. I won't someone from the team to validate, and provide some input. Heck if they even wanted to pick up where I left of and crate a nice graphic like DVK used to do, that'd be ok to. 

[Chris@Adams]

I probably use the WW MF towels the most, I use the for WW and DS wipe downs.....

http://adamspolishes.com/shop/exterior/carwashing/adam-s-microfiber-waterless-towels.html

[jeffo65]

Is there any place on the Adam's site that says what the blend ratio and density of each towel are?  I checked the descriptions of a few towels and did not see it, I did see the country of origin listed though.

[Ricky Bobby]

GSM is listed - I would say based on knowing the towels well, that the waffle weaves, single/double soft, edgleless towels, glass towels, utility towels are all 70/30 blend.  Probably all of them to be honest.

[Performance Auto Detailing]

Having used all of the towels Adam's offers at some point including on my personal vehicles and on a ton of customer's vehicles, here is my opinion and what I use them for:

 

Great White Drying Towel: Works as it is supposed to and is high quality. I like the large size, which can dry multiple vehicles if needed. I use a smaller version of the GWDT currently as I don't need the large size. 

 

Waterless Wash Towels: I use these towels for door jambs, cleaning windows or even to dry after a rinseless when a GWDT is not needed. I do not however use them for waterless washing as I prefer a safer, plush option instead. I also like to keep 16x16 waffle weaves in my collection as well. 

 

Utility Towel: I love this towel, my favorite interior cleaning towel. If they weren't so expensive compared to other options I'd have a lot more of them. Also found that these work well for glass since they have extremely low nap. 

 

Glass Cleaning Towel: I am not a fan AT ALL of glass cleaning towels (not just the ones that Adam's sells). They are thin, making holding on to them difficult and they drag across the glass. I much prefer waffle weave towels for glass cleaning (I use a 16x16 waffle weave towel for glass). 

 

Single Soft: Rarely use them anymore now that I discovered the Borderless towels but it is a good, high quality towel but expensive. Works well for wax/sealant removal or rinseless washing. Might be a little too nice for a rinseless towel. Stain very easily also due to the white color. 

 

Double Soft: Never been a fan of the Double Soft and don't quite understand all the love this towel gets. Sure, it is probably the plushest towel you will find but it is too plush in my opinion. It is too large and heavy to do a GDWM Rinseless with as it requires you to practically fill an entire bucket. They also take up a lot of storage room in comparison to the Edgeless towels which is inconvenient for those who are mobile detailers or have tight garage space. Detail Spray wipe downs are the only use I've found for Double Softs, as Single Softs and the Borderless towels work better for every other use and are plenty safe and don't cost $15 a towel. 

 

Borderless Towels: My favorite towel currently. Only towel I'll use for a rinseless wash and love them for wax/sealant removal as well. I've used the Grey, Blue and Orange Borderless Towels (I buy in bulk from the supplier). The longer nap makes it a really good option as a rinseless towel or for waterless wash wipe downs. Reasonably priced when purchased in bulk and have many uses. It is not just a "luxury" towel like I consider the Double Soft to be, it actually has many uses. 

 

Adam's no longer offers the metal polishing towel it appears (which I never owned). I see people talking about using the double soft, single soft or borderless towels for this task and personally I think that is ill-advised considering the price and quality of those towels. 

Edited January 27, 2016 by Performance Auto Detailing

[Junior]

Hold up you don't see where the Double Soft gets all the love? Come on man!!!

[Mikedakin]

Thanks for all the great insight guys!! I will have to load up on some microfiber before spring as I only have a handfull of quality towels right now.

[csikx]

I have a wheel brush, not a wheel woolie.  This weekend will be there first time I use my Adam's products.  Any recommendation on what microfiber towel to use on the wheels?  Thanks.

[Performance Auto Detailing]

Hold up you don't see where the Double Soft gets all the love? Come on man!!!

 

 

Yeah I do not understand it. Everyone raving over a $15 towel that excels at detail spray wipe downs but is inferior to other towels such as the Borderless towel for other tasks. Sure it's nice to hold in your hand and admire, but that's about it. 

[TheWolf]

Let me see if we can't get TheWolf chime in as well. I won't someone from the team to validate, and provide some input. Heck if they even wanted to pick up where I left of and crate a nice graphic like DVK used to do, that'd be ok to. 

 

 

I would be happy to chime in...with a post quote from Master Dan!

 

 

The other guys already kinda beat me to it, but as promised, here are some detailed descriptions and uses for each towel. Let me know if you have any other questions

 

Adam's Single Soft Towel

The Adam's Single Soft Towel is a premium 16"x16" microfiber towel that is excellent for many exterior uses on your vehicle. It works great for wiping down a vehicle with Detail Spray, you can use it to remove polish, sealant, and wax residue, and you can use them for Rinseless Washes and for applying H2O Guard & Gloss. It is half the thickness of the Double Soft Towel, which allows you to better feel the surface underneath your hand as you are buffing away wax and polish. It also has a black stitched border to help distinguish it from the Double Soft.

