Chemical Guys Thirst Trap 2-in-1 Microfiber Chamois Towel Review

When it comes to car cleaning and detailing, the drying towel might be the most underappreciated and overlooked tool by the average car owner. After all, you're just absorbing leftover water on the surface of your car. How fancy does the towel need to be? It turns out, not only is there a good variety of drying towels available, but some also perform noticeably better than others. Over my 20-plus years of caring for my own cars, I feel like I have tried every popular drying towel under the sun, from the Absorber to various shammy towels to all sorts of cheap options on Amazon. So, when Chemical Guys reached out to me asking if I would be interested in testing its new The Thirst Trap towel, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Besides its name, what makes this drying towel worth evaluating is that it is a 2-in-1 microfiber chamois drying towel. Essentially, a layer of chamois is sandwiched between two layers of microfiber with a patent-pending design to make drying a car as easy as possible. If it works as advertised, you get the absorption and reusability of a chamois, but with the soft touch of a microfiber towel. Another perk is that the towel stays soft when dry, an advantage over a normal chamois towel, which can become stiff once dried.

Upon receiving the towel from Chemical Guys and taking it out of its packaging, I have to admit I was a bit surprised by how thin it was. The towel I most often use to dry my car is an Adam's Polishes hybrid drying microfiber towel, which feels quite thick and plush compared to The Thirst Trap. However, the thickness of a drying towel doesn't really matter if it performs just as well, if not better. he towel measures a sizable 24 inches by 28 inches, making it comparable to other premium drying towels on the market. Chemical Guys claims The Thirst Trap can hold up to half a gallon of water—I did not scientifically test this to see if it's true.

Instead, my evaluation method was much simpler: after washing my Polestar 2, can I dry it without having to stop and wring out the towel? After all, one of the biggest benefits of a premium drying towel is making your life easier. The ideal drying towel requires less effort to properly dry your car while also ensuring a streak-free finish. It should also be made of materials that won't harm or scratch your car's surface. For me to recommend The Thirst Trap, it would have to check all these boxes. If it were to become my new favorite drying towel, it would need to make drying my car take less effort.

Admittedly, it's been nearly a decade since I last used The Absorber or a chamois towel to dry my car. The material is very absorbent and works well, but I always felt it had a bit of resistance and required more effort to use compared to a microfiber towel. The Thirst Trap lives up to the claim of offering the best of both worlds, as it glides off the surface of a car like a microfiber towel while absorbing like a chamois. It's particularly interesting because the towel doesn't feel all that different from a normal microfiber towel.

Straight out of the bag, the Thirst Trap required a little effort before it would glide smoothly off the surface of the car. My initial reaction was that it didn't seem to be as absorbent as the Adam's towel, but as it started to take on water, its performance improved. Instead of having to make a couple of passes to get all the water off the car, the Thirst Trap started doing all the work for me. I was pleased to see that it could dry my entire car without me having to stop to wring it out.

Although I have only tested the drying towel once, I am leaning towards making it my preferred option for one main reason: its thickness. It's almost ironic that something I initially considered a con, upon my first impressions of the towel, turned out to be a pro. The reason is that the towel feels much lighter than what I'm used to, especially after it absorbs water. While thicker towels feel better in the hands, they tend to require more energy to move across your car. This may not be a big deal for most people, but I think it is worth mentioning. If you find the process of drying your car more laborious than you want it to be, you should consider purchasing a towel like the Thirst Trap.

With an estimated retail price of $24.99, Chemical Guys' The Thirst Trap 2-in-1 drying towel is competitively priced compared to other premium drying towels on the market. I plan to use this several more times in the coming months and will update this review if my thoughts change. For now, I wouldn't say the towel is mind-blowingly different, but it performs just as well, if not better, than everything else I've tried over the years.

Disclaimer: Chemical Guys did provide the Thirst Trap microfiber chamois drying towel seen in this review for evaluation. The company, however, was not allowed to view this article prior to publishing and had no influence on the review.