Best Tips on Getting Towels Clean

[pingable]

I tried 3 different MF towels wiping my windows with lint/dust all over my windows now :mad:





What is the best tips to get my MF`s clean. I`m thinking about doing a presoak in hot water/vinegar, rinse, pre soak in hot water/vinegar and then 3 rinse cycles.



Do you think this should do it. I now know that while I can mix/match my towels with wax, polish is fine but I should have a dedicated set of *windows only* towels.



Hell, if I was real anal, I would have specific towels for each stage (wash, polish, dry, interior).

[Spilchy]

I use a pre-soak in Liquid Tide and a scoop of Oxy Clean with warm water. It soaks for a bit then washes. I do an extra rinse to be sure all the soap is out. I also use a larger load cycle so there is plenty of room for the MF`s to swoosh around. They get very clean.



However, sometimes the stain doesn`t come fully out. That doesn`t mean that the MF`s aren`t any good. They can still be used on paint because they are clean. If it gets too stained after cleaning and washing then simply use them for other areas like wheels, door jambs etc...



I have separate MF`s for different uses such as wax removal, polish removal, drying, glass etc... I color coordinate them. Then I have a bunch of KMart MF`s for the wheels, door jambs etc...



I always keep glass MF`s apart from the others when washing.



I don`t use MF`s on the interior (except for clear plastic) - just 100% cotton rags.



Cleaning MF`s has been covered extensively. You can do a search and you`ll see tons of tips on cleaning.

[imported_Tony]

Hi Chef !



If my memory is any good then I remember about a year are two ago some complaints about mf linting. I believe the concluison was defective towels. try a search.



A tip for using mf on glass is to use the less plush side for cleaning glass.

[shaf]

If you`re getting LINT, it may be just the towels and they might stop linting or slow down after a few more washes, or they won`t and you should switch brands...

[pingable]

they`re JT Intl MF`s. I remember a thread way back about a batch of green with the serged edges unraveling but other than that, don`t recall any bad things about the towels.



Hopefully this super washout of mine will get these towels totally clean with no residual wax, etc in it.

[HellrotCi]

I only use JTI towels and I`ve never done anything special as far as washing is concerned. I use liquid Tide and cold water wash/rinsh and I`ve never had any linting problems. I wonder what causes your linting were I don`t have any problems? Linting is a byproduct of the fabric sheading excess or loose material after being washed and dried. I guess JTI could receive their material from different Asian suppliers which could explain why you have a linting problem and I don`t, who knows? :nixweiss The weave of MF is so tight that it should go away after 1 or 2 washes at the most and the linting will be a thing of the past.



I hate to hear you`re having a problem because I think JTI towels, for the money, rock.

[kompressornsc]

Here`s what I do with my MF. When they`re dirty or wet, I really don`t like to lay them on anything where they will pick up any more dirt, and/or not dry. So what I did was went to Lowe`s, picked up a 5 gallon bucket and a lid (`bout $3.50), keep some water ( 1/2 full) and just a touch of liquid tide in it. When I have a dirty towel, I just pop the top and toss it in. Then whenever it`s time to wash (usually once a week), my towels have been soaking, stored with no confusion if they`re clean or not, no extra dirt picked up, etc. Has worked well so far!



I got the idea becasue when I was in archaeology field school, I had to keep a trash can outside filled with water to toss the day`s clothes in becasue they were too dirty to take inside, and without soaking, they would never come clean.

[s2skimon]

I actually ran out of tide one day and threw in z7 into my washer /warm/cold cycle and it washed them fine :D

[imported_zenhog]

I`ve bought towels from just about everyone mentioned here and this is the first I`ve heard of JTI. What`s the link? I might as well add them to the lineup. So far the best bang for the buck is the Vapo Clean site towels.

[shaf]

Originally posted by zenhog

I`ve bought towels from just about everyone mentioned here and this is the first I`ve heard of JTI. What`s the link? I might as well add them to the lineup. So far the best bang for the buck is the Vapo Clean site towels. Tom Gong (JT International) doesn`t have a website, so he doesn`t get as much attention here anymore as he used to. Here`s some threads from a Title search for "international":



http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19207&highlight=international

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17710&highlight=international

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13178&highlight=international

http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11394&highlight=international

[MikesJo]

Isn`t washing towels in the washing machine bad for the machine...that`s a lot of dirt etc...?

[everner]

I don`t wash my towels in the machine. I soak them in a Dawn solution for a couple of days in a bucket with a lid. I rinse them outside with a strong blast from the garden hose till all the suds are gone. Blasting them with the hose rinses them better than a washing machine and fluffs them up. Then, I give them a couple of shakes, and hang them inside to air dry. No lint, spotless, dry well, no streaks on glass, is what I get by doing it this way.

[MikesJo]

Thx Rek. How do you clean foam/sponge applicators?

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by MikesJo

Isn`t washing towels in the washing machine bad for the machine...that`s a lot of dirt etc...?



IMO, nah, it won`t hurt it. The "shop washing machine" we had in our commercial building was used ONLY for washing disgustingly dirty towels, shop rags, etc. It was old when we got it (it was a freebie, so that tells you something about its condition), we NEVER did any maintenance to it, and it was working fine 15 years later when we sold the building. Well, the "cycle complete" ringer died...



The car-towels-only washer I have in the garage is also about 10 years old, no problems there, either. Before moving to this house it did clothes, car towels, anything except the really nasty stuff that went into the "shop" one.

[everner]

MikesJo, I clean the foam applicators by squirting them with full tilt Dawn, followed by a day or so soak in the bucket. I push the crud(loosened by the soak) floating on top the water out of the way when I grab the foam. Then I give it the blast routine. It works for me.