Best way to clean MFs?

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imported_RedlineIRL

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What is the best way to clean microfibers without ruining them? I have some cheaper microfibers that I'm not too concerned with that I washed using a bucket of hot water and Tide laundry soap by hand. I then rinsed them using cool water and air dryed them in my laundry room. Now they feel considerably stiffer and rougher. Did I do something wrong while cleaning them?



What do you all reccomend? I'd like to clean some good MFs I have before their first use, but I don't want to ruin them.
 
RedlineIRL said:
What is the best way to clean microfibers without ruining them? I have some cheaper microfibers that I'm not too concerned with that I washed using a bucket of hot water and Tide laundry soap by hand. I then rinsed them using cool water and air dryed them in my laundry room. Now they feel considerably stiffer and rougher. Did I do something wrong while cleaning them?



What do you all reccomend? I'd like to clean some good MFs I have before their first use, but I don't want to ruin them.
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Which Tide? Rmember fabric softener is going to be the enemy of microfibers. They do LOVE heat, so what I would do is wash them in the machine on HOT. First, let the machine fill up with water, THEN add in the detergent (this will prevent the towels from absorbing too much product from initial wash) and mix it around. Then add in the towels, and allow it to wash. When adding detergent, remember to use about half as much as you would normally think to use. This is most likely why your towels are stiff, because they are loaded up with the detergent when they dryed. To prevent this, do a second wash only with an once of distilled vinegar. Dry them on a clothes line as well to help prevent them from gathering lint up from the dryer.



If this doesn't work, then you could resort to boiling them. Basically take a sauce pan with water, and boil a towel at a time for about 15 minutes, then dry on the clothes line when done.
 
I've tried DAWN dishing washing liquid, Tide, Simple Green....all did some level of cleaning. But, the best I've found so far is Costco's Oil Eater. It does the best job in hot water soaks. It also rinses out clean and fluffy after a light dryer cycle.
 


I fill a bucket with hot water, a little bit of Dawn, and a little bit of micro restore. I put the MF's in the bucket and let them soak overnight. The next day, I empty the water from the bucket, and refill it with hot water, a little bit of Dawn, and a little bit of micro restore. I let the MF's sit in the new solution for an hour or so, then, I agitate the towels by hand. I work the stains out at this time by hand.



Now I rinse the towels in warm/hot running water inside the bucket. When the bucket becomes full, I empty it, then wring out the MF's by hand. I then fill the bucket with warm water, and agitate the MF's to dilute any remaining soap. I do this two or three times. Finally, I do one last rinse in cold water. The reason I use cold water on the final rinse is because the hot water heater could have hard mineral deposits in it.



I then throw them in the dryer for 15-20 minutes. Done.



They come out real clean, and feel ultra soft.







 
I never liked the thought of getting polish/wax or other product residue in the machine so I always presoak in a 5 gal bucket with some laundry detergent and oxiclean. After soaking and hand agitating I rinse real well till the water is clear.



After precleaning in the bucket, I machine wash with laundry detergent and oxiclean (like others have said...use less than you think or you will be running multiple rinses to get all the suds out. Pop in the dryer without any softener and you are good to go.



ps. You probbly already do this, but it is always a good idea to rinse out your towels/rags/MF after use to get the dirt and product out before it can set in the fabric.
 
I throw them in a bucket with some micro restore and let soak until I get enough to do a load I have a fancy new washing machine that is a front loader that I can't fill first as stated above. I use Tide Free High Efficiency in it and will note that the front loader cleans them much better than my old top loader. Well worth the $$$. It also has a fancy computer interface that you can program an extra spin cycle or two.



Also, air drying never seems to work for me. The front loader spins them at 1100rpm and they come out mostly dry. So i toss them in the dryer on low with 2 dryer balls (spiky balls from Linens & Things) for about 15-20 mins and done! They come out fluffy and clean!
 
this may be random but you wouldnt happen to be on newcelica.org also are you RedlineIRL?? your screen name sounds very familiar.
 
I actually found using woolite seems to work well for me. Let them soak in the sanitary tub that's been cleaned before hand for a bit to loosen up any left over product then just use woolite. Works great even with my WW.
 
Wolf-Strong said:
Which Tide? Rmember fabric softener is going to be the enemy of microfibers.
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Just plain Tide without any softeners.



Fly Bye said:


I fill a bucket with hot water, a little bit of Dawn, and a little bit of micro restore. I put the MF's in the bucket and let them soak overnight. The next day, I empty the water from the bucket, and refill it with hot water, a little bit of Dawn, and a little bit of micro restore. I let the MF's sit in the new solution for an hour or so, then, I agitate the towels by hand. I work the stains out at this time by hand.



Now I rinse the towels in warm/hot running water inside the bucket. When the bucket becomes full, I empty it, then wring out the MF's by hand. I then fill the bucket with warm water, and agitate the MF's to dilute any remaining soap. I do this two or three times. Finally, I do one last rinse in cold water. The reason I use cold water on the final rinse is because the hot water heater could have hard mineral deposits in it.



I then throw them in the dryer for 15-20 minutes. Done.



They come out real clean, and feel ultra soft.







Click to expand...

Tha's basically what I'm doin besides throwing them in the dryer. I wonder if air drying could be causing them to stiffern up?





Carbon Blue said:
this may be random but you wouldnt happen to be on newcelica.org also are you RedlineIRL?? your screen name sounds very familiar.
Click to expand...

Sorry, not me.
 
RedlineIRL said:
Just plain Tide without any softeners.





Tha's basically what I'm doin besides throwing them in the dryer. I wonder if air drying could be causing them to stiffern up?







Sorry, not me.
Click to expand...

I'm tellin ya! It is the fact that they have too much buildup of products. Just do me a favor and boil 1 towel and tell me if that works.
 
there's been many threads on this... i wash my mf's in warm water with liquid tide, and add 4-5oz's of vinegar in the last rinse cycle. once that's done, off into the dryer they go on the lowest heat setting with no fabric softener. haven't had any probs...
 
As stated before … there’s a LOT of threads regarding Micro Fiber cleaning. Some are worth reading for the info, some are genuinely hysterical (although it could have been catastrophic), and you’ll get a lot of info on different techniques people use. There are also some great posts on restoring micro fibers, and some honest folks who will share where they went wrong and ruined them.

In the ‘search’ box, type in a couple of these lines for some good, entertaining, and informative reading:

Boiling micro fiber (also make microfiber one word)

Boiling MF (try putting a space between M F also)

Cleaning micro fiber

Cleaning MF

Restoring micro fiber

Restoring MF



One thing rarely mentioned is how ‘hard’ your water may be. In Jersey, our water is packed with minerals and I run 4 different filters. A whole house filter, (the thing’s an enormous two stage), a line filter before the washing machine, one for drinking water, and when final rinsing the cars, a The SpotLess Water filter. After installing the Whole House Filter AND the line filters for the washing machine, all our clothes and towels are softer. Good luck with your search.
 
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