Accidentally dried MF towel with dryer sheet...

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ehhh

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Hi everyone, I've been lurking around for quite some time and have been searching for info about washing and drying microfiber properly. I've always heard absolutely no fabric softener because it will coat the fibers and make them much less effective. I've never heard if you can restore an MF that's been washed/dried with fabric softener though...

Well I accidentally left a few of my Cobra towels in the drying machine when I dried my clothes with a dryer sheet. Not sure how I missed them, but lets not go into that.
Two Arctic White polishing cloths, a Cobra Guzzler HD, and a green freebie I got with a previous order were in there with the clothes and a Bounce dryer sheet.

I immediately set the 2 Arctic Whites aside (and bought 2 replacements) to use for around the house duty because they're full of lint and the polishing step is just too important to risk.

I use the green freebie for interior dusting and I'm not too worried about that one either way.

I am concerned with the Cobra HD though. It looks ok, I picked off the lint, but is it ruined forever by the dryer sheet? Or can I just wash it again before use?

Thanks in advance for responses!
 
I've had luck bringing MF back to life with an old remedy used for cotton towels when they stop absorbing water.

Do a small load of MF in the washer with about 1/2 cup of white vinegar instead of soap. When that load is complete, do it again with about 1/4 cup of baking soda instead of soap. Then throw in the dryer.

I just put about 10 of my MF through this last week.

From wikihow.com...
"Note that these are time-proven folk remedies. When the vinegar (an acid) or the baking soda (an alkaline or base) dissociate (chemically come apart) the atoms are free to recombine with the minerals, salts and other chemicals that have accumulated in forms that more readily rinse away."
 
Thanks muchly, TornadoRed.

Most interesting. Will do that next time.

:xyxthumbs:
 
I was told to use white vinegar to remove softener agents (we don't normally use softener sheets or liquids) and I often use it as a rinse aid when washing my MFs.
 
You could try boiling them as well.
 
I'll have to give vinegar a try when I do my next wash.

Thanks for all the advice so far, very reassuring that my towels are still ok.
 
Usually IME the vinegar is suggested in the rinse cycle to help remove detergent residue. I'm going to back up Dubbin's KISS suggestion--just wash them again. Not the end of the world.
 
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