Long story short: soft towels. Short story long: for years, Mothers recommended 100%-cotton (no poly!) terrycloth towels for drying. They were the only game in town. Then microfiber towels came along. Now we recommend both (though we prefer high-quality microfiber). If you plan to use a “cotton” towel, you can test it to see if there’s any polyester (plastic) in it by holding a thread from the towel to an open flame. If there’s any plastic in that towel, the thread will ball up and leave a torched little wad of plastic, while 100% cotton burns to ashes. Ultra-plush microfiber towels work as well, and many times better, then the best cotton. Microfiber is a poly product, sure, but the fibers are ultrafine and won’t damage paint. Microfiber towels come in various blends, qualities and sizes: a thick, soft weave of 80% polyester and 20% polyamide that’s about 16-inches square is ideal for drying. Microfiber towels have tremendous absorbency, wring easily and are scratch-free (once you remove the tag). You can dry an entire car with only one or two of them. Some people like to use larger microfiber towels to dry, and some are available with a waffle-weave fabric that’s super-absorbent. Whichever towels you choose, launder them separate from clothing or other towels, and without fabric softeners (which leave visible chemical traces on paint).