# Auto Express drying towel test 2016 results!



## Typeroz (Jan 10, 2016)

Just had a quick look at this. Some varied results, worth a read.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/access...-cloths-and-car-drying-towels-2016-group-test


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

Never listen to auto express reviews tbh

Already got the winner before they even 'test' them


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## suspal (Dec 29, 2011)

Goto agree with Kimo to a certain degree they do talk alot about f all.


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## kvn618 (Feb 11, 2010)

You don't need to take their reviews as a gospel but I find them helpful. Thanks for posting the link


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Load of rubbish. Reading it... I have two of the kent ones for trying my tyres as that is all they are worth using for.


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

Dont even know why people read these, when the wealth of info on here will never be matched


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

The comments about the tests are pretty correct...although I am a user of the Kent Drying towels (for sale in B&Q for £4 BTW) and they are really good...all I use and have for the past 3-4 years.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

I didnt read it CBA - but the Kent ones are decent, have 3, 2 for paint and 1 for wheels and they are great!


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## MAXI-MILAN (Oct 26, 2008)

I cant trust in Auto Express reviews beacuse they rate by price not the quality of product sometimes , but I find Kent Drying Towel (yellow) very good towels and I will buy it again .


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

MAXI-MILAN said:


> I cant trust in Auto Express reviews beacuse they rate by price not the quality of product sometimes , but I find Kent Drying Towel (yellow) very good towels and I will buy it again .


They take the price into account when reviewing which is not a bad way to do it. For example - if product A costs £20 for 1L and Product B costs £10 for 1L and there is no difference in performance of the products, then I think its certainly fair to dock points off product A for being more expensive for the same performance


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

nick_mcuk said:


> The comments about the tests are pretty correct...although I am a user of the Kent Drying towels (for sale in B&Q for £4 BTW) and they are really good...all I use and have for the past 3-4 years.


Me to can't fault them. They dry the car and don't mark and are cheap.


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## MAXI-MILAN (Oct 26, 2008)

Rayaan said:


> They take the price into account when reviewing which is not a bad way to do it. For example - if product A costs £20 for 1L and Product B costs £10 for 1L and there is no difference in performance of the products, then I think its certainly fair to dock points off product A for being more expensive for the same performance


I agree with you in this point about liquid products .

I think Zymol will win here ! http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/36073/clay-bars-test

I have tried best 3 clay bar there and Zymol gives best performance .

However they did better reviews in 2014-2015


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

When people have experience and knowledge of products to know what's good and bad they know that places like AutoExpress award wins to the company that is the nicest to them. 


However if they tell you the car you own is the best on the road, they've got that bit right and there's no dodgy business in that. :lol:


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## OvEr_KiLL (Mar 2, 2015)

i seriously dont know how the kent drying towel won that! yes i have used one and it was utter rubbish, it didnt dry very well at all and i had to keep wringing the damn thing out all the time! i now use an autofinesse aqua deluxe which is amazing except for the only niggle of fibers left on the car sometimes, but it seems to be getting better the more i wash it, i can dry the whole car with it and not wring it out once.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Well you clearly havent done something right I can dry my entire Jeep Grand Cherokee without having to wring it out.

Absolutely nothing wrong with them unless you are a fan-boi who has to have the latest "en vouge" brand name.....as per your avitar 

I bet you will find that your beloved AF drying towel probably comes from the same factory as the Kent ones  :lol:


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

nick_mcuk said:


> Well you clearly havent done something right I can dry my entire Jeep Grand Cherokee without having to wring it out.
> 
> Absolutely nothing wrong with them unless you are a fan-boi who has to have the latest "en vouge" brand name.....as per your avitar
> 
> I bet you will find that your beloved AF drying towel probably comes from the same factory as the Kent ones  :lol:


You mean AF don't make their own towels? :doublesho


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Tbf the kent ones were crap in my opinion. Didn't soak the water up alf as well as my current microfibre madness and AF deluxe towel.. they are demoted to my tyres now and I do agree these reviews in these magazines are nonsense.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

The Kent ones are perfectly fine. My RX is not exactly small and one will do 75%. I have 2 for te body just so I don't have to wring it in winter.


