Microfiber towels leave fine “fibers” behind

H

hooked

New member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Messages
152
Reaction score
0
I’ve noticed when I use my microfiber towels to clean glass that there are really fine lint particles left behind. They are maybe a millimeter long and extremely thin. They do not have any noticeable color and just transmit the light through them. I guess they are not noticeable on paint because you are not looking through it. They are noticeable when the sun/light hits the windshield at certain angles. Admittedly, most of these towels are a few years old, but I never mix the MF towels with regular clothes when I wash them and use All detergent with no scent or other additives. I also hang them up to dry instead of running them through the dryer.

Has anyone had this issue before? Are my towels just disintegrating from age and use?
 
1. Your towels are seeing the effects of their age. Refreshing your stock will result in a big noticeable difference in quality. You’ll wonder what took you so long.

2. Switch from regular microfibers to 70/30 blend waffle weaves for doing glass. Keep those towels separate from your regular all purpose microfiber towels. I personally wash my glass towels with my wash mitts.

3. Dry your towels in the dryer on low heat. You’re doing a disservice to your towels by not drying them in the dryer. Not only will they be noticeably softer, but thanks to the dryers lint trap they’ll naturally come out of the dryer with the least lint possible.
 
Eldorado2k said:
1. Your towels are seeing the effects of their age. Refreshing your stock will result in a big noticeable difference in quality. You’ll wonder what took you so long.

2. Switch from regular microfibers to 70/30 blend waffle weaves for doing glass. Keep those towels separate from your regular all purpose microfiber towels. I personally wash my glass towels with my wash mitts.

3. Dry your towels in the dryer on low heat. You’re doing a disservice to your towels by not drying them in the dryer. Not only will they be noticeably softer, but thanks to the dryers lint trap they’ll naturally come out of the dryer with the least lint possible.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I never throw them in the dryer for fear that any residue left behind by the dryer sheets I use for the regular laundry might get on the MF towels.
 
hooked said:
Thanks for the info. I never throw them in the dryer for fear that any residue left behind by the dryer sheets I use for the regular laundry might get on the MF towels.
Click to expand...

I’ve never noticed any negative effects from that. And not that I’d advise... But not too long ago my brother thought he’d do me a favor and toss a batch of my microfiber towels that I had left in the washer the previous night into the dryer for me.. He tossed them into the dryer and set it to high heat for a full dry cycle [60 minutes!] and just to top it off he put 2 dryer sheets in there!

I was so mad I seriously thought about throwing all those towels straight into the garbage that’s how frustrated I was. Lol. But to be honest I didn’t see any noticeable degradation in any way. I’m still using those towels and I couldn’t tell you which ones they were compared to the rest of them now that they’ve been mixed in.
 
I will agree with everything Eldo has said and would also add that you can just run a lint roller over your MF’s prior to using.
 
Eldorado2k said:
I’ve never noticed any negative effects from that. And not that I’d advise... But not too long ago my brother thought he’d do me a favor and toss a batch of my microfiber towels that I had left in the washer the previous night into the dryer for me.. He tossed them into the dryer and set it to high heat for a full dry cycle [60 minutes!] and just to top it off he put 2 dryer sheets in there!

I was so mad I seriously thought about throwing all those towels straight into the garbage that’s how frustrated I was. Lol. But to be honest I didn’t see any noticeable degradation in any way. I’m still using those towels and I couldn’t tell you which ones they were compared to the rest of them now that they’ve been mixed in.
Click to expand...

That confirms that high heat in the dryer will not destroy mf towels. I use a normal setting because the delicate cycle takes too long to dry and it always feel sort of damp.
 
Rsurfer said:
That confirms that high heat in the dryer will not destroy mf towels. I use a normal setting because the delicate cycle takes too long to dry and it always feel sort of damp.
Click to expand...

Yeah from what I read you have to get height than 140 with dry heat to maybe do damage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
fly07sti said:
I will agree with everything Eldo has said and would also add that you can just run a lint roller over your MF’s prior to using.
Click to expand...

