How not to dry your car

A question from a reader in South Carolina (thanks Ann P., via e-mail) about the use of paper towels instead of a terry cloth to dry her car brought back memories of when yours truly (that’s right!) used to use paper towels — until I finally learned my lesson.

I had a beautiful red and white ‘51 Buick Special and pretty much roughed up the paint on the trunk lid because of a paper towel back in the ‘60s. Here’s why paper towels, or even T-shirts, are not a good choice.

During a car’s wash cycle, dirt is lifted from the car’s surface and mixed in with the water/wash/rinse liquids. Paper towels, even though they are advertised as tremendously absorbent, don’t work well. During the drying process, this dirt is still mixed with the leftover water on your car, and it needs a place to “hide” and be absorbed into. A terry towel or cloth diaper provides a place for the dirt to hide because of their truly superior absorbent design.

Terry cloths are recommended because they aid in this critical dirt suspension process. Basically, the dirt clings to the cloth’s fibers and imbeds into the fiber instead of embedding back into your car’s paint, resulting in miniscule scratches. If you look closely at a paper towel, there are thousands of paper areas that won’t absorb because of its web design. Terry cloth is not webbed.

Back to my 1951 Buick. My car sat for weeks in my back yard, and I thought I could give it a quick once over. My paper towel choice was a bad one, as the dirt was pretty thick and my wash-and-dry method was poor. Miniscule scratches turned into scratches recognizable to the naked eye, and the paint job was ruined.

Never again!