Product Review: CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt

Whilst Detailed By Andrew has many customers that use the Service Clean package to maintain their vehicle after having a Detailing service package carried out, there are many out there that choose to wash and clean their car themselves afterwards, which is absolutely fine.

I know full well that many people may want to look after their car by themselves on the regular after having the detailing work done, for many reasons. As a result I am often asked for aftercare advice and so here I hope to give a bit of direction for the weekend warrior. In this product review I offer my two-penneth on CarPro's offering on a quintessential piece of kit that should belong in any avid car washer's arsenal; the merino wool wash mitt.

Above picture courtesy of CarPro, used for reviewing purposes.

So what is it?

It is a densely packed washed merino wool wash mitt with a pouch at the back to ergonomically put your hand in during use, offering control and less chance of resigning it to the bin after dropping it on the gravel. The high quality material medium ensures that a gentle and effective wash can be achieved when shampooing your car; being sensitive to paintwork when used properly.

Why I like it.

Okay, so you are here reading this blog because you might trust my recommendation on a product. The CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt has a long pile, meaning more surface area to carry suds, shampoo, and any other detailing geekiness out of that product bottle and onto your car. There isn't much softer out there than merino wool, and this higher surface area means that tiny bits of sediments are kept away from the paintwork when you "swipe" along the panel, as opposed to being ground in, causing all sorts of marring, scratches and swirls as you would otherwise incur when using a sponge or harsher item. When using this mitt, you can hold as little or as much product as you will ever need. It just holds loads of shampoo - meaning that if you want that extra bit of slipperiness on the panel, you can crank a load of it out before having to go back to the buckets.

Something to take note of here, always use the two bucket wash method. That means, once you've cleaned a couple of panels, starting with the cleanest first, wash the mitt out in a clean bucket before soaking it up in the shampoo bucket again. Grit guards help, and pre-rinsing the vehicle of as much sediment as possible is vital before considering wash contact. As a final pointer, you may want to consider the purchase of a foam lance attachment for a pressure washer or hose pipe, so that the panels can be foamed up for extra lubrication after that initial pre-wash and pre-rinse.

Cost.

The old saying goes - you get what you pay for. I have seen many wash mitts in the DIY shops, online stores and eBay, at a fraction of the price; but their longevity, construct and safeness on your vehicle's delicate surfaces match their price - cheap. Granted, the CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt isn't going to be considered cheap by general members of the public, and I think these days especially in the detailing scene that this doesn't come to much of a surprise. This item comes in at £18.99 with VAT included, but with any possible delivery charge on top. This is in no means to say that it is overly expensive at all; this is a premium product that has been well constructed out of quality materials. Again, you get what you pay for and the value is there. Indeed, many a wash mitt are in this price bracket, and sometimes even higher. I have previously used similarly priced wash mitts in the past and I am far more impressed with this one for it's softness, ease of maintenance and build quality.

What to be careful of.

The long pile means that sticking this mitt right under the pits of your car will see you unable to get it clean again very easily. The debris from the lower, grittier, grottier areas will prove to be difficult to fully remove from those long fibres when out on the job. No matter how thoroughly you pre-wash and pre-rinse these areas, they will always be the most filthy areas to contact wash. For this reason, this mitt in my opinion is more suited to the top panels of your car. For instance, the roof, glass, bonnet, boot and higher parts of the sides. For the lower parts of the car, I recommend using a shorter pile mitt, such as the Dooka Wash Pad, Sam's Luxury Wash Mitt, or Paragon Microfibre Mitt as these have shorter fibres and "release" debris a lot easier.

Do not use the black netting to scrub your car! Perhaps my only criticism of this mitt is that it isn’t double sided with wool. However, I dare say that if they were, their production cost would be nearly doubled.

As with all long fibre wash mitts, brushing them out after use is necessary. If, like me, you wash cars frequently, it's worth having more than one to allow you that little bit of squad rotation to avoid getting caught out playing a brand new one against Guardiola on the Sunday, and a tired one against Pardiola on the Wednesday. One or two can rest on the bench waiting to be brushed out ready for the next job. There just is no room for error where cross-car-contamination is concerned.

If you are interested in buying this item, it can be found direct from the UK official CarPro site here: https://carpro.uk.com/products/merino-wool-wash-mitt

As with all advice found on the internet, you carry out any works on your own car at your own risk. Detailed By Andrew does not accept any liability for your actions taken as a result of any advice given, reading this article or any other found on this website. One final piece of T&C small print; Detailed By Andrew's reviews are strictly impartial with no third party influence.

If you have any comments or questions please feel free to post in the comment section below. Thanks again! - Andrew.