Where a recycled rag beats a microfiber
Microfibers are expensive and get ruined quickly on dirty surfaces. For the messy jobs, a recycled rag does the work and you can toss it without regret:
- Wheels, tires and wheel wells.
- Engine bays, grease and oil.
- Door jambs, sills and trunks.
- Cleaning buckets, tools and the wash bay.
What about the paint?
For drying and polishing paint, most detailers prefer microfiber. If you use cotton, choose white T-shirt rags, with no color transfer.
Which product to choose
Colored terry ($32 per 25 lb bag) absorbs lots of water and grime for wheels and engines. Colored T-shirt rags suit interiors and plastics.
Keeping costs down
A detailer who uses recycled rags for wheels, engines and jambs replaces fewer microfibers. Keep one bin of colored rags for the dirty jobs and a separate bin of microfibers for paint, so they never mix.
Car washes with several bays can order in volume: see wholesale.