Here is a question for our expert car cleaners from an amateur: Are all Chamois equal?

I started wondering about this when it got up to 68 degrees in winter here in Indiana and I decided to wash my car and use a new chamois someone gave me for Christmas. I wet the chamois and went to ring out the excess and noticed the dye from the chamois coming out with the water. Now I know that chamois must be created using Tanic Acid to convert the hyde to leather and I'm wondering if this dye could contain the tanic acid or if its just a dye they use in the chamois.

Either way, I didn't like it...if it rings out a yellow dye, then imagine what it leaves behind on your car. I've had 3 different chamois and 2 of them have leeched this color when I ring them out. I've concluded that I should only pick the light colored chamois and avoid the ones that probably have color added.

Has anyone read anything conclusive on this? Perhaps in an auto magazine?

-B

 

Get "The Absorber" sponge cloth, its 100 times better than any "chamios". Available at Target.

 

Or use a high quality microfiber towel to dry the car. They are very soft, hold a lot of water and are machine washable.

 

I'm happy with how the chamois work, I'm just curious if there is any potential danger in using one since they appear to have dyes in them and leech this dye. That dye CAN'T be good for the paint and I can't imagine companies producing a cloth designed to gently dry your car without scratching it and then putting in a dye that leeches out onto the paint???

Maybe this is just one of those idiotic things that happens- marketing says they sell better if they are yellow and so somewhere in post production they add a yellow dye.

I just want to know if I'm the only one who thinks this can't be good for your paint?

-B

 

The chamois I used years ago never leaked any kind of dye, but if it did, I'd stop using it. The main reason I quit using a chamois is that it kept getting more and more dirty after each use. Rinsing it in water wouldn't get the dirt off so that's when I decided to no longer use it. IMO, each item that touches the painted surfaces should be clean and abrasive free to prevent surface scratches.

 

If you read the instructions when you first buy your chamois you will see they want you to wash the chamois with a mild soap in luke warm water before you use it. Rinse completely and sqeeze dry before use. This procedure should be repeated every time you finish using your chamois....according to them (manufacturer). Maybe the purpose of this is to free the chamois from this dye.