The Rag Company

The Rag Company is a microfibre specialist — not a chemical brand that also sells towels. That focus shows up in the details that matter on paint: the weave, the GSM, and whether there is a stitched edge to drag across your clear coat. Alpha Details stocks the towels, applicators, wheel mitts and Ultra H2O pressure-washing hardware we use on customer cars in our Melbourne studio.

Which Rag Company towel do you need?

Drying. The GAUNTLET Korean drying towels are the plush, high-absorbency option for whole panels. The Liquid8r is the twisted-loop drying towel that pulls water fast without needing pressure, and DRY ME A RIVER is the waffle weave — the open channel structure gives it a lot of surface area, which is why waffle weaves suit glass and final water pickup.

General work and buffing. The Edgeless 300 is the everyday cloth and the one most detailers buy by the dozen — a 70/30 blend at 300gsm, thin enough to feel the panel through. Step up to the EAGLET Edgeless 500 for spray removal, or the Eagle Edgeless 600 when you want maximum nap for final buffing after polish.

Washing. The Cyclone Ultra Plush Wash Mitt runs 1100gsm with a cuff — deep pile is not a luxury on a wash mitt, it is what carries grit up away from the paint instead of grinding it along the panel.

Wheels. The ULTRA Wool Wheel Mitt is merino wool, sold as a 2-pack, and gets into barrels without scratching. The Cyclone Ultra Wheel Mitts are the microfibre equivalent, and the Soft Grip Wheel & Body Brush handles faces and arches.

Glass. The Premium Glass & Window Towel — low-lint and tight-weave, because glass shows every fibre a general-purpose cloth leaves behind.

Coatings, waxes and dressings. The ULTRA NO-SOAK applicator is built not to drink your coating — the point of a no-soak block is that the product goes on the paint rather than into the foam. There is a round 5-inch version in a 5-pack for waxes and dressings, plus Terry applicator sponges for everything less precious.

What GSM and "edgeless" actually mean

GSM is grams per square metre — the weight of the fabric, which in practice tells you how much nap the towel has. Higher GSM means a deeper pile with more room to trap dirt away from the surface, which is what you want for drying and final buffing. Lower GSM means a thinner, more controllable cloth, which is what you want for removing sprays and working panel gaps.

70/30 is the polyester-to-polyamide ratio. Polyester does the scrubbing and gives the fibre its structure; polyamide is the softer, more absorbent component. A higher polyamide share generally means a softer, thirstier towel.

Edgeless means there is no stitched border. A sewn edge is harder than the pile around it, and it is the part of a cheap towel most likely to leave a mark on soft paint. Removing it is not a cosmetic choice.

Ultra H2O — the pressure washing line

Newly landed in Australia and stocked here from launch. The Ultra H2O Spray Gun and Spray Wand are both rated to 5,000 psi (350 bar), 10.5 gpm and 300°F, and the gun ships with an M22 to 3/8" auto-lock quick coupler. The Ultra H2O Foam Cannon runs 1,100–5,000 psi at 1.4–5.3 gpm and includes a spare 1.1 orifice.

The 40° nozzles are marine-grade T304 stainless with a rubber shroud, and the size you need depends on your machine's flow, not its pressure: 3.0 for low-flow electric units at 1.3–1.8 GPM, 4.0 for 1.8–2.3 GPM, 5.0 for 2.3–2.8 GPM. A 40° fan is the paint-safe angle — wide enough to spread the energy rather than concentrate it in one line.

Ultra Air — compressed-air tools

For water in the places a towel cannot reach. The Ultra Air Blaster Mini is the compact vortex tool for badges, grilles and mirror housings; the Ultra Air Engine Blaster is the long-reach version for engine bays; and the Ultra Air Spray Applicator atomises product through a compressor for even coverage.

A chemist's note

Paolo holds a degree in chemistry, and microfibre is one of the few areas of detailing where the marketing and the physics mostly agree — GSM, blend ratio and edge construction are real, measurable things that change how a towel behaves on paint. What they cannot do is rescue a dirty towel. Wash microfibre separately, skip fabric softener entirely (it coats the fibres and kills absorbency), and retire anything that has touched wheels or engine bays from paint duty for good.

Not sure which weave for which job? Ask us for a recommendation.