Chamois Leather

[Triaguar]

Having washed my bike for the 25th time this week I thought I would seek advice on a problem that has bugged me for years.......How do you store a chamois leather. If I put it in a jar damp it comes out a mouldy slimy mess. If I leave it out it dries and becomes the consistency of concrete, then drops to bits. Help

[Mr Dendrite]

Triaguar said:

Having washed my bike for the 25th time this week I thought I would seek advice on a problem that has bugged me for years.......How do you store a chamois leather. If I put it in a jar damp it comes out a mouldy slimy mess. If I leave it out it dries and becomes the consistency of concrete, then drops to bits. Help

Throw it in the bin and use microfibre cloths, your life will be much improved. I stopped using chamois years ago.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on anything fancy. The Kent car care microfibres are a good size, nice and soft and about £3 each or you can get cheap packs of small clothes.

[iacabu]

A good quality chamois shouldn't drop to bits. When it's dried out just leave it to soak in water while washing then wring it out and use.

[bogie]

bin it, get a pack of microfibre towels...and put them in the washer after each use. Got a quality pack of 3 recently on amazon for a tenner.

[Triaguar]

It's gone!!

[2OOM]

Get one of these,It gets the water out of all the nooks and crannies .. and no chance of scratches ..

[meridian]

iacabu said:

A good quality chamois shouldn't drop to bits. When it's dried out just leave it to soak in water while washing then wring it out and use.

Good question from the OP and agree with quote above. Mine just hangs on the wall (for ages !) and completely dries out. Soak it in a bucket of water and it's fine. The objective word here is 'quality' as a good one really will be fine

[200Plus Club]

Costco 30 microfibre cloths (large) for 14 quid.

[talksthetorque]

I find a waffle weave cloth is better than normal microfibre cloths for drying.
For applying creams/posihes/waxes/paint protectors yep, standard microfibre cloths, cheapy shops like The Range/B&M have them too.

[Krikkit]

200Plus Club said:

Costco 30 microfibre cloths (large) for 14 quid.

If you've got a JTF near you they do big bags of them for the same, and it's only a fiver to join.

When grubby I put them on a hot wash, good as new.

I do have a microfibre drying towel just because it's big enough to do a whole car.

[Biker 1]

I've got a synthetic chamois. Had it for ages & works great. Weirdly, it take at least 3 wring-outs/rinse cycles before it will work properly....

[Stick Legs]

I bought a cheap Halfords Synthetic Chamois years ago.

'Upgraded' to a fancy pants Autoglym one and it was worse.

Still use the Halfords one which lives in it's own little waterproof case it came in.

Must of had it 15 years now!

[blueg33]

Meguiars Water Magnet is the drying cloth you need.

[AceOfHearts]

I use a microfiber drying towel now (meguires) but for years used a dog drying towel from pets at home. It was like a synthetic chamois, but super absorbant and huge, plus a lot cheaper than what car places charge (less than a fiver I think)

[Klippie]

Costco sell a pack of two large chamois leathers, they are very good quality and last a long time, I still prefer the leather to those drying cloths.

[Brads67]

Bin the leather and get the above mentioned water magnet. You won't believe how good they work.

[CousinDupree]

Yep. Use a wash mitt and microfibre drying cloth. The small yellow ones from costco are fine for bikes. Get a larger cloth for a car. Saves plenty of time and you can usually do the whole car without wringing it out.

Much quicker and avoids a lot of the swirl marks that a sponge / chamois will cause.

[Biker 1]

Slightly off topic, but I will be doing a mega-clean over Easter - any recommendations on polishing tank/mudguard?? A fair amount of swirl marks on tank. I thought about T Cut/car polish combo(??) Oh, & thoughts on radiator cleaning....

[talksthetorque]

Biker 1 said:

Slightly off topic, but I will be doing a mega-clean over Easter - any recommendations on polishing tank/mudguard?? A fair amount of swirl marks on tank. I thought about T Cut/car polish combo(??) Oh, & thoughts on radiator cleaning....

There's more than one answer to this.
1) Yes, That'll be fine, it'll look shinier .

2) Just get some decent paint improver like autoglym srp, ( all colours) poorboys blackhole ( darker colours) then some decent wax.

3) Go to detailing world and lose several hours checking up recommendations, then three figure sums buying said recommendations, then spend the next few weeks doing everything perfectly.

4) Go to detailing world and lose several hours checking up recommendations, and methods, then three figure sums buying said recommendations, then realising you can't be arsed and just do a bit of each, think that'll do and have about fifteen years worth of stuff sat in your old kitchen cupboards that you put up in the garage.

[Jag_NE]

I just use a bath towel to dry the car now, used to chamois but it’s a bit of a fanny on.