OTC Microfiber and Foam Pad cleaner?

[SpoolinNoMore]

Want to know of any products safe to use on cleaning microfiber towels and foam pads, seeing as how I'm almost out of my CG pad cleaning solvent but don't want to be at the mercy of UPS for the rest of my detailing life for when I forget to restock early. Thanks in advance!

 

[Rei86]

Any free detergent, woolite, and vinegar.



For foam pads people usually do a presoak in dawn but if you have some apc around I would use that.

 

[Dan]

I love dawn power dissolver on foam pads, its $3 at Wal-Mart.

 

[tom p.]

I love dawn power dissolver on foam pads, its $3 at Wal-Mart.

+1.



Another easy find is Spray 9 at Home Depot. It's probably $12 per gallon.

 

[Scottwax]

I use Optimum Power Clean but laundry detergent works well too.

 

[Accumulator]

Even regular Dawn is pretty good. I was all about "MF detergents" for a long, long time because they worked so much better for me than regular detergent, but these days I'm just reaching for the Dawn more often than not.

 

[MrCLRider]

Resolve traffic lane cleaner does a great job on mf towels.



Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

 

[imported_MCA]

I soak foam pads in dawn/water. For MF towels, I use Charlie's Soap - does an excellent job at removing product buildup.

 

[Accumulator]

.. For MF towels, I use Charlie's Soap - does an excellent job at removing product buildup.

That's one of those YMMV products; works great for a lot of people but didn't do so well for me :nixweiss

 

[fordf150]

Something that I tried that works much better than Dawn, especially when it comes to rinsing is Purple Power citrus cleaner/degreaser.



Get two buckets and fill with water. use one as the rinse. Spray dirty pad liberally and agitate for a minute or so by hand and then again in bucket of water thoroughly. repeat if really caked on.



Squeeze out any excess and then rinse thoroughly in second (rinse) bucket (releases real well) . Attach to DA to Spin excess water out and then let air dry.



This has work profoundly better than soaking in Dawn

 

[Accumulator]

Do people usually soak their pads?



I never soak 'em, just wash them out at the end of the day.

 

[fordf150]

Do people usually soak their pads?



I never soak 'em, just wash them out at the end of the day.

Not sure, but with the Purple Power citrus cleaner it rinses out extremely well in clean water, no soaking needed. It cleans and rinses much better than Dawn.

 

[SpoolinNoMore]

Thanks for all of the tips! I normally just set the pads in the pad cleaner mixed with luke warm water and scrub them with a toothbrush and my thumbs. They get clean but the only thing I'm really worried about is the residue that other degreasers may leave behind on the foam (or at least thats what the "pad cleaner" formula vendors are saying that can happen).

 

[fordf150]

Thanks for all of the tips! I normally just set the pads in the pad cleaner mixed with luke warm water and scrub them with a toothbrush and my thumbs. They get clean but the only thing I'm really worried about is the residue that other degreasers may leave behind on the foam (or at least thats what the "pad cleaner" formula vendors are saying that can happen).

To be honest with ya, I think those pad cleaners are basically different forms of degreasers anyway.



The Purple Power citrus cleaner as I said rinses(releases) very well and is biodegradable. Dawn on the other hand is much harder to rinse thoroughly IMO.