 

Adam's Double Soft Towel

The Double Soft Towel is the thickest and softest towel offered by Adam's. It is twice the thickness of the Single Soft Towel and also the same 16"x16" size. It can be used for all of the same applications as the Single Soft Towel, but I especially like them for a Detail Spray wipe-down at a car show or for using them with Rinseless Wash in the 5 gallon Wash Bucket - because they are twice as thick, they will hold more Rinseless solution and provide a safe and effective way to perform a rinseless wash of your vehicle. These towels are seriously soft, to truly pamper your pride and joy show cars, and every time I show one to someone new at an event, they are amazed at the quality and softness of the towel.

 

Adam's Borderless Gray Towel

The Borderless Gray Towel is a super plush microfiber towel similar to the Single Soft Towel, except that it has no satin or stitched border - just nice soft microfiber from edge to edge. It can be used for all of the same applications as the Single Soft and Double Soft Towels, but I like to use them with H2O Guard & Gloss. Since they are dyed gray, they are color-coded to HGG and help me to keep my towels organized. Plus, since H2O Guard & Gloss can cause some slight staining to the white Single Soft and Double Soft Towels, this is a way to keep those towels from staining if that bothers you (the staining does not decrease their effectiveness in any way).

 

Adam's Edgeless Utility Towel

The Edgeless Utility Towels are a great all purpose microfiber detailing towel. They're designed for the dirtier jobs that you wouldn't want to use your nice plush towels on. They're great for use with Total Interior Detailer to clean plastic and vinyl door panels, dashboards, door jambs, door sill plates, and seats, and they can be used to clean up the engine bay, polish chrome exhaust tips, and so on. They are an edgeless design similar to the Borderless Gray Towel, but rather than being a plush microfiber, they have a tight weave, short fiber design that is great for scrubbing carpets as well.

 

Adam's Great White Drying Towel

As the name implies, this towel is designed specifically for drying your vehicle in a safe and effortless manner. The waffle weave pattern is soft and absorbent and will not scratch or leave any swirl marks or streaks while you dry. I love these towels. They make drying a vehicle much more enjoyable and less of a stressful situation worrying about marking up that perfect finish.

​

Adam's Waterless Wash Towel

The Waterless Wash Towel is a waffle weave towel similar to the Great White Drying Towel, but in a smaller 16"x24" size designed specifically to be used with Adam's Waterless Wash. The waffle weave texture allows you to clean a slightly dirty vehicle without introducing new scratches or swirls, and the towels are color-coded blue to match all of our other car washing products. Some of our forum members even prefer to use them with Detail Spray as well.

​​

Adam's Glass Cleaning Towel

The Glass Cleaning Towel is a tight, flat microfiber ​weave with a nap designed to clean and buff windows and other glass to give streak free results when used with Adam's Glass Cleaner. These towels really do work great for me and much better than other options I've used in the past. They are 16"x16" in size like many of our other towels, which allows you to fold them up into quarter sections for plenty of cleaning surfaces before they get completely soiled and need to be washed.

 

Hope that wasn't too much to read and I hope it helps  ​

[Junior]

Tim, I really think the Double Soft is best for Rinseless, H2O GG, and definitely kills the others in LSP removal. And it has more quality/longevity. The borderless are decent, but it seems like they lose their effectiveness over a shorter period of time. It seems like mine get dreadlocks after a few months whereas the Dubs stay soft. I am doing a lot of RW and H2O application. Maybe it's just me.

[Green Machine]

Double soft for just about anything !!!!!! I have come to realize I do not like the glass towels at all

[butters]

I have a wheel brush, not a wheel woolie. This weekend will be there first time I use my Adam's products. Any recommendation on what microfiber towel to use on the wheels? Thanks.

I would blow dry the wheels if you have a leaf blower or a blaster. If you must towel dry, use the oldest most beat up towel in your supply. Honestly I don't even think it's worth using microfiber, just grab whatever clean rag you have - at some point you're going to pick up some brake dust or other grime and ruin whatever it is. I'd use beat up cotton rags on the rough parts of my jams and wheels, though now I have a blaster sidekick and it cuts down on the need to towel dry such areas.

[csikx]

^ Thanks for the advice Stephen.  I have plenty of "Made in China" towels I could use.  My wheels really aren't that dirty.  Just wasn't sure what to use to agitate them if the deep wheel cleaner or all purpose cleaner didn't get everything.  I don't have all the wheel tools yet.