What's your MF towel washing routine?

Ive been using poorboys world tornado pad cleaner. Works good, little better than griots microfiber/pad cleaner imo. thats all ive tried so far. Griots is pretty potent...can take your breath away.

Was thinking about trying 3d towel kleen next, and will do for sure since so many of yinz recommend it

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I use Tide with hot water. With a fast agitation.
When the washer is done I restart it and run it again with no detergent. Then toss them in the dryer on hot.

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I wash with either Griots, R2R and towel kleen.

I mix with a free and clear as in a Griots video the mentioned the MF washes are good to get out the waxes, sealants and polishes and regular detergent get out dirt and stains

I add Vinegar to the wash cycle per Fly07sti sometimes and sometimes in rinse cycle.

I wash on hot if using polishes or LSP’s (Griots recommended in a video) Medium for just dirty wash and drying towels.

2 rinse cycles.

I feel my towels are too rough(not fluffy) just hang drying so i will dry on low for 15 mins which fluffs them up and leaves them a little damp and then hang dry.


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dieselfan1 said:
I use Tide with hot water. With a fast agitation.
When the washer is done I restart it and run it again with no detergent. Then toss them in the dryer on hot.

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Click to expand...
Hot heat is a NO NO with mf towels

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I usually presoak them ( but not always ) and use either 3D or DD
Dry in dryer on LOW!!
 
Wash with 3d Towel Clean, vinegar in softener compartment. Sanitary cycle. Hang dry.

There was a huge thread on the old Autopia forum about microfiber care.

And, yes, I know that some manufacturers will say wash in warm water. The washer can't get the water hot enough to damage the towels.

I'm not going to debate my washing process, it works for me. And my opinion is worth what you paid for it.

Ron Ketchum, however, forgot more than most people will ever know about vehicle paint care. His opinion matters, mine does not.
 
Prange said:
Wash with 3d Towel Clean, vinegar in softener compartment. Sanitary cycle. Hang dry.

There was a huge thread on the old Autopia forum about microfiber care.

And, yes, I know that some manufacturers will say wash in warm water. The washer can't get the water hot enough to damage the towels.

I'm not going to debate my washing process, it works for me. And my opinion is worth what you paid for it.

Ron Ketchum, however, forgot more than most people will ever know about vehicle paint care. His opinion matters, mine does not.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm leaning towards hot water for washing my mf towels instead of warm, can't be much of a difference at the end of the day

Air drying has been almost exclusively my go to for drying unless I've got a huuuge load of towels to do and/or need a specific towel.

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Klasse Act said:
Hot heat is a NO NO with mf towels
Click to expand...

I understand that this perspective is the general consensus... But why?

Most home hot water is probably in the 120F-140F temperature range. I don't see that as any concern at all for the washing stage.

Now for the drying stage, here's a previous post of mine...

2black1s said:
I'm not recommending to dry microfibers on high heat settings (I use medium on my dryer that has 4 settings - no heat, low heat, med heat, & high heat) but for the sake of discussion I looked up the melting temperatures for polyester and polyamide fibers...

Polyester = 482 F
Polyamide = 494 F

With those kind of melting points what is the concern in regards to microfiber towel drying temperatures?

Residential dryers get no where near those temperatures. The hottest surface I could measure inside my dryer on the highest setting is ~ 170 F.
Click to expand...

So my question remains... Where did this general aversion to high heat settings for washing/drying microfiber come from?
 
For what it is worth; I always presoak in some water. Then, wash with All Free and Clear on cold. Then air dry in the dryer.

However, based on this thread, I am going to try washing with warm water.
 
2black1s said:
I understand that this perspective is the general consensus... But why?

Most home hot water is probably in the 120F-140F temperature range. I don't see that as any concern at all for the washing stage.

Now for the drying stage, here's a previous post of mine...



So my question remains... Where did this general aversion to high heat settings for washing/drying microfiber come from?
Click to expand...

There's some conflicting info out there with regards to melting points.
How To Wash Your Microfiber Towels | DETALKS - YouTube
https://www.koch-chemie.com/media/content/news/06-2021/Washing_instructions_Microfiber_towels_EN.pdf
How to Wash & Maintain Your Microfiber Towels - YouTube

Griot's seems fine with washing on high heat if your hot water is 120F or lower but not drying on high heat.
 
My process is this. Normal use MF’s get washed in warm water with TK or R2R. MF’s that are use for polish or compound removal or ceramic leveling get washed in in double recommend amount of TK or R2R and a cup of white vinegar. All get dried in dryer on low setting.
 
I can attest to not drying on the highest setting also. While it didn’t melt my towels, it did make the ends a little rough and would not use them on nice paint.
 
