How Often Do You Wash Your Towels?

Once a towel is too loaded with polish or wet from a spray wax it goes into the dirty towel basket. I make sure to wash these towels right when I get done doing a car, if in doubt if a towel is clean or dirty it goes into the dirty towel basket. Better safe than sorry IMO
 
I always wash after a single use. Its better to be safe than sorry. Once you have a good supply of MF towels its easy to rotate the towels. I wait until I get a nice pile of dirty towels then I do a load.
 
Wash after every use in hot water and liquid detergent... Woolite and cold water is for delicate lingerie, not detailing towels!
 
DFTowel said:
Woolite and cold water is for delicate lingerie, not detailing towels!
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You're right - what was I thinking?



From now I'm going to start using steel wool and Draino to clean my car and stop wasting my time with girly MF cloths altogether.





Seriously, I read that it's best to use cold water and a really mild detergent for MF towels if you want them to last. Hot water and a stronger detergent will obviously do a much better job of getting the MFs clean - but at the expense of the long term durability of the towels IMO.



Since I've invested in some decent quality MF towels - I want them to last and perform well over a long period of time. Thus the Woolite and cold water approach (I also run the rinse cycle again without detergent after the first wash).



Heck I know some folks who insist on hand washing their high quality MF towels - that's a bit far for me though.
 
bojangleS_8686 said:
. . . what is a good process to wash MF with? I throw my MF stuff in the washer and then let it all air dry, but there are still a lot of wax and black spots left over.
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Prior to washing, I inspect for debris . . . remove with tweezers. Use simple laundry detergent, no bleach or fabric softener. Wash on aggressive setting in hot water and air tumble in the dryer. Voila :2thumbs:
 
Milestones said:
You're right - what was I thinking?



From now I'm going to start using steel wool and Draino to clean my car and stop wasting my time with girly MF cloths altogether.
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That's an idiotic statement to be polite! Woolite is for delicates... PERIOD. Do you have 30 years of experience in the textile industry? Are you a weaver? Knitter? Textile printer? Dyer? Do you even know how various fabrics are made? Would you know quality if you saw it?



There is no household water on the planet hot enough to do any damage to your towels. Boiling water won't even damage the fabric, just effect the dye if there is any.



Back to Woolite and cold water... Did you know thhat continued washing using a mild detergent such as Woolite or cold water will cause your towels to deteriorate over time and even cause damage to your paint? Why? Because they are not getting clean enough so contaminants remain in the threads causing breakdown.



:wall
 
Dude - you really, really need to chill out....



IMO personal attacks (ie "idiotic statement") have no place in a discussion about the care of MF towels.



Step back from the keyboard - take a deep breath......



Now, you asked if I have 30 years of experience in the textile industry, etc. etc. I do not. I am an attorney who enjoys taking good care of my car on the weekends - a weekend warrior with the same OCD approach to caring for my auto that most autopians share.



From the tone of your post, I would assume that you do have the type of experience you refer to.



I have simply stated what I have learned from doing research at places like Autopia/Autogeek and posts by other persons regarding how they have cared for their MF towels and from my own limited experience in caring for my own MF products.



If you have some inside knowledge based on your apparent considerable expertise in the textile industry and MF technology - I know that I would be interested in hearing it and I'm sure others would be as well.



I will say that I would be much more likely to listen to what knowledge you had to share - if you were able to do so in a civil manner.
 
I am obviously very unlikely to buy any towels from DF Concours after having my statement called idiotic by the President of the company after describing the way that I take care of my towels.



Nice way to alienate a potential customer........
 
Going back on topic...I use towels only once before they go into the washer - I wash both the household cars (2) every weekend so I wait till I am done before loading all of them in. I separate into 2 loads: "paint surface" towels (Polish/wax) and dirty, grunge towels (Wheels/door jambs). I am fortunate to have several towels so I always rotate them for even use - I think I may only use a towel once ever 2 months due to this rotation. And if it means anything, I wash using hot water and liquid detergent in conjunction with the "delicate" cycle - no problems encountered so far.
 