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

the kent ones are cheap for a reason, they must be the worse drying towels out there.
As for auto express tests, when it comes to detailing they dont have a clue


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

Rayaan said:


> They take the price into account when reviewing which is not a bad way to do it. For example - if product A costs £20 for 1L and Product B costs £10 for 1L and there is no difference in performance of the products, then I think its certainly fair to dock points off product A for being more expensive for the same performance


but there is more to the price than if it works the same. take for instance if product a costs £20 a ltr and dilutes 10/1 and product b costs £10 ltr but only dilutes 3/1. product a costs £20 a ltr and is neutral. product b costs £10 a ltr but is caustic


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

cheekymonkey said:


> the kent ones are cheap for a reason, they must be the worse drying towels out there.
> As for auto express tests, when it comes to detailing they dont have a clue


Complete ******! Price has nothing to do with it.

Just because something is expensive does not mean it's instantly good.


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

I use the Kent ones for the last couple of years, no complains, still do well.
Been washed so many times I lost count, and will replace with the same ones.

I had expensive ones who didn't preform better, so why pay more?

The only thing is I do with every towel is to put it through the washing machine twice.
I have a very good knowledge what they use during the production of fabrics and wouldn't have that on my paint (silicones being one of the least harmless to soften fibres) 
And that makes no difference between cheap or expensive ones, hence why they take water better after the first couple of uses


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Not as in depth as say we would review a product, looks from there shot that there vehicle had no protection or long failing protection if that, so all faced a lot of surface water rather than what most of us would face with a well protected and free rinsed vehicle.

Obviously the larger the towel and the longer you use it the heavier it will get.

Nothing stopping people winging them out before they get too heavy if needed.

Rather than viewing the feature as what is best we all have varying criteria some may want smaller towels some huge ones some governed more on price than others.

Just view the tests more as a brief review take away how much water they lifted, how well they lifted the water its cost and if they had actually put up the towel dimensions it would have been even better.

We do the same on here read what others have found and make our own minds up.

Thanks for posting the test...:thumb: Appreciated.:thumb:


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## DrH (Oct 25, 2015)

The Kent towels are ok and good value in my opinion. They dry ok.
Being yellow in the summer they do attract bugs it seems.
I use Mammoth Microfibre Infinity and one can almost dry the whole car without wringing out.
The price difference is quite a lot but worth it I feel


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## RealR0cknr0lla (Jan 17, 2016)

what a complete load of tosh that was - dear me


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

It's almost as bad as their wheel brush reviews, look where wheel woolies are placed


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

You have to ask yourselves what you really want in a review? If it is just to confirm that your ubersexy supercool towel that you just paid 20 quid for is the best and that everything else is just the equivalent of public batroom toilet paper then obviously you might get upset when they say that actually, this £4 job is just as good.

The benefit of Autoexpress reviews is that they test a group of products under the same conditions and compare them directly with each other, if they tested them individually there would be no constructive way of saying that this product is any better than this product, but in a group comparison, the products all face the same scrutiny regardless of price or badge. If a low priced product then performs as well as a higher priced product then that should be highlighted, and vice versa. In the test they do make valid points which support their conclusions, the Kent towel for example, they say works the best overall and the fact that it is the cheapest is irrelevant. For each of the other towels they give sound reasons for their placings, the AF towel was as good as the Kent, but cost 3 times as much so got marked down, which is fair enough.

Even if you are lucky enough not to consider price a factor in your desicion then you must stiil want to know which is the best, because as grown up, educated individuals of reasonable intelligence we do realise that the most expensive is not necessarily the best quality, don't we?


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

I don' think people are arguing about price, they are certainly cheaper and again for a reason. The review says they perform as well as any of the premium towels, which I have found first hand to be no where near the truth. 

