i've used a chamois a few times to dry my car off but i'm wondering if they are bad in any substantial way. I like using it because it's small and easy to use, and in addition i dont have to worry about taking care of so many towels or anything else. But is it going to scratch my paint more than a towel would?

Is one big blue waffle weave towel enough to dry off the car? Is that a better alternative?


(i'm just trying to get prepared now that my zaino is on it's way )

thanks,
Rajiv

 

I would avoid the old chamois in favor of your waffle weave towel. I have one WW that I use when drying and that's been more than enough.

I don't use the WW towel to dry under the hood, the wheels or the exhaust. I use a 100% cotton towel to do those. Only use the WW on the body of the car and that will keep if from picking up crap that might scratch it. Also, I never rub or wipe to dry, I just lay the WW towel on top of an area and let it absorb the drops.

The trick to getting the car dry is to sheet the water on it when rinsing. 90% of the water will run off and you'll have very little that needs to be dryed. To sheet the water, remove the nozzle from the hose and start from the top down and let the water run out onto the roof, rear window/hatch then hood. Let it form a sheet that covers the particular section that you're rinsing then take the hose away to another section. You should see the majority of it run off.

Once you get some Zaino on it, the water will really sheet and run off!

 

thanks Dave! now to buy a ww so i can get some zaino on when it arrives!

do you know if there are any local chain stores that sell the ww towel or is online the only place to get it?

Rajiv

 

You might be able to find something local. Personally, I don't recall seeing quality ones at Wal-Mart, Autozone, OReily, etc. I ordered mine from one of the online guys. There are several good places available:

http://www.premiumautocare.com/
http://www.properautocare.com/
http://www.autogeek.net/

In addition to a WW towel for drying, you're going to want some high quality microfiber towels for polishing (removing the Zaino). Contact Kevin Overall who posts on this forum regularly. He is a Zaino and DF Towel distributor. The DF towels do a great job on polishing. Virtually guaranteed not to scratch your paint.

For lots of info on detailing, sources of supplies, advice, etc. the best place to start is Autopia:
http://www.autopia.org/

Autopia is to detailing what MY350Z.COM is to the 350Z.

 

Consider getting some blue "Waffle Towels" 24" X 36" from:

www.pakshak.com

 

In addition to the dftowels (I bought 3) I also went and bought a bunch of towels from Target. They have some that come in 2 packs for $2.99 also some microfiber mitts for $2.99 which feel a lot nicer than the dftowel mitts. I'm using the Target towels for less sensitive portions of the car just in case but they seem to be pretty good. They got pretty positive reviews on autopia.org

 

thanks for the help guys. i'll definitely check out autopia before i tackle the first zaino job.

i think im going to end up getting one or two blue waffles weaves and either buy some mf towels from where i order the waffle weave towel or just from costco. a friend of mine used the ones from costco to zaino his black car and says they work well.

thanks again,
Rajiv

 

Alright, call me stupid or whatever, but what is so good about zaino? Second of all, What is a W W??

 

WW = Waffleweave - its a type of towel that is very absorbant and good for drying. I have a Big Blue WW and it dries the whole car no problem.

Zaino - its a brand of polish/sealant that makes cars very shiny. It's made to protect the paint and keep your car looking nice and pretty . A lot of people on here are very adamant that its the best product out there to use on your car. I used it on my new Z and I'm pretty happy about the way it looks. It's been rained on about 8 or 9 times in the last 5 days since I put it on and it still looks great.

 

sprmario when did you actually find time to zaino your car in the past couple weeks...it's rain rain and more rain. my kit came in today and i feel like im going to have to wait till summer is over to get started with it.

 

Yeah, rain has been nuts the past couple of weeks. I woke up early Saturday. Parked the car in the early morning shade of a big tree, did the dawn wash, claying, z-7 wash, drying and first z-6 misting done outside and then moved it into the garage and 2 layers of Z-5 and 1 of Z-2 w/ misting between. Lasted all of 5 or 6 hrs before it rained on it Sat night. The car has been rained on at least once and sometimes 2 or 3 times each day since then. Still looks great though and I'm probably going to do a layer of Z-2 this weekened after I wash it. This rain has seriously gotta stop!

 

Microfiber WW is the way to go these days. THere is a guy on ebay under the name Ultimatemicrofiber that sells good quality WW drying towels for cheap

 

Using the Zaino sounds like a lot of work. Is it as bad as it sounds? I just got my Z like 3 weeks ago, but want to take very good care of it. That is a new philosophy for me...pretty lazy normally and work a lot. How long does all of that take to do? Have read that some coats need to stay on for an hour? IS IT AS BAD AS IT REALLY SOUNDS?? And thanks for the info. I will definitely pick up the WW micro-fibers

 

it's not as bad as it sounds, some like it some don't. But no matter what the car needs to be properly prepped, that's what the dawn and clay bar are doing.

 

My car is brand new (10 days old) and I decided I wanted to take care of it as much as possible since its black.

If my car was silver or some other color that was easier to take care of I would probably do the following and it would be almost as good:

1) Wash w/ Dawn.
2) Layer of Z-2.
3) Mist w/ Z-6.

then a weekly wash w/ Z-7 and misting of Z-6. Then every so often 4 to 8 weeks or so put on another layer of Z-2 as well.

I bet that would look pretty damned nice and would provide a good amount of protection to your car. The people who put on layer after layer are serious enthusiasts who really wanna make their car look as nice as possible... all the time. All the layers aren't neccessary at all. In fact, I bet 99% of people can't tell the difference between 4 layers and 40.

Its like I can tell the difference between a $5 bottle of wine and a $50 bottle of wine, but I can't tell you the difference between a $50 bottle and a $500 bottle. Once you get past a certain point it takes a trained palate to taste the subtle differences.

While my car looks great after all the steps I took on my first time out I probably could have gotten 90% of the way there w/ just the three steps above.