Car Care Advice

In theory, using a wash mitt will reduce the risk of scratches to your paintwork while washing.

The problem is that your car gets covered in dirt, dirt rubbing against your car causes scratches, but you need to rub (agitate, as it’s know in the car wash business) in order to remove the dirt because rinsing alone won’t loosen it.

The traditional method of loosening the dirt it to use a sponge. Some cheap sponges are actually too hard for the job, they themselves can scratch the car (bear in mind that sponge is used for buffing pads which at high speed will remove some of the surface of the paint even without a compound or polish). But even with a proper soft sponge, they tend to be flat which means that when you are washing your car over, dirt and grit is trapped between the sponge and the car turning it into something like a sanding block. Some people say that the holes in the sponge will also trap and retain grit.

Wash mits don’t have a flat surface, they are kinda woolly… which is hardly surprising as most often they are made of lambs wool, although they can also be cotton, microfibre or synthetic.

Because they have a deep pile like a carpet, any dirt that gets loosened doesn’t remain at the surface on the paintwork, but instead gets absorbed into the fibres. This, in theory prevents scratches.

These scratches (sometimes called swirl marks or spider webs) reflect the light when the sun is on the car as can be seen in the photo left - click to enlarge.

Now for the controversy… there is a tendency for salesmen to spin a yarn (forgive the pun) to sell stuff and for enthusiasts to swallow it hook, line and sinker. So, don’t be surprised to see these things marketed as being made from finest New Zealand lamb’s wool — after all, natural wool must be best because it’s natural right? And everybody knows the best lamb’s wool comes from New Zealand right? So this kind of wash mitt must be best right?

Not in my opinion it isn’t.

You see, wool isn’t all that soft. If you don’t believe me, knit your self a pair of woolly underpants! (Wool buffing pads are also rather abrasive!) Further more, the fibres of both wool and cotton are irregular and uneven, they are “woolly”, so as they get tangled dirt and grit gets caught in the tangles. (Furthermore, having been brought up in the country, I really don’t like wet wool. Sorry, but it reminds me of dead sheep). So I much prefer synthetic wash mitts… I can’t say I’m particularly impressed with special microfibre ones, but fairly cheap synthetic wash mitts have soft straight fibres which don’t tangle and clean up easily.

No matter how dirty the car, all you have to do is rinse them in a bucket and they come out clean again, while wool wash mitts are discoloured and smelly. You have to put them in the washing machine to get them really clean at which point they shrink and never seem quite as soft after the first time you use them. They also rot if not dried properly. Yuk!

When buying a wash mitt, if you can, check the construction, look at the stitching to ensure it looks well made. These kinds of items are often cheaply produced in the far east… some can be great quality, but others fall apart, especially if you machine wash them after use.

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