While vacuums for cars have come a long way in keeping interior upholstery tidy, the implementation of microfiber fabrics has been huge for car cleaning and detailing. Compared with materials like cotton or paper, microfiber is much softer, more absorbent, less abrasive, and less likely to leave lint.
These traits make them especially useful for towel-drying a wet coat of paint after a wash. For this purpose, the clothes can be gently swept over the surface of the paint and pick up excess water without leaving a mark. More rigid varieties of microfiber can also be used to apply polish, wash glass, and dust off interior surfaces.
BEST OVERALL
- Max absorbency
- Good coverage
- Coarse on one side
This cloth provides good 29 by 36-inch coverage, and gets top marks in both softness and absorption. It scoops up water droplets with very little effort on the user’s part, and can dry an entire mid-size vehicle in one pass.
Adam’s even claims “You’ve never seen a towel that sucks up this much water.” One side of the product has soft long-pile microfiber, while the is more absorbent polyamide material. It’s best to make sure the soft side is the one coming in contact with paint at any given time.
BUDGET BUY
- Good coverage
- High absorbency
- Affordable
- Not the softest option
As the name implies, this cloth was made with drying in mind, and covers a large 22 by 30–inch area to do the job quickly. It also comes with a waffle pattern for maximum absorbency. Composition is the standard 80 percent polyester with 20 percent polyamide.
Although it provides good coverage at a low price, some reviewers have noted that it isn’t particularly soft compared to more expensive options.
