Thoughts?

 

On the paint, not to me it is not, a sponge has no nap, so if you get some grit between and the paint, you can scratch the surface, sponges are also foams and plastics which can create some friction against the paint. I prefer a 100% cotton washing mit myself or cotton toweling....

My neighbor lady uses a big fat sponge to wash her black new model Nissan Altima and her paint looks like garbage, literally thousands and thousands of big, deep scratches that show up terrible in the daytime..

 

I would imagine a cotton towel would provide more friction and have the same quality of potential debris getting stuck in between the fibers and scratching the paint. No matter how soft of a material you use, any debris collected while washing will drag upon the paint until it either falls off an edge or is rinsed off.

I use a sponge on my silverstone and have yet to notice an imperfection in the paint surface that could come from my washing technique and I've washed mine approximately 6 times.

 

i use 2 microfiber small towels.......wipe an area with both, flip them, wipe another area......then dunk them in a bucket a couple of times to get the debris off them and load them with soap.......my paint looks pretty good so far

 

Try using a real sheep skin mitt. Kevin is correct about the need to have a nap for the dirt so that it's not damaging your paint. Use a good automotive wash like Zaino's Z7 or Meguire's Hi-tech wash. Basically you need a quality soap with lots of lubrication to prevent scratching as you wash. If your really concerned about scratching try using the two bucket method. Pick up two large 5 gallon buckets and designate one for soap and one for rinsing your wash mitt prior to re-soaping. When you rinse only use the upper portion of the bucket to prevent picking up any dirt from the bucket. As you wash use back and forth motions from bumper to bumper on the roof, hood, and trunk. Use up and down motions for the doors and side panels. Never wash, polish or wax using a swirl type motion to prevent putting any swirls in your paint. If you do decide to get an electric polisher make sure you go for a Random Orbital Polisher not a regular grinder with a polishing pad. The ROM as it's know will not induce swirls into your paint like a regular grinder will in the hands of a noob. Porter Cable's 7424 and 7336 are highly recommended among detailing enthusiasts. Hope this helps.



Yielar

 

I think sponges are fine so long as you dont use it twice. its impossible to "clean" like a cloth is.

also be ready if you drop it, its trash, as again, you will never get it clean.

 

Most people I see put WAY too much pressure against the paint with their washing device, you should only glide the mit over the paint, if you have to scrub something is wrong as your wax is supposed to keep stuff from sticking so hard to the paint.

NAPA sells a very nice 100% cotton washing mit in two sizes, they are like 5 bucks, buy two and use one for the lower parts of the car and one for the upper, they are very, very plush and will not scratch anything, I should know, all of my vehicles are, you guessed it, BLACK>>>

 

The NAPA 100% cotton wash mitts are the only ones I'll use.

 

My Friend uses one of these Sponges on his Porsche.. He loves it... Top Giant Natural Sea Sponge will not harbor abrasive grit. They hold twice the water, and are much softer than any other type of sponge.

Don't be fooled by cheaper varieties of sea sponges. Only a "deep water wool" has the durability demanded by professionals.



TC