I have two of those Kent towels and they are in no way comparable to either my Deluxe or Microfibre Madness in quality or pile, chances are they have an increased chance of scratching or marring your paint also. They certainly don't lift water anywhere near as good as either of my 'premium' drying towels either. The review is nonsense. They mention ringing towels out, that may be the case with the Kent towels but I have never found the need to rinse either of my MF madness or Aqua Deluxe trying towels out. That is including big cars like an Audo SQ5 and Mazda CX-5.


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## OvEr_KiLL (Mar 2, 2015)

nick_mcuk said:


> Well you clearly havent done something right I can dry my entire Jeep Grand Cherokee without having to wring it out.
> 
> Absolutely nothing wrong with them unless you are a fan-boi who has to have the latest "en vouge" brand name.....as per your avitar
> 
> I bet you will find that your beloved AF drying towel probably comes from the same factory as the Kent ones  :lol:


i didnt do anything wrong with it and no i am not a fan-boi as you would call it, as i have lots of products from different manufactures not only autofinesse! just because i have my profile picture of autofinesse makes me a fan boi?
the towels might well come from the same factory, i dont care where they come from but to me the autofinesse aqua deluxe is much better made and seems to dry my car better.


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

cheekymonkey said:


> but there is more to the price than if it works the same. take for instance if product a costs £20 a ltr and dilutes 10/1 and product b costs £10 ltr but only dilutes 3/1. product a costs £20 a ltr and is neutral. product b costs £10 a ltr but is caustic


I was simply conveying a point across in simple terms. However, Id assume they would base the price comparison based on dilutions too as any normal person would.

The Kent's are fine for what they are and how much they cost. Lets not forget that Autoexpress is not a detailing magazine and the people who read it want a towel that performs well at a decent price and the Kent ones certainly deliver at that.

For the lay man on the street who just wants to wash his car and dry it for a cost, there's no better product and you wouldnt get anywhere by telling him that a £20 drying towel is going to work 5 times better.


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## Typeroz (Jan 10, 2016)

Good to hear others opinions here. I guess just stick with what works well for you.


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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Typeroz said:


> Good to hear others opinions here. I guess just stick with what works well for you.


I think that is half the job, I wouldn't want to pay more than needed, I am still a believer if something is 4 x more in price, it need to have at least 4x better performance.
Been very disappointed in the past where I paid the high price and only had a slightly better product than a value one.

But there are a lot of people out there who assume because it is expensive, it must be good, this is not always the case.


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## Hereisphilly (Nov 17, 2014)

Caledoniandream said:


> I think that is half the job, I wouldn't want to pay more than needed, I am still a believer if something is 4 x more in price, it need to have at least 4x better performance.
> Been very disappointed in the past where I paid the high price and only had a slightly better product than a value one.
> 
> But there are a lot of people out there who assume because it is expensive, it must be good, this is not always the case.


I find the law of diminishing returns kicks in too, so often if something is 10% better you might have to pay 50% extra to get that last bit

Which is annoying because I'm a perfectionist and want the best i can get


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## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

I think if i was doing a group review, then Kent might not be the very best towels, but they would certainly warrant praise for being fantastic value for money.


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

nick_mcuk said:


> Complete ******! Price has nothing to do with it.
> 
> Just because something is expensive does not mean it's instantly good.


dont recall saying anything about expensive. just that kent are cheap for a reason. i do agree there are many towels that are over priced. there are many that are far better then the kent and not much more money


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

Rayaan said:


> *I was simply conveying a point across in simple terms. However, Id assume they would base the price comparison based on dilutions too as any normal person would. *
> 
> The Kent's are fine for what they are and how much they cost. Lets not forget that Autoexpress is not a detailing magazine and the people who read it want a towel that performs well at a decent price and the Kent ones certainly deliver at that.
> 
> For the lay man on the street who just wants to wash his car and dry it for a cost, there's no better product and you wouldnt get anywhere by telling him that a £20 drying towel is going to work 5 times better.


