Microfiber concerns..

[Katsumoru]

Hello, in the Microfiber: Myths, Truth and Technology article, it says the following:




Wash in cold water only. Warm water can be tolerated, but hot water cannot. Polyester and polyamide both shrink in hot water. If you wash in hot water the fibers will shrink and the towel will not perform as intended.

Do not dry above medium heat. Treat microfiber towels the same as you would your delicate clothing. Drying with high heat is worse that washing in hot water.



I came home the other day to find $100 worth of Sonus towels freshly dried, and of course whoever did it left the machine on high heat.

Are these still safe to use?

[zippymbr]

Yes they will be safe to use. You could test them out if you are concerned. Good quality Mf is a big investment and I wash them at night when I am the only one who will be doing laundry. It seems that washing them by themselves is more important that washing them warm and not hot. There has been alot of debate on hot washing. Several here do it with no ill efects.

[imported_themightytimmah]

I hot wash, no problems. Haven`t seen any degradation, marring, etc after a good 35-45 washes. I wash my pads and MFs together too, IMHO they aren`t nearly as fragile as some guys make them out to be. As long as you don`t drop a high nap one into a pile of woodchips (don`t ask :angry), they`re pretty tough to mess up. Plus, I get em wicked cheap. The Chemical Guys sell decent MFs for 20bucks/12. They pass the CD test, and as far as I can tell, the paint test.

[Katsumoru]

Thanks for your help! :)

[superstring]

Well, DavidB wrote the article in question. It would be interesting to have him reply to your concerns. There sure are a lot of conflicting opinions out there. DFTowel, for one, says wash ALL microfibre in HOT water.



You could, of course, conduct your own scientific study! :nixweiss

[medic159]

Hot water cleans and removes built up wax far better than cold and will do no harm at all. The worst that can happen will be some fading of the excess of dye in the fiber, no biggie. I really doubt that the fabric woven of polyester MF will shrink so much as to cause problems, even if it could shrink to 1/2 it`s size it will not effect performance. Polyester is not very prone to shrinkage by the way, when was the last time you washed a polyester garment and had it shrink?



Of course, you should always check with the towel manufacturer or distributor for their instructions.

[Bill D]

Per Leo`s information I`ve always washed my MFs in hot water. No ill effects whatsoever.

[Katsumoru]

Thanks for your responses.



And just to clarify things a little, they were washed with cold water and dried with hot heat.

[imported_Amused]

Well, DavidB wrote the article in question. It would be interesting to have him reply to your concerns. There sure are a lot of conflicting opinions out there. DFTowel, for one, says wash ALL microfibre in HOT water.



You could, of course, conduct your own scientific study! :nixweiss

But DF Concours Towels are all natural microfiber cotton as opposed to the synthetic microfiber that most places sell. That may be a reason why DF suggests to wash in hot. Drying is a whole other animal. If your towels aren`t melted or anything, they should be fine I would think. If they are, you must have one hell of a hot dryer! I`d be more concerned with if the person used a fabric softener or any sort.

[superstring]

But DF Concours Towels are all natural microfiber cotton as opposed to the synthetic microfiber that most places sell. That may be a reason why DF suggests to wash in hot....



That`s what I thought at first but, in another thread, I asked DFTowel that question and he said hot water was OK for ALL types of microfibre.



Also, see his reply a couple of posts ago.

[Katsumoru]

I`d be more concerned with if the person used a fabric softener or any sort.

I did the wash myself late at night. I woke up to find someone had gone ahead and dried them in the dryer.

They look fine, but I was just wondering if there might be anything wrong with them that the eye can`t see.

And to clarify even further, it was pretty much the whole line of Sonus Der Wunder towels.



Again, thanks everyone for your responses. :up

[medic159]

I`m talking about ALL towels, not just mine. There is no household water so hot as to cause damage to the weave or content of a towel. Water temp will have an effect on color in those towels that are dyed but who cares? I`ve mentioned this in a few other threads but it`s worth saying again... you should see the huge pressure cookers that rolls of fabric are put into for setting finishes and dyes, the pressures and heat (250F+) far exceed anything you could do to it at home.



http://www.then.de/en/products/piecedyeing/thenhst/img_thenhst.jpg



Drying, however, is another story. You can easily dry natural fiber towels in a hot dryer without damage, man made towels, however, can be damaged. Household dryers can have hot spots that, when hit by a towel can melt the polyester of a thread into a tiny hard globule which can scratch your finish. This is why makers of the polyester MF towels recommend warm, not hot, so they will remain trouble free.



Again, always check with the manufacturer or distributor for info.

[III]

I`m talking about ALL towels, not just mine. There is no household water so hot as to cause damage to the weave or content of a towel. Water temp will have an effect on color in those towels that are dyed but who cares? I`ve mentioned this in a few other threads but it`s worth saying again... you should see the huge pressure cookers that rolls of fabric are put into for setting finishes and dyes, the pressures and heat (250F+) far exceed anything you could do to it at home.



I have to agree with Leo. I`ve been washing my towels in hot water for years with no problems. I also use the dryer with heat until the towels are completly dry with no problems either. The only negative thing I`ve noticed with drying the towels until they`re completly dry is more of a static charge and the edges of the towels will curl a tad. This doesn`t happen as much if I pull the towels out of the dryer when they`re damp and let them air dry the rest of the way, however, I don`t always have the time, or the space to let my towels air dry, so that`s why I use the dryer with heat.