Washing Microfiber towels - what temp ?

W

Whitewater25

Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2015
Messages
618
Reaction score
0
I have a bucket of microfiber towels soaking in 3D towel Kleen overnight to wash tomorrow,I will dry them on low heat but which temp do you all find is best for the wash cycle?
 
I'm hot and on high all the way through.

Some may say cold and low temp on the drying cycle. :dunno:

Typically hot water should help break down things. I've even heard of others boiling theirs in vinegar to help remove built up detergents.

Unless I find them fused to my dryer, I will continue my ways.
 
I wash on hot dry on low. No need to dry them on higher temps.
 
I agree with hot to help break down residue. Double rinse with a couple tablespoons of vinegar in the first rinse. Dry on low.
 
I wash them warm, based on a few things I read and saw on the web. Mostly based on the Junkman2000's microfiber towel washing video. What it comes down to is, How hot is hot?. At 140F, the polyamide (one of the components of the "microfiber:) starts to melt. Some hot water can get that hot, especially in laundromats. So the idea is to get the microfiber as hot as possible, while not having any melting going on. Hence, warm. I air dry, but the video did say that you could put them in a dryer on cool, or air dry only. I don't want to have to deal with the effects of dryer sheet residues, so I air dry after they come out of the washer.
 
I'm with Mantligh, hot and high.

kkritsilas said:
I wash them warm, based on a few things I read and saw on the web. Mostly based on the Junkman2000's microfiber towel washing video. What it comes down to is, How hot is hot?. At 140F, the polyamide (one of the components of the "microfiber:) starts to melt. Some hot water can get that hot, especially in laundromats. So the idea is to get the microfiber as hot as possible, while not having any melting going on. Hence, warm. I air dry, but the video did say that you could put them in a dryer on cool, or air dry only. I don't want to have to deal with the effects of dryer sheet residues, so I air dry after they come out of the washer.
Click to expand...

This information is just false. I don't know why TRC keeps pushing this false data, I had seen them do it through Yvan at OPT, and apparently through the Junkman also. Here's a chart of melting points in degrees C: Polyamide plays an important role in automotive, electronic and packaging . The lowest melting temperature is 352 F.

I'm not sure which polyamide grade is commonly used for MF towels, but even if you look at the heat distortion temperature the lowest temperature, converted to degrees F, is 239. And if you look at Nylon 6, or 6,6, which are the most common and what I would suspect towels are made of, that heat distortion is temp is 338 and 437 F, while the melting temps are 431 and 500 F.
 
You lost me with the three 6's... What?

I'm just kidding... Those are some interesting facts that you mentioned.


Sent from my iPhone
 
Typically wash on warm with double rinse and dry on low. Will use hot on really dirty or the Costco towels used for grunt work.
Did the hang dry for years but really is not necessary, actually made the thicker towels stiff.
 
I'm about to christen these new towels by washing them in cold water with just a bit of detergent and dry them on low heat for about 25-30min...

5640382fdb5aee157cea65c271d2607b.jpg


But I usually wash with hot water. Dry on low.

cyclops said:
Did the hang dry for years but really is not necessary, actually made the thicker towels stiff.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this.^ IME air dried towels result stiffer than heck...



Sent from my iPhone
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I'm with Mantligh, hot and high.
This information is just false. I don't know why TRC keeps pushing this false data, I had seen them do it through Yvan at OPT, and apparently through the Junkman also. Here's a chart of melting points in degrees C: Polyamide plays an important role in automotive, electronic and packaging . The lowest melting temperature is 352 F.

I'm not sure which polyamide grade is commonly used for MF towels, but even if you look at the heat distortion temperature the lowest temperature, converted to degrees F, is 239. And if you look at Nylon 6, or 6,6, which are the most common and what I would suspect towels are made of, that heat distortion is temp is 338 and 437 F, while the melting temps are 431 and 500 F.
Click to expand...

Yeah, 140° melting point... it gets hotter than that in our vehicles in the summer time just sitting in the sun. I've not had a towel melt in the glove box. Yet.
 
