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Okay here's the deal with The Absorber....the recommended usage around these parts is to use it as a blotter to soak up water on your freshly washed car, then use a waffleweave microfiber drying towel to dry the remainder of the water off the paint surface. Don't wipe with the Absorber...place it on the wet surface, let the water soak in, and pull it off. The wiping part of drying should be done with a waffle-weave microfiber cloth because it will not scratch your paint. I use an Absorber every time I wash my MINI...it's a good thing to have if used properly.
Well I just washed my Mini at a spray and wash place and used the absorber. (before I read the post above, so i did use it to wipe off water). It seems to work well as long as you wring it out after wiping an area. It is not that easy to use as it sort of sticks to your car.
Wiping the water with ANYTHING (even microfiber) is usually discouraged, since it will scratch the paint over time. Blotting works better with less scratching in my experience. Just my $.02
PS - I've tried these and I STILL haven't found anything better to dry my car with than a 100% cotton Made in USA white towel with the selvages cut off. Just hit a white sale, check the labels (they must be listed as 100% cotton AND Made in USA I've3 found) and you can get a whole mess of towels for a few bucks each. I keep some large for overall drying and I cut others into 12" square detailing/polishing cloths. DP's Monster Fluffy towels are a very close second for detailing work, but I'd not use them for drying - they're almost TOO soft.
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~Matt Cook | Dublin, Ohio | '92 Classic Mini Sprite: "Fiona" + Purple Haze 2005 MCS Cabrio: "Dawn". See old MODs from "Nano" HERE - post #166 - many with How-to links!
Drying, yes a waffle weave microfiber.
But imagoX said for detailing the IPP is almost too soft.
Me thinks he's been cheating on his beloved IPP... I would like to know with what.
For years I had used an Absorber (as a quick blotter...lay on, pull off. It should take less than a minute to do the whole car-you are just trying to get the bulk of the water beads off. Then I follow up with a wafflweave microfiber to get balance of the moisture left on the car. With a quality waffleweave you just "pull" it across the surface in most spots and always use any towel at least doubled over for more cushion (less psi against the paint surface.)
There is something NEW on the market that is my absolute favorite and all I use anymore...the Laminated Drying Microfiber Drying Towel. Essentially it's a synthetic sponge (Absorber) laminated in between two waffleweave microfibers. The advantages over an Absorber are huge...they hold more water, are scratchproof MF and can be pulled or dragged across the paint without scratching. They are also VERY FAST at drying. I run this over the car once and then follow up drying whatever moisture is left with a waffleweave. Works incredibly well. Fantastic product.
Viking Car Care and Mothers sell them.
__________________ Bloomquist Garage! '04 PW Mini Cooper S....Gone but still here in spirit! My Other Rides.
wow. thats a cool product. very smart. So long as the mf side is very high quality. Hm. I might get that. would hold 2-3x the water. winter is rough wringing out the mf towel.
I throw my mf towel on and let it sit a second, pull off, plop repeat many times. It absorbs more and faster than wiping. Water around here is almost 100% pure water, we have like nothing in it. because of that, water just adheres to itself is massive pools that stand up really high. soooo much water to remove in the winter it hurts my hands (42 degrees after a while gets rough)
I noticed you said dragged across paint. I have some facts about that. One is that the last step of drying removes some dirt. always something is there, even if it like a few micro grains of gunk. Dragging is a bad idea for that. I normally see nothing but water on my car, but you never know really. The other thing is that if you wipe during drying you are removing wax. There is not doubt about this at all. Rubbing with spraywax is something else, or qd spray. But water and absorber is removing wax making it wear off much faster. Tested this and it is 100% true. like 3 weeks or more of durability loss. I blot now and the wax just lasts a long time.
