I have several terry cloth towels I use for drying and after car washing, I run them through the washer and dryer. The issue is that after running them in the dryer, when using them on the car, it leaves white lint specks on the car.

How do I prevent this? I strongly suspect that said lint is also causing swirls when I dry the car after a wash.

 

clean your lint trap

 

I'm not a washing/cleaning expert, but I don't think you should be washing/drying your car with terry towels.

 

^+1

Invest in one of the towels that absorb water, and can be wrung out, and re-used. Also get some microfiber towels, I find the kind with lots of small knit checkers is the best and most long-lasting. This will dry your car faster, and protect your clearcoat from scratches.

 

You mean one of these?



That's what I use and it works great. It soaks up much more water than a regular towel and doesn't leave swirls

 

omg its towlie!!! he senses wetness and gives driest dry
Seriously, terry towels= lintfest
microfiber ftw, especially the inside when Z needs a dusting

 

Microfiber Waffle Weave towel like the one posted above works the best. Detailedimage sells some nice ones. As well as pakshak..detailersdomain..

When washing your microfiber do not use fabric softeners nor powdered detergent. Do not wash with other regular cotton/terry towels as well..

 

Instead of trying to fix the towels you might change the drying method.


This will take care of 90 percent of the water including hard to dry areas like wheels.


A synthetic chamois will take care of the rest.

 

^^ Exactly what I would have said.




Plus, don't dry microfiber or similar towels in the dryer under heat. This is what leads them to be all static in my experiences. Let them dry outside on a clothesline or something.

 

Get yourself a California dry blade (it an automotive sqeegee) and some microfiber towels. You will never use terry cloth towels again. When I did use terry cloth towels in the past I used dryer sheets when I dried them.

 

The jelly blades work great, but have no nap, so use at your own risk. I use one strictly for windows or drying the vehicle after the second wash before a detail. The blowers work awesome, but use it in an enclosed garage instead of risking blowing debri at high speeds into your paint (pretty minimal risk, but it would suck). Best bet and cost effective are the waffle weave towels.

 

you could always get the shamwow

 

If you're using Microfiber and is getting lint on the car, than make sure you wash your towels before using it. Use light detergent, no softner, and no static sheets when drying in the dryer. I find the static only gets on the towels if you dry it too much. Just dry under delicate for half the time and it has worked well for me every single time.

I have the same big blue waffle weave microfiber towel since I first got my car in 2003. It's for sure the best and longest lasting investment I've made to clean my car. I also bought the big yellow 50 bag of small micro fiber towels from Costco. I do most of the work with the Blue towel, and clean up with the yellow ones. Oh and make sure to remove the tag that comes with any towels to minimize scratches.