Why you should never use a microfiber towel again after it falls on the floor – Jalopnik

There are few better ways to take pride in your car than spending a few weekend hours detailing it, inside and out. You can pick up tons of tips and new methods by watching our favorite Ammo NYC detailing videos, or checking out another detailing YouTuber, but it’s best to familiarize yourself with the basics before jumping into complex paint restoration routines.

We’ve discussed car cleaning tips and tricks in the past, but this rule may be the most important when it comes to preventing swirls and scratches in your car’s paint. The simple rule is: if you drop a microfiber cloth on the floor, never use it on your car’s paint again.

Microfiber cloths are perfect for wiping your car, buffing away polish and achieving a nice finish, but they are also magnets for dust and dirt. That’s great for picking up the small particles that are on your paint, but if you drop a microfiber cloth on the floor, it will also pick up larger pieces of grit and grime. The fibers will then attach to these contaminants, and the next time you go over the paint, you will drag them across your car’s paint. This will inevitably lead to scratches and swirls, which can be difficult to remove unless you really know what you’re doing.

Sure, you can wash the microfiber cloth, but how can you really be sure that those little bits of grit and grime have been removed? Considering that a pack of microfibers can be purchased for around $10 – that’s less than a dollar each – it’s just not worth taking the risk. Throw it away, get a new microfiber and start over.

This is a fairly simple rule to follow. If you don’t want to waste the microfiber cloths, you can always use them to clean indoors if you drop them on the floor. Just keep them separate from your car polishing cloths. Or just don’t drop them on the floor so often.

There are a lot of other ways you could ruin your dye job, and like the microfiber rules we’ve already discussed, these harmful habits are pretty easy to avoid. Bird droppings are another way you can very easily cause damage to your paint. While you can’t exactly prevent birds from coming over your car (especially if you have to park under trees, for example), you can keep a handy pack of wipes in the car and clean up the droppings as soon as you notice them.

When driving long distances on highways, you may notice more road chips than you would like, and if left unaddressed it can quickly detract from the appearance of your car. Stone chips leave some of your car’s metalwork exposed, which will quickly rust and look terrible. A quick fix is ​​to keep some touch-up paint in the glove compartment and occasionally go over the car and touch up the chips as you find them. This keeps rust spots at bay and keeps your car looking as fresh as possible.