Do Waffleweave drying towels go "bad"

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Bill87GN

New member
May sound like a strange question, but I have been using my big blue waffleweaves for a couple years and now in recent months they seem to have lost their absorbing ability.

Is this possible?

I'm probably going to retire these to tire/wheel duty and purchase a few more
 
My guess is that the fibers may be wearing out, or the towels have absorbed a lot of product (wax, etc.) over time. I wash my towels with hot water and add vinegar to the rinse cycle (per the suggestions of many people on this site). I eventually retire my microfibers for newer towels after awhile.
 
Yep I too have been using my waffleweaves for almost two years and they now just push water and don't pick up very well.
 
I was starting to become disappointed in my WWs. Considering they were purchased in 2001, I guess I could spring for some new ones. However...I had to wash last week in a not-so-good-for-them soap (Method) becasue I was out of Charlie's (waiting for FedEx to show up right now with my resupply). So, I did a vinegar rinse. Wow! I forgot how good those things actually are. Swiped up every last drop of water. It's kind of like when you get the tires balanced on your car - you don't notice how bad they've gradually become until you balance them. Try vinegar before you toss them.
 
kompressornsc said:
I was starting to become disappointed in my WWs. Considering they were purchased in 2001, I guess I could spring for some new ones. However...I had to wash last week in a not-so-good-for-them soap (Method) becasue I was out of Charlie's (waiting for FedEx to show up right now with my resupply). So, I did a vinegar rinse. Wow! I forgot how good those things actually are. Swiped up every last drop of water. It's kind of like when you get the tires balanced on your car - you don't notice how bad they've gradually become until you balance them. Try vinegar before you toss them.
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Good idea. I've probably been using the wrong soap.

How much vinegar per small load?



TIA
 
Bill87GN said:
Good idea. I've probably been using the wrong soap.

How much vinegar per small load?



TIA
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I like to put 1 ounce per towel. Vinegar is so inexpensive and it gone in the final rinse anyway. Say hello to rejuvenated towels!
 
I do find mf wears out after a while in terms of effectiveness. I use Microrestore which works well for cleaning but I refresh my supply every year.



I just use older mf towels for dirtier operations like engine bays, some door jambs, etc.



P.S. I'm not convinced on the vinegar. I have tried it but it doesn't seem to do much.
 
SilverLexus said:
..I'm not convinced on the vinegar. I have tried it but it doesn't seem to do much.
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Could be that you just don't have the problems that it's supposed to solve. It seems to improve things for me, but I know my water is pretty crappy and that I have detergent residue issues.
 
Vintage said:
I like to put 1 ounce per towel. Vinegar is so inexpensive and it gone in the final rinse anyway. Say hello to rejuvenated towels!
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1 oz per towel seems like a lot.



I wait to wash my WW's till i have atleast 20 for a medium load. I mean 20 oz is a lot. I usually spray vinegar onto the towel and then put them into the load and then put in about i would say 3-5 oz.
 
stiffdogg06 said:
1 oz per towel seems like a lot.



I wait to wash my WW's till i have atleast 20 for a medium load. I mean 20 oz is a lot..
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Yeah, seems that way to me too :think:



I put the vinegar in the softener dispenser and it only holds a few ounces.



Oh, and yeah, some of my WWs don't adsorb (IIRC, MFs adsorb, cotton absorbs) the way they used to. They're still nice and soft, but they just don't get the water off. OK, guess most things have a limited useful worklife :nixweiss
 
Do this to bring them back.



Two wash cycles with HOT water ONLY. NO detergent. Stand back and watch the towels release years of detergent residue...your washer will overflow with suds - guaranteed.



Final rinse with vinegar added as others suggested.



If this doesn't work, then the fibres are dead. But I doubt it.
 
Seems strange to me that your WWs are wearing out. My WWs are 2-3 years old and still work well. My "regular" towels don't seem to go for much more than a year before they start shedding that fine lint. I have a dozen orange Target towels that started shedding, and they're only a year old. I'll try washing wihtout detergent, as suggested above.



Micro Restore or Danase MF Wash, with vinegar in the rinse, do seem to work well for me. I have hard water.
 
Accumulator said:
Could be that you just don't have the problems that it's supposed to solve. It seems to improve things for me, but I know my water is pretty crappy and that I have detergent residue issues.
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Yes, that's a fair point. I have good water so it may not be valuable to my situation.
 
I just wish there was a *definitive* thread on how to care for MF. I recall some site advising NO against hot water, and some that encourage them to release the build up.



Myself, my 2 yr old Paks WW seem to be holding up just well with warm water washes.
 
Alfisti- Heh heh, lucky you, being able to get by with just two (detergentless) wash cycles. Sounds like your residue issues weren't all that bad, at least compared with mine :o



chefwong- Guess it's a matter of who you want to believe. DFTowel convinced me, and his decades of experience in the textile industry gave added weight to his viewpoints.
 
Accumulator said:
Alfisti- Heh heh, lucky you, being able to get by with just two (detergentless) wash cycles. Sounds like your residue issues weren't all that bad, at least compared with mine :o
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Seems to do the trick with my WWs. Because they're just drying towels I've never hardly used any soap with them...they never get dirty enough to justify it. I just spot treat the bad parts.



On the other hand, my regular MF keep sudsing. But I stop at 2 or 3 hot rinses cause it takes so long and I've got better things to do. :waxing: They come out pretty good after this so I'm happy, and keep using less and less detergent as I keep utilizing the 'inbuilt' detergent supply. :chuckle:
 
Aflisti- Yeah, that's what I do with my WWs too. Yeah#2 about seeming to need less and less detergent :D and yeah#3 about having better things to do!
 
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