Microfiber Towels Not Absorbing - HELP!

Marc08EX

Marc08EX

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On my last microfiber wash, I decided to add a teaspoon of vinegar in the rinse cycle. I've read from some threads here that it makes the microfiber towels more absorbent and fluffier. This was my first time to do it so I was expecting my MF towels to look and act like it was new.

This already happened twice but when I use the MF towel for QD'ing, it seems like the towel is having a hard time absorbing the product. (Using Meg's M135 and Supreme Shine Microfibers) It literally just spreads the product around on the first pass. I have to do multiple passes for the product to get absorbed by the towel. Before, the towel would absorb it on the first pass. This creates a very bad streaking problem too.

The other variable that changed is the temperature but I don't think this should affect the absorbancy of the microfiber towels.

Did I mess up on using vinegar on my towels??? Anybody experienced this before?

THANKS!!!
 
I'd try washing them again in just water. But make sure it's on the hot/warm setting, and let them soak in water for at least 15-20 minutes. Those supreme shines are pre-washed at the factory. I think the vinegar might have got inside the fabric, and thus not allowing it to absorb anything.
 
If rewashing in hot water and mf detergent doesnt work, then boil the towels. That should do the trick.
 
No worries. Your towels are fine. The vinegar in the rinse helped to remove all excess residues from your towels, including the calcium, magnesium, and other stray minerals found in normal tap water. With these "impurities" gone, the microfibers are free to regain their normal static electricity properties.

Most likely, any QD you are using is made with pure, deionized water. Pure water is not a good conductor of electricity due to the lack of any minerals. Therefore, the initial tendency of the static charged towel is to resist bonding with pure liquid.

Now that you know way more chemistry than you ever wanted :rolleyes:....

Yes, this has happened to me before. To prevent issues with wipe down, you just need to spray a little QD onto your towel first and scrunch it a little to break the surface tension. Then the towel will be able to absorb as normal and you're good to go. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the great advice so far!!!

After the vinegar rinse, I rinsed the towels another time just to be sure that I'm removing all the vinegar residue. I'm not sure if that counts for a re-wash. In any case, once I get a sizable load, I'll wash the towels again.

So boiling the towels won't damage them?

Thanks for the lesson! I love learning how things work. I've always sprayed QD on my towel before even starting. So even when I did that, the problem still exists.

A good comparison is like washing your foam applicator pads that you used to apply sealants/paste waxes with. It'll bead off the water first and then absorb the water once you start pressing on the pad. I feel that my towel is doing the same thing now. It never did this before...
 
Iirc you can boil towels twice in their life time? Idk I briefly read about it
 
a teaspoon of vinegar is nothing... I use at least a cup!
 
I just did a decent size load last night. Most towels are new.

- 8 Gold Plush Jr.
- 6 Pumpkin
- 5 CG Edgeless Black
- 2 CG Sasquatch
- 1 Supreme 530
- 1 blue waffle weave drying towel
- 1 green guzzler with pockets
- 1 gold Guzzler HD
- 1 Chenille wash mitt

I used a Samsung front load washer with 2oz. of Pinnacle Micro Restore in the main dispenser along with about 3-4oz. of white vinegar in the bleach dispenser.

I set the machine to Warm/Cold, Fast Spin, Extra Rinse.

After that I threw them in the dryer on Low for 40 minutes and took them out this morning to fold.

Super fluffy and ready to go. I might take some pictures to show the relative size of each.
 
amnbcn said:
No worries. Your towels are fine. The vinegar in the rinse helped to remove all excess residues from your towels, including the calcium, magnesium, and other stray minerals found in normal tap water. With these "impurities" gone, the microfibers are free to regain their normal static electricity properties.

Most likely, any QD you are using is made with pure, deionized water. Pure water is not a good conductor of electricity due to the lack of any minerals. Therefore, the initial tendency of the static charged towel is to resist bonding with pure liquid.

Now that you know way more chemistry than you ever wanted :rolleyes:....

Yes, this has happened to me before. To prevent issues with wipe down, you just need to spray a little QD onto your towel first and scrunch it a little to break the surface tension. Then the towel will be able to absorb as normal and you're good to go. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Yeah it's wired science! A damp MF towel will absorb water better. Water is attracted to itself, hence water tension and the fact that water sheeting happens also. It clings to itself and sheets off a waxed surface. MF towels need a little H2O to attract more H2O. Vinegar does help and boiling also works. No damage will be done. MF are synthetic anyways. They can withstand more then some natural products.
 
this all reminds me of a brain teaser...