you would think so, but this is auto express. they claimed dodo basic of bling wax was poor value as it was 100ml paste. yet praised another for being 250ml liquid.
As for there knowledge they have been on here for a few years now.they came on for more knowledge, doesn't seemed to of helped


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

Caledoniandream said:


> I think that is half the job, I wouldn't want to pay more than needed, I am still a believer if something is 4 x more in price, it need to have at least 4x better performance.
> Been very disappointed in the past where I paid the high price and only had a slightly better product than a value one.
> 
> But there are a lot of people out there who assume because it is expensive, it must be good, this is not always the case.


would depend on how you make up the 4x better performance.
When it comes to the guy at home doing his own car,or low end valeting then value should come into it, but high top end detailing then the slightly better is what you should be looking at. the kent drying towels are a lower poorer grade microfibre then the better quality towels. there only plush on one side, dont last as long as other better quality towels,stitching is poor etc. quality towels are available at way less then £20.only use i have for the kents are to cover windscreens when polishing.


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

cheekymonkey said:


> would depend on how you make up the 4x better performance.
> When it comes to the guy at home doing his own car,or low end valeting then value should come into it, but high top end detailing then the slightly better is what you should be looking at. the kent drying towels are a lower poorer grade microfibre then the better quality towels. there only plush on one side, dont last as long as other better quality towels,stitching is poor etc. quality towels are available at way less then £20.only use i have for the kents are to cover windscreens when polishing.


Again a fair amount of tosh being posted here.

As I said i have been usung these Kent drying towels for 3-4 years....used weekly and washed in the washing machine every 2 or so months.

They always come up clean and fluffy have never caused any damage to the paint and certainly haven't "fallen appart" from"poor stitching" as for the "quality" of the microfibre they are actually very very good quality the fact that there is a low pile side is good because you can flip it over and use it to finish off glass etc.

I will take photos when I get home this evening of them if you dont believe me.

I have used plenty of different drying mediums over the last 10 years and these have to be the best yet VFM and performance over 3-4 years of use.


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## A&J (Mar 4, 2015)

I have been using Martincox deep waffle dryer and CG miracle dryer and have been perfectly satisfied with. 
Just recently I bought the Gyeon silk dryer and I have to say it is a good but not a great towel. I have already found a flaw in it and that is the color is too dark (dark blue or purple). With my rinseless washes I always check the towel for any dirt I wiped and missed to wash and I can not see that in the Gyeon towel.


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## cheekymonkey (Mar 15, 2008)

nick_mcuk said:


> Again a fair amount of tosh being posted here.
> 
> As I said i have been usung these Kent drying towels for 3-4 years....used weekly and washed in the washing machine every 2 or so months.
> 
> ...


that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. myself i have found them to be as i have said, and if yours are made from very very good quality microfibre then they are different to mine. I have soft paint and the kent did mar the paint due to the poor quality. As i have already said these are cheap for a reason, but definitely not value for money. More a false value. They cost about £5?, yet i can buy a better quality microfibre towel twice the size and plush on both sides for £10-£12. these towels are 4x larger (plush side) than kents yet only just over twice the price. thats value for money and not cheap.these's will also dry windows, although winders dry just as good with open ended hose. All the above is tosh free


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## Brian1612 (Apr 5, 2015)

Me and cheekymonkey have very rarely or not at all agreed on something but he is spot on here.


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## Floozy (Mar 15, 2016)

cheekymonkey said:


> that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. myself i have found them to be as i have said, and if yours are made from very very good quality microfibre then they are different to mine. I have soft paint and the kent did mar the paint due to the poor quality. As i have already said these are cheap for a reason, but definitely not value for money. More a false value. They cost about £5?, yet i can buy a better quality microfibre towel twice the size and plush on both sides for £10-£12. these towels are 4x larger (plush side) than kents yet only just over twice the price. thats value for money and not cheap.these's will also dry windows, although winders dry just as good with open ended hose. All the above is tosh free


come on cheekymonkey which do you use? got a new car coming soon and want to make sure I don't damage its finish.


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