Why You Should Never Use A Microfiber Towel Again After It Hits The Ground

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

We've covered car cleaning tips and tricks in the past, but this one rule might be the most important when it comes to avoiding swirl marks and scratches in your car's paintwork. The simple rule is: If you drop a microfiber cloth on the floor, do not ever use it on your car's paintwork again.

Microfiber cloths are perfect for wiping over your car, buffing off polish and achieving a great finish, but they are also magnets for dust and dirt. That's fine for picking up the tiny particles that sit on your paintwork, but if you drop a microfiber towel on the floor, it'll also pick up larger chunks of grit and dirt. The fibers will then cling to these contaminants, and the next time you run it over your paint, you'll be dragging them across your car's finish. This will inevitably lead to scratches and swirl marks, which can be tricky to remove unless you really know what you're doing.

Sure, you can wash the microfiber towel, but how can you really be sure that those little chunks of grit and dirt have been removed? Considering that a pack of microfibers can be picked up for around $10 – that's less than a dollar apiece — it's just not worth taking the risk. Throw it away, grab a new microfiber, and start again.

This is a pretty easy rule to follow. If you don't want to waste the microfiber cloths, you could always use them for cleaning inside the house 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 much.

There are a bunch of other ways in which you could be ruining your paint job too, and just like the microfiber rules we've already covered, these damaging habits are pretty easy to avoid. Bird droppings are another way in which you can very easily cause damage to your paintwork. Now, while you can't exactly stop birds from going above 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.

If you cover long distances on highways, you might notice more stone chips than you'd like, and not addressing these can quickly detract from how your car looks. Stone chips leave part of your car's metalwork exposed, which will quickly rust over and look dreadful. A quick solution is to keep some touch-up paint in the glovebox, and to periodically go over the car, touching in chips as you find them. This will keep rust spots at bay, keeping your car looking as fresh as possible.