Cleaning MF Towels: Residual Stains

HondaMan

HondaMan

2004 Civic EX magnesium
My detailing towels really have black/brown stains in them -- I used some SONUS MF cleaner in the wash but they're still there. Less so but still smaller stains on the fine MF towels that did my buffing only.

Would another machine or hand wash (or soak) in the liquid help? Ditto for my MF applicators -- they really picked up dirt, and I think some of the residual formulas are still "caked" in them (these were bucket soaked in the fluid).

If I can't get them totally clean, I still felt they were OK to use, though I might use new MF's for buffing and use the old ones for dirtier jobs.

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find the relevant thread. Any advice appreciated.
 
Don't quote me on this, but I think I saw a post on here that said you could wash them in Dawn or th elike to get rid of waxes in them. Maybe that could help. I dunno what the stain is. I have used stained ones before and haven't noticed any damage to the paint.
 
Some of mine are permanently stained also. It can't be helped, but if you know they are clean and ok to use for any purpose don't worry about it. Just because it's stained, doesn't mean it's dirty.
 
Strong tide wash in bucket, scrub with murphy's oil on trouble areas maybe even use dawn, then throw into washer. I've decided to do a big prewash for all my extra dirty MF. Use a toothbrush and scrub well, I've taken some pretty bad stains out, but i think they are still apparent.
 
Hondaman,

My first question would be.................... where are you getting these stains from in the first place? If you are using some of your MF's for "grungy" areas like door sills, you should dedictate some cheaper towels to those areas, and wash them separately.
 
Boss_429 said:
Hondaman,

My first question would be.................... where are you getting these stains from in the first place? If you are using some of your MF's for "grungy" areas like door sills, you should dedictate some cheaper towels to those areas, and wash them separately.
Click to expand...

Good tip. Good MF is too expensive for grunge work. I'm using my old terry cloth towels for that...before anyone says anything remember we all used terry cloth for years and didn't know any better (well all of us over 30 any way).

I'm using All Free & Clear to wash mine in the machine. It is almost as gentle as Ivory Snow and a lot cheaper...I've used Woolite too, but if there's a lot of wax residue the Woolite required two washes.
 
Guys, I picked up most of the dirt on my green MF detailing towels from mom's 1994 black Camry (remember, the thing turned my Orange PC pad BLACK !!)...that's what drove me nuts, I kept picking up black/dirt/stains at each stage of the cleaning process, except just a bit on the final buffing. It's like the dirt/dead paint/tar/whatever stayed past the initial wash, clay, AIO cleaning, and UPP coating. Only on the final coating with UPP and buffing with a fine MF towel did I escape noticable dirt.

Yes, I kept the MF towels -- especially the blue fine ones -- away from really dirty areas or undercarriage parts. Used cheapo terry cloths for my tires.

My new Honda got the towels very little dirt. I'm dividing up my MF towels and applicators into 2 groups: 1 set for my new car, 1 set for everybody else (lol).

I still have a few unused MF towels for my car and don't mind ordering another set. I woujld also suspect that all of these cars, when I have to do them again down the line, will be ALOT cleaner since many went YEARS without waxing and cleaning.
 
Hondaman thats the deep dirt/grit and contamination that a good polish can bring out. AIO can help, but a good abrasive measure helps. Also you may have just hit dirt patches! I see my pads get crazy dirt, but its expected. Just care for accordingly. :)
 
Woob, I did use my PC with SSR2 (and the car probably could have used SSR 2.5) and an Orange cutting pad on mom's black Camry. Some here said it might be 1-stage paint only (1994 model) so I might have been picking up dead paint. Like I said, it not only brought up black stuff to the surface for future cleaning rounds, it turned the Orange pad black 1/2 way through cleaning the car. I thought the pad was ruined or just spreading dirt from one part of the car to another. As it turned out, it still kept polishing with fresh SSR and I got the pad cleaned that night.

Thanks for the suggestions. As long as I have some clean/nearly clean stuff for MY car, I'm cool.
 
HondaMan said:
Guys, I picked up most of the dirt on my green MF detailing towels from mom's 1994 black Camry (remember, the thing turned my Orange PC pad BLACK !!)...that's what drove me nuts, I kept picking up black/dirt/stains at each stage of the cleaning process, except just a bit on the final buffing. It's like the dirt/dead paint/tar/whatever stayed past the initial wash, clay, AIO cleaning, and UPP coating. Only on the final coating with UPP and buffing with a fine MF towel did I escape noticable dirt.
Click to expand...

I see now! If you picked up paint from a single stage paint, I doubt that you will be able to get it out of MF towels.

Sorry! :(
 
Hondaman I just washed a gold micro from Adam's. I mistakenly got carried away one day when I was detailing my car. I did the part where the trunk rest on the lip and the sun hardly sees. It was filthy. I was mad at myself for my own stupidity. I figured it was ruined. Well after using gain and letting it hang dry I noticed it was spotless. Happily the towel looks like new. No stains or indications of it ever being black and grungy. Btw imho Adam's gold micros are as good as they get. A very fine towel and pretty too.LOL.. Nitpicking here. I didn't like the tag so I tore it off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top