front-loading washing machine

[ybajwa]

Hi, I managed to get a front-loading washing machine and seems to work great for large and small loads of microfiber towels

For cleaning PC pads, would it be safe to use machine washing? The machine has an 'ultra handwash' setting which is its most gentle setting.

I'm guessing handwashing the pads would probably help the velcro backing to last longer, but as long as they last reasonably long the time vs cost trade-off might be worth just putting them through a machine wash. Has anyone tried this, what type of results did you get? More specifcally, has anyone documented how many machine washes their pads lastted for? I have a bunch of 6.5in LC pads for now, no other types.

[Danase]

I don't have a front loader so my experience is not going to be the same probably but I machine washed some pads once and a couple of them shredded up pretty good. The velcro was fine but the foam shredded. I prefer to just do it by hand.

[-Lebowski-]

I use a front loader all the time for pads. I even used the heavyest setting to test it and they came out perfect. Been doing it for over a year. Only time you need to worry about the washer is if it has that agitator in the middle, then it will rip sh!t up.

[-Lebowski-]

Either that or spray them with diluted APC and use your pressure washer and blast the crud off. That works great as well for me.

[miked2]

I wash all my stuff in a front-loader washer, using pre-wash, extra rinse, and the the heaviest cotton setting, all on hot. Including pads. The pads are Griot's, and they come out just fine. I like the pre-wash, which on our machine is a short wash cycle that drains after it's done, so it gets rid of most of the grime at the beginning, so that the main cycle isn't sloshing around as much dirt.

I never use a dryer, however. I air dry everything. There are little gadgets that attach to the wall, and look like a towel rack, but extend to be a drying rack. These work nice.

Also, never ever use fabric softener -- either in the washer or the dryer (e.g., bounce sheets). Fabric softener is essentially a water-repellant coating, almost wax-like, and so you don't want that on things that are supposed to absorb water or apply their own wax. Some liquid fabric softeners are actually made from animal oils -- not much different than the first Zymol waxes in the early 20th century!

[BigAl3]

i fill up a bucket with water and some dishwashing detergent (dawn or whatever you have) and let it sit for 30 minutes or so and then put it in some clean water, agitate it, then wring out ... done. havent had any probs thus far.

[tom p.]

We've got one, too. It's gentler than the top loader.

I always pre-wash (Dawn, Simple Green, citrus-based degreaser, etc.) any seriously dirty crap...I don't want that all over the machine. I normally use Charlie's Soap or Tide and select an extra rinse and that's it. Air-dry afterwards.



BTW, these are fantastic machines, water consumption is WAY down.

[twitch]

Originally Posted by tom p.

We've got one, too. It's gentler than the top loader.

I always pre-wash (Dawn, Simple Green, citrus-based degreaser, etc.) any seriously dirty crap...I don't want that all over the machine. I normally use Charlie's Soap or Tide and select an extra rinse and that's it. Air-dry afterwards.



BTW, these are fantastic machines, water consumption is WAY down.

thats very close to th one that I have. I've used it to wash my pads and I didn't have any issues.

Another thing to do would be to add vinegar to the rinse cycle to act as a "rinse aid". I usually fill the fabric softner section with vinegar.

[tom p.]

Originally Posted by twitch

Another thing to do would be to add vinegar to the rinse cycle to act as a "rinse aid". I usually fill the fabric softner section with vinegar.

That's a fine suggestion. I've had a good luck doing that, too.