Never thought of this awesome idea. Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
if you got a few years of service out of your microfiber towels you got your money's worth (they don't last forever). if you have already laundered them (a few times) and they still lint, it's time to retire them and delegate them elsewhere (engine, house, etc.) before tossing them...
 
Whilst everyone is giving you excellent microfiber care tips, what you’re experiencing probably has nothing to do with how you’re washing and drying them and all to do with the TYPE of microfiber you’re using.

Someone was on the right track here suggesting a 70/30 blend waffle weave. The blend has nothing to do with it but the nap and weave... everything.

For glass you want short nap and tight weave with a pattern; waffle/diamond, whatever is the hottest trend.

The short nap and weave means the ‘side’ of the fibre is doing the work and has little room to move because both ends are anchored within the cloth and not free to move with an end exposed. Whereas with a long nap, loop or straight pile cloth, it will do what it’s designed to do by moving with the direction of cloth motion and gripping to the surface to pull dirt/contaminants.

If you’ve rubbed a clean hand over a good quality microfiber cloth, you’ll know the ‘sandpaper’ feeling I’m talking about.

Glass, due to its makeup, has a microscopic tight texture and the tendency to grab on to any loose fibres of the cloth and pull them out of the pile.

This is what you’re seeing on the glass.

Any unsuitable microfiber cloth will do this with glass, new/old or air dried/dryer dried.

Wash your microfiber properly but most importantly, pick the right cloth for the job. You seem like you’ve got a good attention to detail if you’re spotting fibres so you’ll have a much more pleasurable time if you do.
 
Thanks. I just ordered a few more waffle weaves. I also ordered some 420 gsm 70/30 blend microfiber towels so I can retire the older ones to house cleaning duty.

When I do the windows I usually use two waffle weaves, but one morning this week the inside of the windshield has some serious condensation so I grabbed the first Mf towel from the drawer and used that. It was a plush dual sided one with silk lining that I got a while ago from Autogeek. Don’t remember the brand. On the way home from dropping my kid to school, the sun was directly ahead of me and I could see the lint on the windshield.

I’ll start separating out the WW towels from the others when washing.
 
WristyManchego said:
Someone was on the right track here suggesting a 70/30 blend waffle weave. The blend has nothing to do with it but the nap and weave... everything.
Click to expand...

A waffle weave that’s 80/20 blend is less absorbent and will become saturated faster than a 70/30 blend towel. When it comes to glass especially, I want a towel with the ability to soak up more liquid while also doing a better job at staying dry, because a damp towel that absorbs less water to begin with is not as effective at getting glass completely dry and streak free.
 
Eldorado2k said:
A waffle weave that’s 80/20 blend is less absorbent and will become saturated faster than a 70/30 blend towel. When it comes to glass especially, I want a towel with the ability to soak up more liquid while also doing a better job at staying dry, because a damp towel that absorbs less water to begin with is not as effective at getting glass completely dry and streak free.
Click to expand...

Sure, but we’re talking about fibres on glass here.
 
hooked said:
Oh man. I hate TRYING TO clean glass!
Click to expand...

The worst part is trying to do the inside of the windshield after a long detail, because it’s the last thing you do and by then you’re probably exhausted and want to wrap it up, and because you’re exhausted you’re probably sweating and therefore creating condensation from all the wiping back n forth while trying to contort your tired body and not bring any dirt back into the perfect interior. The more you wipe the worse it gets and next thing you know you’re full blown OCD on that windshield trying to chase never ending fog/steaks.

It’s good advice to remind yourself to knock out the interior of the windshield sooner instead of dead last.
 
WristyManchego said:
Whilst everyone is giving you excellent microfiber care tips, what you’re experiencing probably has nothing to do with how you’re washing and drying them and all to do with the TYPE of microfiber you’re using.

Any unsuitable microfiber cloth will do this with glass, new/old or air dried/dryer dried.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have yet to find the perfect glass towel, and as the OP noted the "micro lint" on the glass is really annoying and difficult to remove.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top