How do you wash your towels?

J

JRock10

New member
Yeah, so as it states, how do you guys wash your towels? Washing machine and some detergent? Which cycle? What kind of detergent?



I know this sounds noobish. And I did a search. But just wondered what you guys were doing to ensure longevity.
 
all in at once, normal amount of tide with a few drops of bleach and I put it thru twice to make sure they are rinsed very well. Oh and Hot water.

As for drying them... Easy, Toss them in my drier which is not that hot and tumble til dry.
 
After I'm done using a towel, I put it in a bucket of water with blue Dawn dish soap so any stains don't set in. If a towel has serious black grunge marks on it, I fill our sink 5/8 full of hot water and dump in 1/2 cup of oxyclean. I pre-treat the bad spots on the towel with blue Dawn dish soap and work the towel in the hot water until it's pretty clean. I may have to spot treat it a couple times before it looks super clean, but I can usually get 98% of the spots out this way. Then I'll rinse it out and wash it as normal with the rest of my towels.



For the bulk of my towels, I simply put them straight into the washing machine using hot water and about half the recommended soap (using ERA regular soap). On the rise cycle, I'll add one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar per towel to help the thread shed excess detergent. My towels stay looking nice for a good while, but they eventually get delegated to undercarriage work, wheels, etc.
 
cool. i've been doing them on regular cycle with tide, no softner. never thought about using the dreft, but it makes sense. or the vinegar
 
qadsan said:
For the bulk of my towels, I simply put them straight into the washing machine using hot water and about half the recommended soap (using ERA regular soap). On the rise cycle, I'll add one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar per towel to help the thread shed excess detergent. My towels stay looking nice for a good while, but they eventually get delegated to undercarriage work, wheels, etc.
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Sounds like a good idea instead of the solid laundry detergents like Tide. Can you explain more why you use distilled vinegar?
 
i was all my mf's in warm water with liquid tide and scoop of oxyclean, then on the last rinse cycle i add vinegar (helps clean out any leftover detergent residue and helps soften them up). finally, off into the dryer they go on the lowest heat setting with NO dryer sheet...
 
HenrikP said:
Sounds like a good idea instead of the solid laundry detergents like Tide. Can you explain more why you use distilled vinegar?
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Fabric gets stiff when too much detergent remains in it and you end up with more micromaring in the finish if the fabric is too stiff. When you add white vinegar to the final rinse cycle, it helps the fabric shed excess detergents.



You only want to use 1 or 2 tablespoons of Distilled White Vinegar per towel and only in the final rinse.



If you ever get new towels, always wash them before using them because they may contain contaminants from being handled, the manufacturing environment, transportation, packaging, etc.
 
If I use any of my MF towels for waxing I turn the washer up to 212F, add a few drops of Dawn, pour vineger into the detergent drawer with a scoop of Oxy Clean. Works pretty good.
 
Some have mentioned that using some Simple Green in the wash process also assists in removing whatever you have on your towels/foam pads.
 
I separate my towels into 3 categories:

- Terry cloth

- MF for paint

- MF for wheels, underbody



I never, ever co-mingle any of the above when washing. The terry cotton occasionally will shed lint which will get trapped into the MF fibers. So the terry's get their separate treatment; hot wash, liquid detergent, mixed with simple green - no bleach or fabric softener. I throw those in the dryer.



The MF's used for paint - warm/cold wash, liquid detergent, SG & distilled vinegar. I just air dry them. I don't want my MF's in the dryer due to the potential of picking up lint from the dryer.



The MF's for underbody and wheels - I always presoak in a bucket of SG prior to washing. Those towels typically need an extra dose of SG for the degreasing affect. I let it presoak for at least 1/2 day. After pre-soak, I wash them like my MF paints above. Air dry as well.



On another note I like to batch up my washes so I have special containers to hold towels prior to washing. Prior to washing, I store the dirty MF's in separate containers for MF paint towels and underbody(with lids - to eliminate any dirt falling into the container) so that further cross contamination is eliminated. The main reason is I want my MF's for paint to last as long as possible and without fear of having any grit inside those fibers. It's anal, but I just want to do anything it takes to eliminate any kind of swirls coming from my towels - either from bad wiping techniques or, cross contamination.



On a final note, I store each towel (terry, MF paint, MF underbody) in their separate plastic baggie. The terry cloth require larger zip lock bags - Hefty makes a 10 gallon bag so I store like 3 towels in there. Squeeze out the air, and store them on the shelve ready for the next wash.



For the MF's, I just use regular hefty 1 gallon zip lock bags with the pulls. I keep the MF paint towels separated as well as the underbody. I mark the underbody bags with a sharpie pen on the outside label.



Now you will know I am full on nuts. I separate my good MF paints - WW's are in a separate bag, QD towels separate, Polish MF's separate, etc. I take all those bags and store them in a clear plastic container. So when I wash, I get my chemicals, grit guard bucket, mitts and pull out my clear plastic containers with WW's and Terry's. I can do it blind, because I know I store my containers in the same place.



I am starting to ramble, but I do the same procedure for my buffing pads. Each pad get a baggie and stored in a plastic container. So that when a buffing day comes along, I pull out the PC, the container with buffing pads, container with the buffing chemicals and the MF towel container.



And then there are the brushes...never mind you get my point. I am a sick person... :-)
 
I usually use Woolite, a capful and set the washing machine to 40 C degrees. Which reminds me I've run out and need to buy more.
 
"Hot" wash, Normal agitation. 2-3 oz of Charlies Laundry detergent and 3 Downy Balls filled with Vinegar. Dry on low with Dryer Balls (still testing these) till slightly damp, then pull out and fold.
 
Although I have been tempted by the specialty microfiber towel wash, I've decided to maintain current course: hot water, delicate cycle, no detergents.



I do not use fabric wash as some of their ingredients are designed to stay with fabric. I even do not use my all-natural, no-scent fabric wash for detailing towels, for fear of residues unsuitable for car paint.



There is one exception, and that is the tire towel. Yeah, the tire and brake dust towel I use, I add bleach.
 
Wash in machine with warm water and either DP pad/towel wash powder or Earths choice phosphorous free wash with a vinegar cycle and double rinse

Hang up on indoor laundry racks (birds out here **** on everything hanging up (plus the dust is shocking sometimes)
 
whoa, i really didn't expect this much response to some laundry! Sergei def gets the award for towel maintainence.
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But anyways, thanks for all the responses, def some good ideas in here!
 
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