Washing MF towels??

sas71 · 05-17-08, 02:02

is there a special way to wash mf towels, or can i just was them like i would any old towel?

SuperBee364 · 05-17-08, 02:10

You'll get a bunch of different thoughts and methods on this one. There are a bunch of threads where this has been discussed at length. Might want to look for em.

Alot of guys will disagree with me, but here's what I do... I have a Sanitize cycle on my washer. Basically it heats the water up high enough to kill germs. I use that cycle with regular washing detergent, no fabric softener, and about 1/2 cup of white vinegar in the bleach dispenser. Then select an extra rinse cycle, and highest speed spin. Then into the dryer on automatic setting. This works so well that even my wheel towels look darn near brand new.

There are also quite a few diferent detergents made specifically for MF care... Do a quick search and you'll have about an hours worth of reading material.

BigAl3 · 05-17-08, 02:16

liquid detergent (tide) in warm water, and on the last rinse cycle add 4-5oz's of vinegar. then off into the dryer on the lowest heat setting with NO fabric softener/dryer sheet...

sas71 · 05-17-08, 03:31

thanks
all the tag said was no bleach and use warm water

abbeysdad · 05-17-08, 04:53

My MF towels are terrible - product(s) have made them so for the most part, they repel water anymore. It's like the wax/sealant is now part of the towel.
Most are stained and no matter how I wash them they're just one bin away from the trash can.
Anybody have a wash method to restore towels ?

SuperBee364 · 05-17-08, 04:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbeysdad

My MF towels are terrible - product(s) have made them so for the most part, they repel water anymore. It's like the wax/sealant is now part of the towel.
Most are stained and no matter how I wash them they're just one bin away from the trash can.
Anybody have a wash method to restore towels ?

That is soooo aggravating when they do that. Some people have said that boiling them will restore their absorbing quality. I've never tried it, though. Since I've been using the really hot water wash, I haven't had any of them start to repel water. They do seem to wear out faster from the harsh washings, though.

I guess you really wouldn't have anything to lose by trying the boiling technique, as a repellent MF is pretty worthless.

bert31 · 05-17-08, 04:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by abbeysdad

My MF towels are terrible - product(s) have made them so for the most part, they repel water anymore. It's like the wax/sealant is now part of the towel.
Most are stained and no matter how I wash them they're just one bin away from the trash can.
Anybody have a wash method to restore towels ?

I have heard of some guys boiling their towels to get the garbage out of the threads.

JonP · 05-17-08, 05:03

I just use Woolite on warm setting and air dry when done. I also use certain color towels for that job and that job only, ex. blue for windows, yellow/remove wax, silver/chrome, etc.

GatorJ · 05-17-08, 05:16

Even the XXXX-Free detergents have a lot of additives in them. Washing your MF's in water temperature hot enough to sanitize them runs contrary to the directions of EVERY manufacturer. If you want to care for them properly:

1) MF speciality detergent such as Micro Restore
2) Charlie's Soap
3) Woolite

In that order

SuperBee364 · 05-17-08, 05:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by GatorJ

Even the XXXX-Free detergents have a lot of additives in them. Washing your MF's in water temperature hot enough to sanitize them runs contrary to the directions of EVERY manufacturer. If you want to care for them properly:

1) MF speciality detergent such as Micro Restore
2) Charlie's Soap
3) Woolite

In that order

Yup, it sure does. And the debate about washing MF's in hot water has been done in so many threads here. It's about as controversial as Zaino, really. I've been doing it for over a year now, and have yet to have one turn repellant since. Works for me.

abbeysdad · 05-17-08, 05:29

Thanks guys - even my white waffle weaves that I've mostly only used only for ONR washes seem to be this way too. I was washing in Oxiclean. Maybe I'll try woolite in hot water or the boiling thing. (although my white WW tag says cold water wash. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll buy some new ones and reserve them for dedicated jobs and wash separately (a bit of a pain though). Ya know, I was really noticing that the packet stuff I mixed with warm/hot water and soaked my pads in overnight did a great job of breaking down the polish/lsp and the pads cleaned up really nice. You'd think a pre-soak in something would remove 'product' from towels. Maybe something like a degreaser or DAWN (lol-couldn't resist).
So for most of you, you just wash regular and you don't have trouble with towels repelling water?

Saleenman607 · 05-17-08, 06:56

I like to take my MFs and soak them in a 5gal bucket with dawn (6oz) overnight, then wash. Seems to work for me as I've not purchased MFs for 2 years. (tho I'm not a professional detailer I do 3 or 4 cars a week)