Product Review: DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel

I recently received a few of these towels for testing and I must say I’m extremely impressed.  As always, here’s the product description before my opinions and thoughts:

“The DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel is an outstanding towel that will help you with virtually any detailing task but it specializes in safely removing excess product from the paint. All microfiber is not created equal and this towel is the total package as it looks great, feels great and works even better. This towel comes in slightly heavier than most towels at 360 grams and the ultra soft fibers make it perfect for even the most delicate finishes. It has virtually unlimited uses but the edgeless design makes it perfect for removing clay lube, polish, glaze, sealant or wax from the paint. The fibers are short to medium in length so they are highly effective at not only removing sealants and waxes but also the stubborn polishes. Modern day towels have paint safe trim on the edge however they generally don’t help collect the particles on the surface. By removing the traditional edges you create a towel that is completely dedicated to cleaning and the trim is no longer a hindrance you have to avoid. With the Edgeless Towel you will clean the surface with less wipes and less effort which means you are working faster and more efficiently. So when you want an incredibly soft towel combined with a state of the art design the DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel is the one to choose!”

The DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel, as you can already imagine, is an edgeless microfiber towel designed to eliminate the worry and fuss that comes with pretty much any regular microfiber towel.  As its description states, the Zero Edge Towel features an edgeless design that is not only safer for the paint over its entire surface area, but also utilizes that edge to help in removing any residue during a detail job.

Right off the bat, the thing that greatly impressed me and something I really appreciated was the tag placement on the towel.

As you can see, the tag is a simple sticker attached to the inside of the towel.  Typically however, the tags are sewed into the edges of microfiber towels, which creates a couple issues I noticed over time.  One being that it’s necessary to tear off the tag, usually resulting in some of the fibers being torn from the edge, thus ruining a part of the edge on the towel.  Second, regardless of how careful you are tearing the tag from the microfiber towel, there will always be some leftover material from the tag where it was torn.  That creates the possibility of this area of the edge eventually scratching paint.  Yes the tag is sewn pretty well under the edge, but there’s always the chance this leftover material will reach the paint at the worst possible time.  Why not just cut it?  Well unless you have some very tiny scissors or a laser to cut it down completely, there will almost always be some tag material left where it was removed.  While we rarely see this happen and obviously professionals and enthusiasts alike are using edged towels on a daily basis with no ill effects, it’s definitely an unnecessary risk.  I believe the stick-on tag is something all towels across all manufacturers should utilize.  Not only does it leave the towel fully intact with no danger of scratching paint, but it makes it very easy to remove the tag before first use.  Moving on…

In the photo below, you can see a good comparison of the DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel and the All Purpose Towel.

Here we get a better perspective of how the new edgeless towel compares to the typical microfiber towels.  As you can see, while the All Purpose Towel has an edge that’s well sewn and poses no risk to damaging paint, the Zero Edge Towel’s edge is just as plush and practical as the rest of it, giving it the edge (no pun intended) over the competition.  Speaking of plush, here’s another photo to show the quality and weight of the Zero Edge Towel.

We can clearly see here that the Zero Edge Towel is a bit more plush than the already nice All Purpose Towel.  Another thing to notice is that different length fibers the Zero Edge Towel has between its two sides.  It’s always good to see a towel utilize both sides in such a way because there’s a use in detailing for both the longer and shorter fibers.

As you can imagine, the side with the longer fibers is ideal for removing polish residue, wax, etc.  It is much more absorbent and grabs much more residue from the paint than shorter fibers.  Also, let’s not forget the main characteristic of the Zero Edge Towel, which is the fibers extending all the way to the end of the towel, creating more surface area to collect any residue from the paint.  I find the shorter fibers great for tasks such as quick detail spray wipedowns or cleaning glass because these fibers don’t absorb as much as the longer fibers, leaving a nice streak-free finish after only 1-2 wipes.  In addition, this side is also  great for removing polish or wax residue from the paint.

To conclude, with this review I surely don’t intend to put down regular microfiber towels as something bad or unsafe.  Rather, I wish to give the new DI Microfiber Autofiber Zero Edge Towel the recognition it truly deserves.  It’s a great towel in every sense of the word and in every category we can think of for rating microfiber towels.  It’s plush, has both longer and shorter fibers, comes with the stick-on tag that’s quickly and safely removed and the edgeless design makes it stand out both practically and aesthetically.  At the end of the day, this is another one of those products which will be the next best thing in my arsenal, so I’ll be sure to stock up asap and add to the few I have been testing.

As always thanks for reading and I encourage everyone here to comment below on their experience with the Zero Edge Towel.