Man that sound is tuff to hear!!! So obviously the polymers and products work to "lubricate" the rag and in team effort with no "pressure points" causes no scratching...
I am curious of your opinion on something as a detailer. I have been watching lots of videos of AMMO NYC (Larry) on Youtube. He seems to be well known detailer with a BIG youtube channel and numerous customers with high end super cars. Anyway one of his recent videos he talks about his opinion that the most scratching is done when drying with your waffle towels. Now he assumes on is doing everything right like these guys with 3 bucket wash method (1 for wheels) and all the right tools and procedures. His theory makes sense IMO but I am not sure if he is just trying to push his hydrate product. Hydrate he sprays 3 sprays on a wetted microfiber rag then rung out and simply wipes the panel he is on then rings out the rag. In his vid it seemed to dry the panel 100% with one pass and the hydrate gave it a serious shine. I kinda want to buy one bottle to try.
Anyway I have that optimum spray wax bottle but haven't used it yet. What would you say it best procedure to try it? Post wash spray on wet panel then dry?
I'm very familiar with Larry's work, as well as his clientele / following. I love what he does and he really gets deep into the nerdy/geeky/analytical side of detailing.
He's correct about most scratches happening during the drying process, but it has less to do with "waffle weave" and more to do with the fact that most people think the only way to dry a car is with a dry towel.
When drying, (Or doing anything to your paint, really) it's best to have some lubrication between the towel and the paint's surface. That's probably why Larry created Hydrate in the first place. (And from what I've seen of others using it, it really does work well)
That said, you can a lot of different products for lubrication when drying, it's just best to make sure that you minimize the cases where a dry towel meets dry paint. As long as one of them is sufficiently wet, there shouldn't be problems.
Like most things in detailing, the method of drying is really a matter of preference: We offer big super plush drying towels for the people afraid of waffle weaves, (Some other company's Waffle Weaves
are genuinely scratchy compared to soft ones like ours) but we have
just as many people who love waffle weaves and provide their clients world-class results on everything from Honda Civics to Lamborghini Aventadors, haha. There are a lot of ways to achieve the same final result.
In terms of basic detailing mechanics, though, anything touching your paint should have at least a little "protective cushion" between your hand and the paint, whether it's lubrication or big, long, fluffy fibers. (Even with long fiber piles it's possible to scratch if you press a little too hard and happen to run across dust/dirt, though, so always be on the lookout!)
All this is to say: Hydrate definitely serves a function, and serves it very well. There just happen to be a lot of other ways to do the same thing!
Hopefully that helps, I can get carried away on tangents sometimes, haha.
