Right now I use 100% cotton towels to detail both the boat and my truck, but I've heard a lot about microfiber towels. Are they really that much better? Should I go out and buy all new microfiber towels and ditch the cotton ones?

The stitching or thread used to finish the edge of towels is very damaging. Fold your towels so that any stitching is kept away from your boat.

Which towels? Microfiber, cloth, or all kinds?

I usually use MicroFiber then wash 'em when done.

I only use microfiber towels... work great, but use according to their dirctions (a bit wet).

All towels with a finished edge.

What do you wash them with Al? Normal household laundry? By themselves and if so with what?

you guys wash and dry your boats? isn't that what the rain and then sun is for?

Yes, good MF towels are that much better.
Yes, you should buy some good MF towels.
No, you shouldn't ditch good cotton towels.

Good cotton towels worked pretty darned good for a lot of years and still have lots of uses. Good MF towels aren't cheap, but they are well worth the cost.
The cotton towels will work great for vinyl, wheels, tires, chrome, basically anything that isn't easy to scratch or mar.
The MF towels are really at their best when used for drying, glass cleaning, removing wax from paint or gel-coat.

Any idea as to what makes a good microfiber towel versus a fair one (other than cost)? I have noticed that some of my microfiber cloths do better than others. How can you tell when you buy???

My experience with towels available locally has been the same as yours. They vary greatly.
The Target and Wal*Mart towels aren't too bad if you buy the top level. Meguiar's makes a decent towel that you can find at many auto supply stores.
You might want to check out these people for an on-line supplier.
Autogeek
They have the products and the knowledge on how to use them. Give them a call at their 800 number and ask any questions you have about MF products. Good people to deal with.

One word of caution, once you use a really top quality MF towel, you will be hooked on them.

You have got to be kidding, do you guys just wash boats or actually use them? I sincerely hope my boat was built tougher than sewing thread?

I get good cotton hand towels (white) from Costco and use them for everything. You can bleach the bejesus out of them when they need it and they keep coming out nice and white. They're cheap so if you ruin one you can just toss it.

I do have a couple of mf towels that I got as a gift that I use in the galley. They're nice for drying dishes, wiping up spills, etc. They also clean up nice and don't seem be bothered by bleach.

I use old bath towels to wipe down the boat. Some cotton towels leave lint or fuzzies (especially on the vehicles or the bike). For the motorcycle I use a MF towel only.

i use the white cotton towels for everything as well. I feel that if you get all the dirt off, the cotton towel, especially when coated with wax, shouldn't harm your paint. If it does, I hate to see what the standard road debris does.

I use bulk Target microfiber for cleaning and the waffle MF towels for drying. I don't use MF towels for polishing because they DO, on occasion, scratch. They are synthetic, and depending on the quality of material and manufacture, can leave very fine swirl marks. Not always, but sometimes. THe edge seams DO scratch car finishes if not used carefully. Not sure about a boat...I have waxed with them on a boat, and didn't notice any scratches.

Microfiber is the BEST for dusting, washing, or applying 303 to vinyl or car interiors.

I use 100% cotton towels for polishing or removing wax. Make sure you don't use fabric softener. It may feel "softer", but it contains clay that acts like a polishing compound, and can leave swirls.

Ditto. With Big (36"x60") Waffle weave towels, if you fold them in quarters, you don't even have to wring them. Just unfold to a new dry section.



Only the Cheap ones, IMO. They are a combination of Polyester and Polyamide. Ones with a higher percentage of Polyester 80/20 vs 70/30 are typically the cheapers ones, but there are other factors that affect quality.

They are great. My home won't be without them ever again.

I have a basic/good quality bulk pack from Costco for routine cleaning and polishing and have some higher/very good quality ones (from ebay?), for the fine work.

And then I have my 2-3 BIG Waffle Weave ones for drying.

Any idea how good these are? I keep forgetting to look and see how much they are when I'm in Target or Walmart so I just got these....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330155436867&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=014

No way to tell based on the packaging, but some internet detective work and the ones in the ebay ad look like ones sold at Sam's Club. (updated packagaing??)

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?catg=535&item=206705&prDeTab=2#A

In any case my first thought when looking at the picture is, I expect 25 towels to be a bit larger package. 25 towels are a lot of towels, and I would expect the higher quality/fluffier towels to present in a thicker package.

But who knows. Can't tell much from a picture. I'm sure they'll work.

Thin nap or flat shine toweling, Microfiber or Terry, are the wrong thing to use.

You need thick.

Use thin and as you clean, wash, wipe, dry,and polish the bad stuff has no place to hide away up in the thick nap from your gelcoat finish.

So that stuff (all the kinds of things that can be called "dirt" on a finish) makes "scratches" or "swirl marks" in the gelcoat as you use thin toweling of either type.

Use thick toweling that traps dirt up in its nap well away from the gelcoat you are rubbing. Turn the toweling often as it gets dirty. Change towels when you no longer have a clean area on your towel. Keep the stitching away from the gelcoat at all times.