New "100% cotton" viking mitts are NOT!

I wonder why much fuss hasn't been raised about this before. There are several old posts that mention how the "100% cotton Viking mitts" DO NOT pass the burn test. I too, have been able to confirm (a long time ago) that these so-called cotton mitts contain poly-material in them. I was going to order mitts from CMA several months ago, and just on a whim, decided to ask Terry who their supplier was. When I found out they're from Viking, I immediately canceled my order. Finding a true, 100% cottom mitt has become too much of a PITA for me and I've only been using sheepskin and MF mitts for a while now.



I bet if DavidB. added a wash mitt to the much anticipated Autopia product line, they would sell like hotcakes. I know for sure that I'd buy several! :xyxthumbs
 
Last month I ordered 2 Viking 100% Cotton Mitts from YoSteve. Before using them for the 1st time yesterday I did a burn test and I got the small black crispy residue that others are seeing. These were packaged using the old packaging logo. Since I was washing a beater car I didn't really care. What I observed was that halfway thru the wash the mitt started to shed many small cotton balls. The car was very dirty and the mitt at times did not release the dirt from the wash mitt ala MF. When I finished my wash the mitt was literally finished so I threw it in the garbage. Viking...Very disappointed in your QC.



Today I ordered 5 Australian Wash Mitts with the leather interior backing from CarCare. I used these extensively last year on my Porsche. These are pricey but of high quality and are very gentle on the car surface as they just glide over the paint. I will no longer use cotton wash mitts.
 
Easy folks. Lets give Viking a chance to correct this issue. I was one of the ones that found a problem. From what I have seen here from Viking they are doing everything that could be asked to correct any problem found and seem to be more than willing to make any wrongs righted. Nobodys perfect, Larry
 
That's really interesting, because I bought the mitts with the new packaging and thought they felt a little odd. I remembered buying Viking mitts before that didn't have the 100% cotton logo on them, so I searched the package and saw that it did proclaim 100% cotton, so I went ahead and bought a few, thinking I'd try the burn test later when I got home. I felt silly not trusting a company that said 100% cotton, especially since they had been right before. That's too bad. I hope Viking can get the 100% cotton variety out to stores quickly, as I don't want to have to go through the hassle of mail ordering another variety. The Viking mitts were so great, high-quality, inexpensive, and available at the store 1 block away from my house.



-tslug
 
I too am now stuck with two of these "100% cotton" wash mitts. The problem is it's hard to find anything half decent around here so I'll have to order other mitts from elsewhere and pay more shipping :angry
 
VIKING manufactures the 100% Cotton Mitt in the Saint Louis, Missouri DC. When I say manufacture I am referring to taking bulk yarn and producing the chenille threads, which are then woven into the backing. VIKING does not produce the thread; we buy the thread in enormous spools from a mill. Despite contrary belief we have a very stringent QC process but when a shipment of 100,000 lbs. of yarn hit the dock you can only check so much. I want to emphasize that we never purposefully have ever or would ever try to deceive our customers with a misrepresented product. VIKING has been in this business for a very long time, since 1915, and we care very much about our reputation and our customers who are the number one concern. I want you all to know we have bought and have always bought 100% cotton yarn for the mitts in question, now that trust between that mill and VIKING has potentially been broken pending the results of the analysis. As I said before we here at VIKING stand behind our products and if there was a mistake it will be corrected and our customers will be taken care of. No one that has an unsatisfactory mitt will be stuck with it, PERIOD. Please know that we are taking this situation very seriously and steps have begun in many arenas to ensure something like this never happens again. Currently we are still awaiting fiber analysis results from the lab and those results will be released once made available to me. I hope you all now can somewhat understand the breadth of this situation.
 
VIKING,



I applaude your quick action on this matter and say that you are one of few companies that I have seen respond quickly to concerns on this site:up .
 
Wow, I guess such a problem would have very far reaching consequences - not only on the customer end, but potentially on the manufacturing/distributing side of things too. :eek:



Nice to see a company taking this kind of responsibility. :up
 
I agree - there's no need for everyone to start damning the torpedoes (hmmm, spelling?). Viking has been a very reputable, trustworthy company, and there's no reason to start going Chicken Little just because they may have had a bad production run.



I have nearly 200 mitts at my house (I love them, and had heard a rumor that they weren't going to be made any more, so I bought a TON), and I have no intention of doing anything with them until we get the final word.



For the record, I've been using the mitts (ones that burned black and melted hard) on my Dark Blue Tahoe as well as the GTI, and have had ZERO scratching issues. So, just because someone mentioned they might not be 100% cotton doesn't mean that we should all throw 'em in the bonfire...



Let's give Viking a chance to sort this out, and until then, just be extra careful while washing.
 
VIKING,



Great job jumping on this issue so quickly. This is a great example of how the Autopia community can positively work with vendors to resolve product issues. We all appreciate and admire the fast response.



db
 
Personally i'm not too worried. Even if some error caused the mitts to not be 100% cotton. All i care about is marring. I've used them. They don't seem to marr. Thus i'm satisfied. The low price and the fact that i can buy them 2 miles from my home make me even more happy. I wouldn't be suprised if the man made threads were better than cotton. I mean heck science has produced artificial hearts, and man made diamionds... but we can't create something better than a strand of cotton in a lab? :nixweiss
 
This is a very good point Dr.Jones, and I agree. From VIKING's perspective this is still a problem for them though because their mitts are labeled "100% cotton". It would look bad for them and possibly create a legal problem if Joe Blow buys a "100% cotton" mitt from O'Reilly's (sp?) and discovers it is NOT. We at Autopia may know they're still safe and work just fine, but the rest of the public won't and it will damage their sales and image.



I mean, I've taken samples from various so-called "100% cotton" mitts myself and watched them fail the burn test miserably. I don't tell the manufacturer, I just label it "crap" in my mind and never buy it....



This may never actually happen, but :nixweiss
 
DavidB said:
VIKING,



Great job jumping on this issue so quickly. This is a great example of how the Autopia community can positively work with vendors to resolve product issues. We all appreciate and admire the fast response.



db
Click to expand...



Well said. Normally something like this would cause me to boycott the product and bad mouth it, but the quickness and honesty that Viking has shown here really does say a lot about the dedication to the community and enthuisiests, not just to making a buck. Very nice. :xyxthumbs



So, do we have any updates on this?
 
We are currently still awaiting results from the lab concerning the suspect yarn. We could know by the end of the day.
 
oo please share asap! I wanna get 100% confirmation...



Have you personally burned any of the pile on the mitts and looked at what happened?





Sory my first post sounded plain rude. I was a little angry.
 
I am truly impressed to say the least. For all those that whine about customer service, this is a good example of the 'good' companies out there.
 
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