Microfibre – a must-have for car detailing

The world is awash with car detailing supplies. One of the first things you notice when you get into DIY detailing is just how much there is out there.

Some detailing products are well-known, like shampoos, polishes and waxes. But even then, when you look at the amount of choice and the subtle variations between products, it can be bewildering for the uninitiated. As can understanding the relationship between different products, the order you should use them in, how one prepares the way for or finishes off the job done by another and so on.

Then there are many, many lesser-known car detailing products. Getting into the world of DIY detailing is a journey into learning what they are for and why they are important. Some are very specific to particular parts of a vehicle or even particular vehicles, like wheel and tyre cleaners and dressings, or soft top cleaners and protectors.

Some detailing products deserve to have a higher profile than they do. They go under the radar in most conversations about car detailing. And yet they perform an essential function that can make all the difference to the job you do.

Crucially, when you ask, you will find these are products that all professional detailers swear by.

Microfibre cloths and other accessories fall into this category. The fact that they are not given top billing in many discussions about detailing perhaps stems from the fact that they are an accessory – a means of applying a detailing product rather than a product that ‘does the work’, so to speak.

But to dismiss a microfibre cloth as ‘only’ a means of applying a product, or cleaning or drying the paintwork, misses the point. Because how you apply product, wash, rinse and dry matters in detailing. More than you might think.

It’s time microfibre got the attention it deserves in the detailing process. Read on to find out why.

What is microfibre?

Microfibre is a type of fabric. It is a synthetic material made from polyester, polyamide, or polypropylene, or a combination of any of these.

The main defining characteristic of microfibre is how fine it is. Each fibre is on average 10 micrometres thick or less, or 0.01mm. Microfibre is finer than silk, which has traditionally been used as the starting point for measuring the weight and density of textile fabrics, because it was the finest material known.

To put that into context, a single 9km length of silk weighs approximately 1g. A single gram microfibre strand might be double that length!

Being extremely fine and lightweight makes microfibre extremely soft. Depending on how it is made, it also has other stand-out properties. For example, it was discovered (by accident, allegedly), that if you split ultra-fine strands of polyester so it looks like a wheel and spoke in cross section, you increase the water absorption capabilities many times over.

Microfibre cloths have four times the surface area of a cotton cloth of the same size, and can absorb seven or eight times their own weight in water. That has led to microfibre becoming the material of choice for cleaning and wash cloths of all types.

What does this mean for detailing my car?

Ultra-absorbency is highly beneficial for washing and cleaning in general. It means that a cloth will wipe up more of whatever cleaning solution you are using at any time, leaving less on the surface to dry and cause smearing.

This is important when detailing your car. In a single end-to-end detailing process, you apply many different types of substance to the bodywork, and you have to wash and rinse several times over inbetween. It’s desirable to remove as much of one substance as possible before applying another. If you don’t, they could interact in ways that don’t do your paintwork any good.

In addition, anything that you leave on the surface will dry out and could cause ugly smears. These might not show up right away, but in different light conditions they could become very obvious.

Aside from more efficient wiping, rinsing and drying, microfibre cloths have one other big benefit for detailing your car – how soft they are. The paintwork on your car is more delicate than you imagine. It is made up of three very thin layers, the primer, the base colour coat and lacquer.

The top lacquer is a clear protective layer aimed at protecting the colour coat from damage. But it is itself prone to marking and scratching. Even what you consider to be a soft cotton cloth can easily leave microscopic scratches in the lacquer surface. You are unlikely to see these straight away. But the more you wipe, the more they build up. And as mentioned, a detailing job involves a lot of washing and drying between stages.

Use the wrong type of cloth, and when you have finished your detailing work, you could easily see patches of faint, shiny marks all over your paintwork. This is known as marring, and it’s what happens when paintwork is subject to mild abrasion. You might not think something as soft as a cotton cloth could do this, but it most certainly does. Especially after repeated rubbing.

With microfibre cloths, wash mitts and towels, you avoid this risk. They are soft enough and fine enough that the fibres won’t cut into your paintwork’s top surface even if used over and over again.

So in summary, the magical microfibre cloth deserves more respect as an essential detailing tool for three very good reasons. It will make your job a lot easier when you have to wash and dry your car several times over. It will remove cleaning products more efficiently to avoid smearing. And it will avoid doing damage to your delicate paintwork as you rub it down repeatedly.