What gets wetter as it dries????:confused::dunno:




A TOWEL! :doh:
 
NIS240SHU said:
I just did a decent size load last night. Most towels are new.

- 8 Gold Plush Jr.
- 6 Pumpkin
- 5 CG Edgeless Black
- 2 CG Sasquatch
- 1 Supreme 530
- 1 blue waffle weave drying towel
- 1 green guzzler with pockets
- 1 gold Guzzler HD
- 1 Chenille wash mitt

I used a Samsung front load washer with 2oz. of Pinnacle Micro Restore in the main dispenser along with about 3-4oz. of white vinegar in the bleach dispenser.

I set the machine to Warm/Cold, Fast Spin, Extra Rinse.

After that I threw them in the dryer on Low for 40 minutes and took them out this morning to fold.

Super fluffy and ready to go. I might take some pictures to show the relative size of each.
Click to expand...

Nice collection of MF!

i do about the same in my LG front loader, however, ive been using the ultra delicate cycle (which only has warm as the hottest temp setting). I found that the ultra delicate setting actually fills the machine with water, unlike the other settings that splash the towels around in a miniscule puddle in the bottom of the wash drum.

by filling up the drum with water, the towels are in the cleaning solution (tide free or micro restore, and vinegar in the bleach dispenser) for a prolonged time. my machine will gently agitate the drum for a few seconds then stop for a few minutes. this process is repeated several times (including refill with warm water twice) over the timed cycle (45 minutes i believe). then i always add the second rinse to ensure the towels are totally clean. only if im in a hurry (usually i hang dry) ill toss them in the dryer on ultra delicate for 20-30 minutes...almost no heat at all. the towels are working great this way.
 
If your towels have grease or wax build up, add a 1/4 cup of Simple Green to the wash (hot). It really works well at removing this stuff from towels. A few weeks ago a replaced the hydraulic filled lower control arm bushings on my friends E46 BMW. Besides the bushings blowing up and leaking nasty fluid all over the place, the car had an oil leak, and the lower end was coated in greasy dirty filth. Several old cotton bath towels were used to wipe stuff down and they were coated with grease and looked like they were ready for the dumpster. But I been through this before and know better. I washed them with regular detergent and some SG and they came out grease free with only a few light stains. I wish I took before and after pictures because it was kind of hard to believe. They were also pretty soft and fluffy. I'm sure if this stuff can remove burnt motor oil, it should have no problem with wax. I think I would be more apt to try this before I boiled towels on the stove.

Best part about it was the washer was also left clean, no nasty grease ring.
 
Sorry to bring an old thread back to life but I used a few of my waffle weave microfiber towels with Meguiars D156 Synthetic X-press Spray Wax as a drying aid. Needless to say, the towels no longer absorb water like before and just glide on top unless I get them damp...

I've tried washing them a couple times with Towel Kleen and the came clean (spotless) but still don't like to absorb water anymore. Should I try simple green or boiling next?
 
How did you dry your towels? Were they air dried or put in the dryer? If the dryer setting was too high, then you risk the possibility of melting the fibers. That means they won't absorb anything.
 
UncleDavy said:
How did you dry your towels? Were they air dried or put in the dryer? If the dryer setting was too high, then you risk the possibility of melting the fibers. That means they won't absorb anything.
Click to expand...

Marc may not answer you, UD. He hasn't been active in some time. (Which sucks, because he was a great guy that helped me tremendously as a newbie).

This old thread got pulled up by a spammer..........
 
PaulMys said:
Marc may not answer you, UD. He hasn't been active in some time. (Which sucks, because he was a great guy that helped me tremendously as a newbie).

This old thread got pulled up by a spammer..........
Click to expand...

You always wonder what happened to some people who were once very active on here but have been MIA for a long time… One of the people I remember is Brutal Noodle. That guy was cool and even sent me a package once with several different kinds of new microfiber towels.

I remember getting that package and thinking those towels were so plush that I had a hard time using them because I didn’t want to get them dirty… And as a matter of fact I still have some of them still brand new in the zip lock bags he sent them in. How cool was that of him to do that out of nowhere.

d850113e215142c45bf673bba184fb98.jpg
 
Eldorado2k said:
You always wonder what happened to some people who were once very active on here but have been MIA for a long time… One of the people I remember is Brutal Noodle. That guy was cool and even sent me a package once with several different kinds of new microfiber towels.

I remember getting that package and thinking those towels were so plush that I had a hard time using them because I didn’t want to get them dirty… And as a matter of fact I still have some of them still brand new in the zip lock bags he sent them in. How cool was that of him to do that out of nowhere.
Click to expand...

Yes!! Now that was a great dude......... I miss him a ton. :/
 
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