Polyester is, by far, the most abundant and inexpensive of the two materials for microfiber construction. This fiber lends to the towel’s overall strength under use, ‘scrubbing’ characteristics, and durability over time. Polyamide grants microfiber its absorbency characteristics and is the more costly fiber to manufacture. Most basic towels found on the market are a 80/20 blend of Polyester to Polyamide. While these are good at all around cleaning, they do not maximize a Microfiber towel’s true absorbency potential. A towel constructed of 70/30 is one that is capable of absorbing 7 or more times its weight in liquid. Also, towels that are of a 70/30 construction, generally tend to be of a higher craftsmanship.

GSM: [grams per square meter] is a measure of the density of how many fibers are in a given weave composition. GSM is a highly touted statistic in the car care industry because many believe GSM is the “end all-be all” factor for determining Microfiber quality. This is not the case at all, however that doesn’t slow the myth from circulation in both consumer and detailing media.

For car care purposes the minimum GSM for maintaining paint without scratching** is 300-350 GSM. Although many individuals will claim blasphemy for using anything under 500 GSM on paint, that is simply not the case. To gauge overall towel quality, GSM along with other characteristics need condieration to form a complete opinion. GSM is not the best tool to single-handedly judge a cloths quality. This would be analogous to judging a car’s driving capabilities, based solely on straight line speed.

** Note: ANY contact with a painted surface results in microscopic scratching also called ‘marring.’ For all intents and purposes of this article, the word ‘scratch’ refers to easily visible scratches.