Wash Mitt or Sponge?
by Kevin George
When it comes to washing your vehicle, there are many options on what you can use during the process. Your first big decision is do I use a sponge or a wash mitt? Once that decision is made you can take those two (2) choices and break them down even further. Here are some of the many options available on Detailed Image.
Wash Mitts
- DI reTHICKulous Wool Wash Mitt
- DI Sheepskin Wash Mitt w/ Thumb or w/o Thumb
- DI Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt – Zero Cuff or Elastic Cuff
- DI Microfiber Car Wash Mitt
- Gyeon Smoothie
- CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt
Sponges
- Lake Country Blue Grout Sponge
- Optimum Big Red Wash Sponge
- Tuf Shine Scrub-All No Scratch Sponge
- Sonax MultiSponge
For me personally, what I used typically depends on the type of wash I am going to be doing. For a rinse-less wash (ONR) I typically like to use a sponge like the Lake Country Blue Grout Sponge or the Optimum Big Red Wash Sponge. Both of these work very well and are pretty similar in design. I will provide a more in-depth comparison of these sponges in a future article.
For most jobs, I typically use the DI Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt for the decontamination and prep wash process. These mitts are quite inexpensive and offer a lot of bang for your buck. They hold up very well, are soft and seem to withhold a good bit of water while using them.
On cars that have already been finished, I prefer to use the reTHICKulous Wool Wash Mitt or the CarPro Merino Wool mitt. These are both amazingly soft and gentle on the surface however it is still important to use proper wash techniques to maintain that flawless finish.
Ultimately this will always be a personal preference type of topic as everyone has their own likes and dislikes for both, there really is not a right or wrong answer as to which is better.
I think the mitts can hold more soap/water so u get better reaction with a mitt…
Sponges rinse out faster so they don’t hold as much water/soap.
Dirty or even lite dirt i still like a lot of water/soap so i go with a mitt.
Unless its a small job, like a bicycle or patio furniture……..
I prefer a wash mitt, but whether you use a wash mitt or sponge remember to have a separate rinse bucket to dip and squeeze out item before you dip into your wash solution. This keeps the cleaning tool cleaner and also you wash solution stays cleaner longer.
I use the Optimum Big Red Wash Sponge on my personal car. The sponge is about two years old at this time, and gets used every 7-10 days in the spring/summer/fall (less in the winter). After each use, I thoroughly clean it with Dawn detergent until it rinses clean. How do you know when to replace the sponge?