Washing M/F towels

Jesstzn

Jesstzn

New member
Ok first off I know how to do it so don't say search ... what I'm looking for is the methodology when you have a front load high efficiency washer.



Up till now I used Dawn in the top load washing machine and added vinegar to the rinse but the front loaders don't like high sudsing detergents.



It was suggested by the appliance store that I soak the towels in a 20 L ( 5 gal) pail with water & Dawn then hand wring them out and put them in the front loader on a rinse cycle.



My thoughts is doing the above but a full wash cycle and let the residual Dawn which is diluted do its thing.



What do the rest of you that have front loaders do?



In the detailing season I do a couple loads a week.



TYIA
 
I have a HE front loader. I use this:

Micro-Restore Microfiber Detergent Concentrate



I never had any issues with sudsing and the towels come out great.
 
You just have to watch what you use in a HE washer! There is what they call a "spider arms" on the back of the washer drum and is made of pot metal and corrode with certain liquids, and after awhile they break and cause the washer to wobble terribly. And let me tell you if that happeneds you cant just go out a buy the spider arms you have to buy the whole drum assembly.
 
I have LG HE Front load and use tide original detergent and dry on delicate. never had any problems and they come out great.
 
hplaceap said:
I have a HE front loader. I use this:

Micro-Restore Microfiber Detergent Concentrate



I never had any issues with sudsing and the towels come out great.
Click to expand...



Unfortunatly with the quantity of towels I use a 32 oz bottle ( 16 washes ) isn't economical at just about $22 shipped.
 
I use Dawn and a little APC with it. Then do a extra wash called speed wash with water and a little vinegar.
 
How much Dawn per load? I'm trying to determine how much to use and not cause over sudsing issues.
 
Don't put Dawn in your HE washer. Buy a some HE scent/dye free soap and follow the recommendations for the load size you are washing. Do a second rinse cycle and add some distilled white vinegar. For a full size load add one full cup of vinegar.



Dry your towels for about five to minutes on low heat and finish them with no heat. Do not add any drier sheets, instead go to Walmart and buy some drier balls. They're blue (insert joke here) with small knobs or spikes all over.
 
My front loader is a Whirlpool Duet. It doesn't clean *really* soiled stuff as well as my agitator style washer, but it'll do OK on my MFs (both detailing and household) if I use the hotest settings ("sanitary" or "whitest whites").



If MF degergents aren't an option, I'd pretreat with Dawn and not add any more (so none in the "detergent dispenser") and use some vinegar in at least one of the rinse cycles (the acid in it seems to cut down the sudsing a little and help rinse out the excess Dawn). Plan on doing multiple rinses, even if you run a whole extra cycle without detergent as a "super rinse".



I've never had any actual *problems* from using Dawn in this washer, but the excessive foaming sure does get my attention. Of course, YMMV, "don't try this at home, kids!", etc. etc. But eh, it works OK for me.



Be sure to clean out the softener dispenser as there's almost always residual product in there (and in any channels that the stuff flows through) that can cause problems with MFs.
 
Why not use Dawn??? I fill the container 1/3 full. You want to remove oils and waxes from the towels. They use Dawn to wash wildlife after oil spills !! Just be sure and do a extra rinse cycle with a little vinegar.



RustyBumper said:
Don't put Dawn in your HE washer. Buy a some HE scent/dye free soap and follow the recommendations for the load size you are washing. Do a second rinse cycle and add some distilled white vinegar. For a full size load add one full cup of vinegar.



Dry your towels for about five to minutes on low heat and finish them with no heat. Do not add any drier sheets, instead go to Walmart and buy some drier balls. They're blue (insert joke here) with small knobs or spikes all over.
Click to expand...
 
MDRX8 said:
Why not use Dawn??? I fill the container 1/3 full. You want to remove oils and waxes from the towels. They use Dawn to wash wildlife after oil spills !! Just be sure and do a extra rinse cycle with a little vinegar.
Click to expand...



My 2 cents on how I think it works.



Taking a step back, think about why you need "soap" in the first place. I'll purposely not use the word "soap" since most of what people use these days is synthetic soaps or more properly marketed as 'detergents'. Dawn, tide, costco clothing detergent, megs gold, shampoo, etc is all mostly the same in principle in that it acts as an emulsifier between water and 'dirtystuff (oil, grease, dirt, poop)'. The detergent allows the water and 'dirtystuff' to combine into an emulsion and get flushed out. So ideally, you're searching for a detergent (maybe multiple-think oxyclean) that is effective on the majority of 'dirtystuff' on whatever it is that you're trying to clean.



Different formulations of ANY emulsifier will work better towards whatever contaminate that you're trying to clean and some detergents are greater in strength compared to others (ever see the difference between orange gojo vs. regular hand-wash soap after changing your oil?)



There's probably another class of cleaning that I'm not really thinking about like chemically dissolving (calcium/lime/rust getting broken down by CLR?)...but that's even more chemistry than I'm willing to think about. Also probably why you can't use certain heavy chemical detergents on MF since it might chemically dissolve polyester or polyamide within the MF.



So, just because Dawn is used to wash wildlife doesn't really mean much other than that it's ok to use on birds and probably formulated very good towards oil/grease without aggressively stripping the outer layer of an eyeball or something (orange gojo). Also, it should be mentioned that 'bubbles or suds' doesn't necessarily mean that a detergent is going to be a good or bad emulsifier. If you have other 'dirtystuff' on your MF towls, you'll want to think about what's on there and what's actually good at cleaning it off (without chemically melting MF) and maybe even use a combination of washer-safe detergents.



Also, my understanding of front-load washers is that high-sud detergents create a cushion pillow and items don't get the physical beating/tossing required to clean properly.



bleh..too late...maybe someone can expand on that or organize it to make more sense.
 
Jesstzn said:
Unfortunatly with the quantity of towels I use a 32 oz bottle ( 16 washes ) isn't economical at just about $22 shipped.
Click to expand...

Small bottles can be expensive.

I buy it at the 128 oz size for around 34.99.

Search around for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top