Harpolith said:
Yeah, 140° melting point... it gets hotter than that in our vehicles in the summer time just sitting in the sun. I've not had a towel melt in the glove box. Yet.
Click to expand...

It doesn't get hot inside the glove box though. Lol.

But there's lots of people who use microfiber towels with their steam cleaners, and we've never heard of microfibers melting away during any of that.


Sent from my iPhone
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I'm with Mantligh, hot and high.



This information is just false. I don't know why TRC keeps pushing this false data, I had seen them do it through Yvan at OPT, and apparently through the Junkman also. Here's a chart of melting points in degrees C: Polyamide plays an important role in automotive, electronic and packaging . The lowest melting temperature is 352 F.

I'm not sure which polyamide grade is commonly used for MF towels, but even if you look at the heat distortion temperature the lowest temperature, converted to degrees F, is 239. And if you look at Nylon 6, or 6,6, which are the most common and what I would suspect towels are made of, that heat distortion is temp is 338 and 437 F, while the melting temps are 431 and 500 F.
Click to expand...

My recollection may have been wrong, or it could have been the polyester that starts to melt at 140F, or the combination of Polyester and Polyamide. Even if incorrect, the whole question becomes what does hot water get you over warm water? By all accounts, warm water with a good for microfiber soap seems to get the microfiber clean just fine. So why use hot? The TRC has nothing to gain financially from telling people to wash in warm vs. hot, so there is no ulterior motive that I can see. Seeing as they are a vendor who has specific knowledge of the product, I would have no reason to do otherwose, unless I had the time and money to do my own testing (grab a bunch of microfiber towels, was them repeatedly at say 120F, 130F, 140F, 150 F, and 160F, while examining the fibers with a microscope after each wash for any evidence of melting). Since I cannot do that, there are far worse things to do than to follow the manufacturer's, or in this case, the people who had the towels manufactured for them, recommendations regarding washing.

And while you have pointed at TRC, note that Larry ??? (don't know his last name) at AMMONYC, Gary Dean, and a variety of other people have also said that warm water is fine for washing microfiber towels.

Basic question to be asked remains: What improvement are you getting by washing microfiber towels at hot vs. warm?
 
kkritsilas said:
Basic question to be asked remains: What improvement are you getting by washing microfiber towels at hot vs. warm?
Click to expand...


Because hot water will make dirt and grime release better than in cold water. Some waxes may not even release when washed in warm water.

I have boiled mf with no bad results.

Would you rather use warm or hot water when extracting soiled carpets?
 
kkritsilas said:
Basic question to be asked remains: What improvement are you getting by washing microfiber towels at hot vs. warm?
Click to expand...

If water temperature didn't make a difference in overall cleaning ability, then there wouldn't be such a huge difference in the cleaning abilities between an entry level steamer such as the Mcculloch 1275, which can bearly generate steam temperatures of around 180-200 degrees if you're lucky, compared to the higher quality professional grade steamers which produce steam at temperatures of 300+ degrees without breaking a sweat.

And it's not all about the psi of the machine either, trust me I've got a McCulloch, and it's a no branier that it's lack of heat holds it back from being able to do the real cleaning you see in the infomercials [where soap scum magically melts away from shower tiles]
The fact is the McCulloch 1275 is very limited in its real deal cleaning power and it has as much to do with temperature as it does it's lack of psi compared to higher grade units.

Heat matters when trying to clean heavy duty grit off most any surfaces with only a few exceptions, such as when working with bleach, it works better in cold water.. But when it comes to cleaning heavy dirt and grit + compound/polish residue off of microfiber towels, hot trumps warm any day of the week.

Why do you think Woolite recommends using cold water? Because you're bearly cleaning those select delicate garmets you're using it with, and that right there is a pretty basic indicator that washing in cold water vs. hot equals a lighter ability to clean vs. using a detergent in hot water.

I could be wrong, but it seems logical to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top