View Full Version : Correct way to wash towels and applicators??
E30 325i
08-08-2002, 02:28 PM
OK so I just detailed my car. I washed, clayed, polished, and waxed. Overall, I used 3 foam applicators and 7 100% cotton terry cloth towels. I used the Mothers California Gold Clay bar, Meguiars Scratch X, Meguiars polish, and Meguiars Gold Class wax, and Meguiars Quick Detailer. Now to the question, is it OK if I just put all the applicators and towels I just used in the laundry at the same time to clean? I know there is a lot of residue from the products (QD, scratch X, polish, wax) on the applicators and towels, but should that matter?
Which one`s can go together in the laundry and which ones should NOT go together?
imported_Aurora40
08-08-2002, 03:18 PM
I wash terrys, foam applicators, and wash sponges all together on hot with Tide. I wash MF`s seperately on warm or cold. I`ve never had a problem with the products getting all over. The wash really gets them out. Sometimes a lot of dirt in a foam pad won`t come out, but it doesn`t gunk up anything else. That pad just becomes a junk one.
samiam513
08-08-2002, 03:36 PM
I wash all cottons and mf`s separate.
Foam apps sit in a hot dawn/water mix over night (in a bucket of course) and then get rinsed many many times the next day.
CharlesW
08-08-2002, 03:45 PM
Foam applicators I wash by hand in a bucket of Dawn, and air dry them. If a cotton towel or MF is exceptionally dirty, it gets the same Dawn wash first and then the towels and MF are washed together in warm water in the washing machine. The towels are dried in the drier, but the MF comes out while still damp and hung up to air dry. I don`t really think it would hurt the MF to dry it completely in the drier. I have only been using the MF for about three weeks, so I`m still not sure just how to treat them.
Charles
E30 325i
08-08-2002, 04:07 PM
Interesting... all of you wash applicators by hand, is there anything wrong with throwing the applicators in the laundry?
chevyguy28
08-08-2002, 04:12 PM
I don`t see any harm with throwing them in the washing machine except for that they may not get cleaned properly. Soaking them in a dawn solution will help loosen any dried material stuck in the foam. I see foam pads lasting longer this way.
Overall, it`s not much extra work. Maybe you can clean them while the rest is in the washing machine?
imported_Aurora40
08-08-2002, 04:26 PM
Originally posted by E30 325i
Interesting... all of you wash applicators by hand, is there anything wrong with throwing the applicators in the laundry?
Like I said, I do it. I`ve never had a problem. They come out clean. I can`t see Dawn being any better at removing/loosening product than Tide is. Also, a machine can agitate much better than your hands can, and can deliver much hotter water than you`d be able to put your hands in (which is why machine-washed clothes are cleaner than hand-washed). I suppose over a long period of time, machine washing might shorten the life more than hand washing, but I don`t want to keep my pads forever. I even toss them in the dryer with my terrys (not for as long, though) and they haven`t fallen apart yet.
CharlesW
08-08-2002, 04:30 PM
Originally posted by E30 325i
Interesting... all of you wash applicators by hand, is there anything wrong with throwing the applicators in the laundry?
My thinking was that the product in the applicator I didn`t want being transferred to the towels and MF in the washing machine. Kinda like the whites with whites, reds with reds with regular laundry.
Charles