Best Microfiber Towels for Drying Cars: Which Style is Best?

There are hundreds, possibly even thousands of microfiber drying towels for cars on the market, but which ones work the best? And which style will suit your needs the most?

In this article I’ll take you through the different styles of microfiber drying towels and all their pros and cons. I’ll also be highlighting my favourite options out of all the different styles so you have some solid recommendations to consider.

Table Of Contents

Best Microfiber Drying Towels
How to Choose a Drying Towel

Best Microfiber Drying Towels

The Gauntlet (product link)
The 1500 (product link)
Dryer Wolf (product link)

The Rag Company Gauntlet

GSM: 900
Blend: 70/30
Weave: Hybrid (Twist Loop/ Plush)
Border: Suede
Size: 20″ x 30″ (other sizes available)
Color: Grey

The Rag Company 1500

GSM: 1500
Blend: 70/30
Weave: Twist Loop
Border: Hemmed Edge
Size: 30″ x 30″
Color: Red

The Rag Company Dryer Wolf

GSM: 550
Blend: 70/30
Weave: Plush (Coral Fleece)
Border: Suede
Size: 25″ x 40″
Color: Grey

All these towels are by The Rag Company. Although the brand have previous have sent a lot of towels for me to test out, this is NOT a sponsored post and they’re on this list simply because they’re the best I’ve tried.

I also have some discount codes which you can use on all these towels:

The Rag Company US Website: AUTOCAREHQ10
Clean and Shiny UK Website: AUTOCAREHQ10

Both these codes get you 10% off. These are non-affiliated codes so I do not earn a commission from them.

Looking for more microfiber towel recommendations? Check out my top microfiber towels for different detailing tasks.

How to Choose a Drying Towel

All microfiber towels are certainly not made equally. They all have different blends, weaves, and sizes which make them more suited to certain tasks than others.

I’ve split this article into the following sections so you can learn more and know what to look out for:

Weaves
Blends
Sizes

Weaves

One of the easiest ways to categorise drying towels is by the different weaves. This refers to the way that the individual strands of microfiber are woven together which affects both how the towel feels, and how absorbent it is.

Four Main Types:

Twisted Loop Weave
Plush Weave
Waffle Weave
Hybrid Weave

Let’s go through each type and talk about their pros and cons.

Twisted Loop Weave

This is most common type of weave used on automotive drying towels and consists of woven strands of microfiber that form tiny loops.

The main benefit of a twisted loop drying towel is that it is the most absorbent type available due to the large surface area created by those looping strands of microfiber.

The disadvantage, is that twisted loop drying towels don’t feel very soft, so on sensitive paintwork, I prefer to use other weaves.

Example: The Rag Company 1500

Plush Weave

There are a few different names for this type of weave, and some sub-categories (e.g. coral fleece and circular knit) but they all feel super soft and plush and are categorised by long open strands of microfiber.

The main benefit of a plush microfiber towel is that it feels very soft and is the safest option for delicate finishes which are prone to swirl marks.

The disadvantage of this weave, is that it isn’t as absorbent as the twisted loop, so you may struggle to dry a large vehicle with just one towel. This type of weave also has more “drag” which means it is more likely to lint fibres onto grabbier surfaces e.g. glass.

Example: The Rag Company Dryer Wolf

Waffle Weave

Waffle weave drying towels typically have a very low pile meaning they don’t feel very plush, but they do often still feel quite soft regardless. The idea behind the weave is that it increases the surface area which maximises absorbency, whilst still remaining lightweight.

The main benefits of waffle weave drying towels are that they are very absorbent but still lightweight and lint-free.

The disadvantage of waffle weave drying towels is that they aren’t very plush, which means if there is any dust or debris on the paintwork, it’s more likely to get dragged along the panel rather than pulled into the towel away from the surface.

Example: The Rag Company Dry Me A River

Hybrid Weave

There are loads of different types of hybrid weave drying towels on the market. Two of my favourites are:

The Rag Company Gauntlet
The Rag Company Pluffle

The Gauntlet is a hybrid of the twisted loop and plush weave, arranged in alternating sections. The benefit here is that you get a lot of absorbency from the twisted loop sections, but more softness from the plusher sections.

The Pluffle is a hybrid of the waffle and plush weaves. This means it remains ultra-soft, but has slightly better absorbency due to the waffle weave design which increases the surface area of the towel.

Blends

The next thing you should look at when buying a drying towel, is the blend.

Microfiber is compromised of two materials: polyester and polyamide. The two most common blends are:

80/20 (80% polyester and 20% polyamide)
70/30 (70% polyester and 30% polyamide)

When purchasing a drying towel, choose a 70/30 blend.

Why? Well there’s two reasons:

70/30 blends are more absorbent
70/30 blends are softer

Check out this guide to microfiber blends for more info

Sizes

Finally, you should look at the size of the towel as this will of course affect how absorbent it is, but also how easy it actually is to manage when trying to dry the vehicle.

Personally, I like a towel that’s between 20″ and 30″ in length and width. This is a manageable size for me but still has plenty of drying power.

Keep in mind that the weave and blend will also affect how absorbent the towel is. For example, a 20″ x 30″ plush microfiber towel is fine for an average size car, but a 20″ x 30″ twist loop towel will easily dry a large vehicle.

However, as a rough guide, here is a list of the most common sizes and the kind of situations they generally work best for:

Drying Towel Size	Best For
16” x 16”	Drying wheels
16″ x 24″	Drying small cars
20″ x 24″	Drying average cars
20″ x 30″	Drying average/large cars
30″ x 30″	Drying large or multiple vehicles