A really decent Chamois Leather can cost a fair bit of money these days so why should you buy the real thing when you can get substitutes at a far better price?
Genuine Chamois Leather is a natural product which has unique properties enabling it to absorb not only water, but dirt as well. This is vitally important when you wash your car because residue and left-over dirt can cause the finish to look dull or, in the worse cases, scratch the paintwork. Synthetic Chamois, whilst very good at emulating the drying properties of a Chamois Leather, do not absorb the dirt from the surface and therefore may smear the surface or even scratch it.
Caring For Your Chamois Leather
Chamois Leather can be expensive and so you need to care for your Chamois in order to get the best out of it. Contrary to popular belief, storing a Chamois Leather wet in a jar or sealed bag will cause it to deteriorate quickly and leave it virtually useless. This is because Chamois Leather is tanned with fish oil giving it its unique 'smell' and also enhancing its absorption. Storing the Chamois wet causes the skin to naturally deteriorate. Likewise, if a detergent, (such as washing up liquid), is used to rinse the Chamois, it will remove the oil oxidized into the skin during the tanning process, leaving it (once dry), hard and brittle, and less likely to freely absorb both dirt and water.
The best way to look after your Chamois is, after washing your car, to rinse it well with warm water and lather it with a bar of soap (yes, just an ordinary bar of regular soap just as you would use to wash your hands). Rinse the soap and dirt from the Chamois under the warm water and lather the soap in again. Without rinsing in clean water, squeeze dry and leave the skin to dry naturally, away from direct heat. Leaving the soap in the skin helps keep it supple and soft. The next time you need to use your Chamois, rinse in warm water, squeeze dry, and it is ready for use.
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