Looks like 60 C / 140 F may actually be glass transition temperature, not melting point. Not the same but glass transition temperature is probably not a term that many people know.
 
fly07sti said:
My process is this. Normal use MF’s get washed in warm water with TK or R2R. MF’s that are use for polish or compound removal or ceramic leveling get washed in in double recommend amount of TK or R2R and a cup of white vinegar. All get dried in dryer on low setting.
Click to expand...
Now if there's a guy to listen to about mf towels...right here everyone, has a shed FULL OF EM'

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Klasse Act said:
Hot heat is a NO NO with mf towels

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Click to expand...

A hot wash will absolutely not hurt towels. Been doing it to all my towels including PfM’s for 2 years with no degradation.

I do however believe it breaks down sealants in the towels has so far I have not had any drying aid towels turn hydrophobic.

I very seriously doubt drying on hot will affect them. I’ve done it a couple times to find what works best for me and there were no negative effects.

As [mention]2black1s [/mention] posted the melting point of microfiber components are alot hotter than your dryer will get.

Also lots of articles (i found one from Adam’s polish) that recommend boiling your towels when they loose absorbency.

If they can handle a boil they can handle a dryer. I felt the towels had a weird feel after kinda like they were too dry (?). Still prefer my fluff and hang method.

They don’t seem to be selling anything on this article and there are no links to products so i’ll post link to article

How to Clean your Microfiber Towels - Adam's Polishes


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Coatingsarecrack said:
A hot wash will absolutely not hurt towels. Been doing it to all my towels including PfM’s for 2 years with no degradation.

I do however believe it breaks down sealants in the towels has so far I have not had any drying aid towels turn hydrophobic.

I very seriously doubt drying on hot will affect them. I’ve done it a couple times to find what works best for me and there were no negative effects.

As [mention]2black1s [/mention] posted the melting point of microfiber components are alot hotter than your dryer will get.

Also lots of articles (i found one from Adam’s polish) that recommend boiling your towels when they loose absorbency.

If they can handle a boil they can handle a dryer. I felt the towels had a weird feel after kinda like they were too dry (?). Still prefer my fluff and hang method.

They don’t seem to be selling anything on this article and there are no links to products so i’ll post link to article

How to Clean your Microfiber Towels - Adam's Polishes


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Click to expand...
I was talking about drying them

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joebruin77 said:
I'm a fan of P and S Rags To Riches Microfiber Detergent. As others have mentioned, wash with hot water, dry on the lowest heat setting possible (dryer heat will damage the fine microfibers), and avoid fabric softeners. I also make sure not to mix my towels with any other clothes -I always wash a load dedicated to just towels.

The Rags To Riches keeps the towels in good shape and have even rejuvinated some older towels back into shape.
Click to expand...

I really like R to R as well. Do you tend to use a bit more than what is suggested on the label? I used to run an additional rinse cycle when I used Micro Restore. I find that R to R rinses away better and one rinse cycle works fine.
 
I always run a little more soap, whether it's R2R or TK

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MisterSnoop said:
There's some conflicting info out there with regards to melting points.
How To Wash Your Microfiber Towels | DETALKS - YouTube
https://www.koch-chemie.com/media/content/news/06-2021/Washing_instructions_Microfiber_towels_EN.pdf
How to Wash & Maintain Your Microfiber Towels - YouTube
Griot's seems fine with washing on high heat if your hot water is 120F or lower but not drying on high heat.
Click to expand...


I'm calling BS on the 140F melting point referenced in these links.

I did a little test to see for myself how heat affects the towels fibers and I found absolutely no discernible degradation. The test consisted of several cycles at temperatures of ~ 140F, 200F, 260F, 310F, 375F, and 415F.

I took a brand new microfiber towel, heated the iron to the desired temperature, placed the iron on the microfiber towel for a one-minute dwell time, then measured the iron temperature at the end of the dwell. At the end of each cycle I ran my fingers over the microfiber towel to see if I could feel any change. No change in feel was detected. I did this at each of the target temperatures noted above.

Here's everything I used for the test... Iron, Infrared Thermometer, Stopwatch, and new Microfiber Towel.
View attachment 74495


These next three pics show the iron temperature at the beginning of the dwell period, the dwell period, and the iron temperature at the end of the dwell period. This was the first of several test cycles at various temperatures.
View attachment 74488

View attachment 74489

View attachment 74490


These next three pics show the iron temperature at the beginning of the dwell period, the dwell period, and the iron temperature at the end of the dwell period. This was the final of several test cycles at various temperatures.
View attachment 74491

View attachment 74492

View attachment 74493


In this pic you can see the towel following the testing. The lower left corner of the towel is where the testing occurred. It is somewhat flattened from the multiple "iron" cycles but exhibits no other change.
View attachment 74494


My conclusions from the described test is that you can wash and dry your towels at any temperature you like. I will continue to wash mine in hot water for the best cleaning. For drying I will remain on the conservative side and dry them on a medium heat setting.
 
Wash with cold water and Rags to Riches, dry on low.
 
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