Milestones said:
If you have some inside knowledge based on your apparent considerable expertise in the textile industry and MF technology - I know that I would be interested in hearing it and I'm sure others would be as well.



I will say that I would be much more likely to listen to what knowledge you had to share - if you were able to do so in a civil manner.
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Leo has shared his insight on manufacturing and care of microfiber and other textiles many times on this board.



What would your take be if he argued legal matters in sarcastic fashion with you? *You* are the one who led in with the uncivilized tone.
 
I wash my towels after every use but I made sure that I have enough for each load by buying more and more microfiber towels to make eash wash worthwhile. I separate the microfiber towel washes by drying, waxing/buffing, and grunge. They all share the same dirty hamper in the garage.
 
Thanks for the replys. Makes sense for polish, wax etc.. towels. i guess the reason i asked the question on drying towels in the first place was because I only have a couple drying MF's, so I was wondering if you guys that only have 1 or 2 drying towels wash them after ever use or reuse. Polish, wax MFs, I have a ton of those so I can just grab a clean one and not have to throw a load of towels in as often. I use the drying towels alot more then a wax/polish towel, so these are getting alot of washes for only a few towels. i guess i will continue to was after every use to play it safe. thanks again.
 
I wash all my towels after every use using either my Adams car soap or my NXT car soap for detergent. I usually put a small splash of vinegar in the spout for bleach, though Ive heard a Downy ball is more effective for that.



All my pads, wash mitts, foam applicators, etc... I leave air dry but I tumble dry on low heat for my MF towels.



After I wash I run a lint roller over all my towels to make sure no fibers from any other towels make their way to my cars paint.
 
I guess I'm bad because I was originally washing towels using the family laundry detergent 'Yes' which I later realized has softener in it ! So I switched to Woolite. Now however, in a new wrinkle, Oxi Clean has introduced a "Toss 'n Go" ball laundry detergent and I think I'll use one of those dedicated for all the towels (currently washing in warm, rinsing in cold). This might be augmented with a little Oxi Clean Max as/if necessary.

Oxi Clean seems to be a good choice for the towels due it's cleaning power and the way it rinses clean - so clean that some say using it for laundry, they have no need for softeners.



Thoughts on the above?
 
abbeysdad said:
...Oxi Clean seems to be a good choice for the towels due it's cleaning power and the way it rinses clean - so clean that some say using it for laundry, they have no need for softeners.



Thoughts on the above?
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I've been meaning to test this but still haven't gotten around to it but IF thay are right in claiming it rinses clear of the fibers then yes, it would appear that thhe fabric is softer. The reason is that many fabrics such as the towels we use for our cars retain a lot of residue after washing because most people use too much detegent. This residue makes the fibers feel stiff and makes the fabric less absorbent. Many have discovered the wonders of distileld white vinegar used in the rinse cycle, the vinegar helps the fabric shed itself of excess detergent thus making the fabirc appear softer.
 
Obviously Leo has a great deal of knowledge regarding the care of MF towels.



In addition, the concours buffing towels carried by his company look like an absolutely amazing product.



However, there does appear to be a bona fide dispute between the experts as to the issue of cold water vs. hot water for washing MF towels.



Leo has indicated that he feels it is idiotic to treat MF towels like fine/delicate linens by washing them in cold water.



However, David B in the Autopia detailing guide indicates otherwise (quoting from the guide on "Maintaining Microfiber"):





"The best general purpose cleaner is a liquid detergent. It’s better to use too little than too much. Liquid is recommended over powder because some powders do not completely dissolve and the granules will lodge in the toweling.

Wash in cold water only. Warm water can be tolerated, but hot water cannot. Polyester and polyamide both shrink in hot water. If you wash in hot water the fibers will shrink and the towel will not perform as intended."





Perhaps this difference in opinion can be traced to the fact that Leo is speaking from his experience with his company's towels which I believe are made mostly out of cotton, whereas most MF towels are made out of a 80/20, 75/25, or 70/30 polyester/polyamide blends.



At any rate, I'm sorry my disagreement with Leo got so heated and I'm also sorry he has not chosen to respond to my attempt to bury the hatchet via PM.
 
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