I just bought the starter kit and was wondering what else I need as far as towels or what not to clean and wax my car.

 

two buckets, a good mit, and a nice warm day.

 

Got to a local department store such as Robinsons May, JC Penney, etc, and look for their 'seconds' or 'blems' on their high-end 100% cotton American made white bath towels. If you catch them during a "White Sale" you can really save some bug bucks.

You will be cutting any stiched hems from these towels before using. If you get the large bath size, you can even cut them in halves. The ends will fray, but you don't care.

A good mit like already mentioned is needed. Don't buy the cheap one, buy an expensive one.

 

You probably won't find them locally, but you'd really be better off ordering a waffle-weave microfiber towel for drying and some DF Concours towels for polishing and buffing.

 

Definately order some towels from: www.dftowel.com and www.pakshak.com Those 100% department store towels will cause swirls. Even Zaino recommends the use of the towels from DF. DF even has some good wash mitts. Get two and put one on each hand.

 

thanks for the advice guys. I just wanted to get stuff locally like from autozone or pepboys since i'll be doing it this weekend. i can order the towels now and do it the next wash. I need some stuff to be able to use tomorrow.

 

Personally, I wouldn't use any towels from Pep Boys to zaino. Just wash your car this weekend, and do the zaino when you have the proper towels.

As for pakshak.com towels, I use them and like them, but not for zaino application/removal. I use their waffle-weave for drying, and their regular micro-fibre towels for various tasks.

I've seen the posts about df towels, but back when I was buying my towels for zainoing, the df website was very much lacking in good information, and it didn't sell me on the quality of their products......just went there again....at least now they have a slightly better picture of the towel!

I see the multiple references to Zaino at the DF website, but didn't find the reverse to be true at the Zaino website. Here is a link to their towel recomendations

 

Keep in mind that no company can use the Zaino trademark and name without their express permission. Zaino has yet to change their towel page, it is so outdated that he mentions Fieldcrest towels which have not been manufactured in over two years since Cannon went out of business. If you call Zaino they will give you their recommendations.

Leo

 

After checking my paint & noticing lots of small scratches, a body shop friend told me that those looked like the kind made by towels! I went ahead & ordered some DF towels & those R the SOFTEST towels I've ever used for anything ( including bathing!! ). I'm gonna start a long-term test of them so I'll be claying & buffing my G tomorrow & finishing up with my usual Zaino routine. If i don't get those light scratches again, then I'll know for certain that those Wal Mart $8 Cannon/Fieldcrest towels I got a year ago are exactly what Sal says - CHEAP!!

Gene

 

Before using anything other than a high quality Microfiber towel or a DF towel, you should probably do the "CD" test on it. Check out http://autopia.org for the exact test process but basically it involves rubbing the towel you want to test on the playing surface of a CD. If it scratches the CD, you don't want it on your car.

 

use microfiber for sure, I just use some that I got from costco, you can buy a couple packs for real cheap. They're the yellow colored towels about 8 bucks for 12 towels. They look like the yellow towels at pakshak on the top right.

http://pakshak.com/

 

if you don't get the scratches out try Menzerna Intesive Polish using a buffer, I use a porter cable w/ a white color attachment and then after go over w/ final polish w/ the black attachment. I never seen or heard of them towels, is it like microfiber?

 

Just to warn all of you (if you are concerned) Zaino is a silicone wax and if you ever want to repaint after using it, it is difficult to do. I use the wax so I am not bashing. Just an FYI

 

You sure about that? Did Sal Zaino himself tell you this?

From a previous post on Zaino by Dr. Bonz (the Zaino god):


This is not even to mention the fact that in order to make any carnauba wax useful (i.e. to make it appliable on a car) you have to add things to it. Carnauba is a HARD wax. By itself it would be like rubbing a hard candle on your car. To make it a usable product on cars they add Silicone to it. This is not a good thing for your paint. Zaino has no silicone in it.

 

Zaino is a silicone wax. I know this because I work in a laboratory and a friend of mine tested it. To be exact, it is a silicone wax that has clay (hence the color) that is common in waxes. Clays are what companies use to give polishes the grit needed to remove paint (rubbing compounds etc)

And Yes I am sure. It is actually old technology from the 60s that was not used much due to the fact that you could not paint the cars easily. That is why carnuba is out there.

 

Oh and yes he has tested pure carnauba too. That is how I brought Zaino to his attention and he wanted to test it. He wanted a known standard for his reference file. He had a big container of pure carnauba to test and I thought it would be great to have this in the database too since myself and another employee use Zaino.

 

I emailed Sal regarding this, here is his response:

Total nonsense

Zaino contains no wax, harmful silicones, clay or any other abrasives....

 

Look I just made a comment and and Dave with regards to your email - I have no hidden agendas - I use the product and like it.

I have been using the stuff for 2 years too and continue to use it. So why would I bash it at all.


I am not out to bad mouth anyone. Zaino is a good product and I don't see why you would email Sal Zaino (who ever this is) unless you had a hidden agenda.

Oh also I see no reason to email Sal Zaino. (also something you stated in your email.)

 

1) You made disparaging comments about a product.
2) You claimed to have evidence to the contrary of the products' stated condition (contains no silicone).

That sure looks like you're bashing it to me. And it's not the first time you've brought these claims up.

I emailed Sal (the developer of Zaino) to get the word "from the horse's mouth". Sal is willing to talk to anyone who calls or emails regarding Zaino. If you've run tests that show that it does contain silicone or clay, he would like to know what test those where, what your test methodology was, etc. Call him, talk to him, get the true scoop from Sal himself.

 

Whatever. The product was tested for legit reasons and I have emailed Sal. He knows why the product was tested and I am waiting for his return email. Happy Now.

I was not bashing his product and I hope he is willing to help us.